It struck me that of the 15 cities, 11 of them were in states that were or have been considered Southern states. If you take out Maryland and Florida, then 7 of the 15 cities were in Southern states. At any rate, Evangelical Christianity, especially of the Baptist variety, is most prevalent in the South. Yet, the South traditionally has the most crime, divorce, alcoholism, and the worst education and social factors in the nation. The states of Lousiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas vie for which state can be last in just about every important social indicator. Here are the cities from the Forbes list:
1. Detroit, Michigan 2. Memphis, Tennessee 3. Miami, Florida 4. Las Vegas, Nevada 5. Stockton, California 6. Orlando, Florida 7. Little Rock, Arkansas 8. Charleston, South Carolina 9. Nashville, Tennessee 10. Baltimore, Maryland 11. New Orleans, Louisiana 12. Baton Rouge, Louisiana 13. West Palm Beach, Florida 14. Charlotte, North Carolina 15. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Christianity has been present in the South for 200 years in a very strong way. Why has it not changed things in a more concrete way? You can say that the legacy of slavery and racism continue to have an effect. You can say that the devastation caused by the Civil War affected the South for a long time (although when you consider how Germany and Japan were destroyed during WWII, that argument falls apart). But, doesn't it make sense that if we lived out our faith, things would be more positive, especially among the African American community? What role do white Southern evangelicals have in this?
Recently, I had a conversation with a white man who bemoaned the state of the schools in Montgomery. He blamed integration and said that things started falling apart because of the blacks. Then, a moment later, he talked about how his Baptist church was dying. I told him that the problems in the schools had nothing to do with skin color and had everything to do with parental involvement, family breakdown, and cultural problems that existed among both poor whites and blacks. He didn't seem to understand what I was talking about. It struck me as interesting that his disparaging remarks about black people would show up in the same conversation that he said that his church was struggling. He did not notice a connection between the two.
Why hasn't our Christianity addressed these things? Do we have nothing to say to our cities? Why don't Christians effectively address crime issues? Why don't we go into neighborhoods that are falling apart and raise up a standard? Why don't we restore schools and rescue young people? Why do we move away to the suburbs or outlying towns whenever things aren't wonderful? Why does racism still exist in our hearts and our churches?
I am not trying to be utopian here. I know that sin exists and that we cannot control people. I am not saying that we can make things perfect. But, if the South cannot become a better place to live for all people because of the Christians who live here and the churches on every corner, then please tell me how we can possibly evangelize anyone? Could it be that the SBC is declining because we have so inoculated people against the gospel by talking the talk but not walking the walk? Why would anyone believe us? Where is our power? Where is the change?
Sometimes, I think that we give in to fear too much. We try to hold on to our own life and we try and make sure that we take care of ourselves. But, God called us to trust Him and engage people. I really struggle to see how we can talk about missions to the world when we won't even engage our own cities effectively. For those that do, keep going. Praise God! You are making a huge impact! But, I am talking about the retreat of the collective whole and the abdication of our responsibility. If we are the light, then why do we complain about the darkness? Why don't we just shine?
Praise God that several churches are addressing this in Montgomery through prayer and action, including a stop the violence campaign and 24/7 prayer. But, so much more is needed. 65% of the 30,000 children in Montgomery's public schools live below the poverty line. That's 19,500 children! Is this not a mission field and a place to live out the implications of the gospel? If we can't do it in our own cities, then why should anyone believe us when we say that Jesus is the answer? If we can do it in our own cities, imagine what the impact would be! What stops us but ourselves?
I am glad that the gospel has power in spite of us. Praise God for grace! But, imagine if we truly lived it out!
Joe Thorn got me thinking about loving my own city. I am not originally from Montgomery. I was born in New Orleans, LA and grew up in South Mississippi. I went to college at Mississippi State University and seminary at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Marin County of the San Francisco Bay Area. I have traveled all over the United States and all over the world. But, I live in Montgomery, Alabama and have done so for almost ten years. Let me tell you what I love about this place:
God sent me here when I was 25 years old - almost a decade ago. I was a fresh seminary graduate, married with one 7 month old daughter. I know that God sent me here and even though I have often wondered if it was time to go, He has reconfirmed that He has me here for a reason again and again. I know that God loves these people because He created them and has a plan for them. I now have 4 children and can say that this has been a good place to raise them.
I love the church I serve, Gateway Baptist. It is made up of people from all over the country who have served with the military (Maxwell/Gunter AFB) and it has a lot of young families and singles. When you think of a Southern Baptist church in Montgomery, AL, you might think of a certain stereotype, but Gateway is really more like the churches that I visited in California than it is like a traditional Southern Baptist church. That has helped us in that we have been able to adapt readily to a changing culture, but it has also hurt us in that we have never quite fit the native culture. That is changing as the culture changes, though, and we are pretty well positioned to reach a lot more people, especially cross-culturally.
Montgomery places a high value on family and children. There are children everywhere. Many parents seem to want to do a good job raising their kids. That is a good thing and it is something that God approves of.
God desires reconiciliation between people in Christ. There are a lot of people in this city who want that. Historically, Montgomery has been a city of racial and socio-economic division. That still exists here, but what better place to bring the Kingdom of God by addressing those divisions? What better place for God to be glorified in that way? This is a place where a problem can become a praise if we don't run away from it.
There are a lot of churches and a lot of Christians in Montgomery. There is a lot of religion here. While a traditional churched culture has drawbacks, it also has a lot of positives. When people really get to know Christ and churches really begin to honor God, much fruit can be produced.
Meat and Three: If there was a dish or cuisine that was featured in this area, it would be the traditional Southern Meat and Three, which consists of a meat and three vegetables, usually with cornbread or a roll. Restaurant's like Martin's, The Farmer's Market, Eastside Grille, and many others feature this type of food and it is pretty tasty. It is an example of how the farm and the rural South is never more than a generation or two removed from this city.
Montgomery is a big, small town. With a population of over 200,000 people and a metro population of over 300,000, Montgomery still has a small town feel to it. It actually feels like one big sprawling suburb. There are lots of things that I don't like about that, but it has its positives too in that housing is affordable and there are lots of great neighborhoods to raise a family in.
Montgomery is becoming more and more diverse. It is the state capitol, has a major military base where every member of the Air Force comes for school through Air University - including many international students, has four universities, and has a major Hyundai plant. People come in and out of this city all the time and more and more ethnic minorities are moving here. This is a great city to reach the nations from and it is also a great city to model a multicultural church in the Deep South.
There are other things, I know, but I will stop there. While there are challenges, there are also many opportunities for God to prove Himself strong and to right some generational wrongs.
Stop what you are doing and watch these videos at the bottom of this post. On April 25th, 100 cities in 9 countries will be having an event to bring focus to the plight of Africa's child soldiers. Invisible Children is an organization that was started by 3 young men after a trip to Africa in 2003. Almost by accident, they met those being abducted and turned into child soldiers in the killing fields of Uganda and they needed to do something. Our youth group is going to Atlanta to participate in this event on April 25th and I am proud of them for doing so. I would encourage you to do whatever you can to help as well.
Jeff Moody, a member of our church (and an emerging baseball writer) says this over at his blog:
We watched a video at church the other night that profoundly affected me. It was the story of the Lord’s Resistance Army of Northern Uganda and their tyrannical ruler, Joseph Kony. This army attacks villages, massacring as they go, and forcing young boys into being soldiers.
I will not belabor the point and would rather you do your own research at www.invisiblechildren.com. On April 25, the men who started telling this story are organizing a global event where thousands will abduct themselves to raise awareness with media and political authorities.
Too often, we live in our too comfortable lives and miss the atrocities going on in the world around us. Watch the videos at the sight and find a way that you can be involved.
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. – Micah 6:8.
If Christians are not involved in stopping things like this, then what are we doing? What purpose do we serve? May God have mercy on our souls if we see the good that we can do and refuse to do it because we stay afflicted with trivial diversions. Children are dying. It is a big deal and if we can help do something about it, we should.
If you care about this, watch these videos. If you don't care, watch them anyway and you will.
What do you think about when you hear the word, holiness? Obviously, it means to be separate; to be set apart. But, when I think about holiness, invariably, I think about it from a religious perspective. In other words, I think about holiness as the characteristic that I am to achieve if God is going to be pleased with me. I think about what I need to put on if I am to enter into God’s presence, since God is holy. My religious upbringing has taught me to think about what I am to abstain from and what my life is supposed to look like. The whole, “don’t drink, chew, or go with girls that do,” perspective creeps in.Often, when I hear about holiness, I look for a rock to crawl under because my first thoughts, if I am honest, point out how I am not holy.The word itself condemns me and I am undone. Attempts at holiness, however successful I might be in overcoming sin, putting off old behavior, or acting a certain way, always fall short because there is always a new definition of holiness that I am not living up to. I am always falling short of what someone proclaims as “holy.”
I think that we have done the word a great disservice, however. We know that God is holy and we declare Him as such. “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty” we sing along with the angels and the multitude from Revelation. God is holy. We know that much. But, what does it mean?Then, you add in that we are to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect (Matt. 5:47) and without holiness no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14), and we are all undone.
So, what do we do to reconcile all of this?How are we to be holy?Some, have retreated to the monastery.They have built walls around themselves and have completely withdrawn from the world. Their view of holiness is shown by what they are against and by what they disagree with. They focus on the “putting off” of Ephesians 4:22-24 and show their holiness through outward things. Others, focus on justification and God’s grace and the imputed righteousness that comes from faith in Christ.They often do not make it around to actually living like Christ, but that is okay. They aren’t perfect, just forgiven. Both of these views miss the bigger picture of what God’s holiness really is.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer in The Cost of Discipleship tells Martin Luther’s journey to true holiness, and I think that it is a story that bears repeating.He says,
When the Reformation came, the providence of God raised Martin Luther to restore the gospel of pure, costly grace. Luther passed through the cloister; he was a monk, and all this was part of the divine plan. Luther had left all to follow Christ on the path of absolute obedience. He had renounced the world in order to live the Christian life. He had learnt obedience to Christ and to his Church, because only he who is obedient can believe. The call to the cloister demanded of Luther the complete surrender of his life. But God shattered all his hopes. He showed him through the Scriptures that the following of Christ is not the achievement or merit of a select few, but the divine command to all Christians without distinction. Monasticism had transformed the humble work of discipleship into the meritorious activity of the saints, and the self-renunciation of discipleship into the flagrant spiritual self-assertion of the “religious.”The world had crept into the very heart of the monastic life, and was once more making havoc. The monk’s attempt to flee from the world turned out to be a subtle form of love for the world. The bottom having thus been knocked out of the religious life, Luther laid hold upon grace. Just as the whole world of monasticism was crashing about him in ruins, he saw God in Christ stretching forth his hand to save. He grasped that hand in faith, believing that “after all, nothing we can do is of any avail, however good a life we live.” The grace which gave itself to him was a costly grace, and it shattered his whole existence. Once more he must leave his nets and follow. The first time was when he entered the monastery, when he had left everything behind except his pious self. This time even that was taken from him. He obeyed the call, not through any merit of his own, but simply through the grace of God. Luther did not hear the word: “Of course you have sinned, but now everything is forgiven, so you can stay as you are and enjoy the consolations of forgiveness.” No, Luther had to leave the cloister and go back to the world, not because the world in itself was good and holy, but because even the cloister was only a part of the world.
Luther’s return from the cloister to the world was the worst blow the world had suffered since the days of early Christianity. The renunciation he made when he became a monk was child’s play compared with that which he had to make when he returned to the world. Now came the frontal assault. The only way to follow Jesus was by living in the world. Hitherto the Christian life had been the achievement of a few choice spirits under the exceptionally favourable conditions of monasticism; now it is a duty laid on every Christian living in the world. The commandment of Jesus must be accorded perfect obedience in one’s daily vocation of life. The conflict between the life of the Christian and the life of the world was thus thrown into the sharpest possible relief. It was a hand-to-hand conflict between the Christian and the world.
Because the monastery was a place that Luther had retreated to justify himself and protect himself from the contaminating evils of the world, it actually became a part of the world system. Everything that sets itself up against the knowledge of God is a part of the world system, even if it looks really good on the outside. Luther could only be justified through faith in what Christ had already done for him and he only came to a point of faith in Christ when he quit believing in himself.
But, here is what really strikes me about all of this:For Luther, and for us as well, holiness was not found in the monastery. It was found in engaging the world as an emissary of Christ. When he tried to separate himself from the world through withdrawing, he just demonstrated the world’s ways of self-justification. But, when he died to himself, renounced the world’s ways, and engaged the world for the sake of Christ, he was acting in accordance with holiness. It is all upside down from what we thought, isn’t it?The reason for this is because Christ is holy.Only Christ makes us holy and we are declared righteous only by faith in Jesus. But, that righteousness plays out in and transforms our lives when we are conformed to the image of Christ in our thinking and our behavior. We reflect the image of Christ when we become like Him.What did Jesus do?How did he act?Who did he care about? What moved him with compassion?Holiness is not just a state of declared righteousness that comes from faith, but the outworking of that holiness involves doing what Jesus did.Caring for the sick, the leper, the persecuted, and the downtrodden is holy. Rescuing the sinner is holy. Proclaiming justice to the nations is holy. Dining with tax collectors and prostitutes to show them the Kingdom of God is holy. Forgiving others is holy. Loving your enemies is holy.Everything that looks like Jesus is holy.Holiness is not just putting off certain behaviors.It is that, depending on what those behaviors are, but more than that, it is thinking about things differently and putting on the character of Christ. Humbling yourself before others and serving them is a holy act. We could go on and on. Holiness is not just a state of denial of certain things, it is action that demonstrates the in-breaking Kingdom of God. Holiness means that we live according to the "Otherness" of God apart and separate from this world system. It is a positive action, not just a negative renunciation.
We need more holiness in our churches.We need to put off the old life and see the world differently.Correspondingly, we need to put on the new life, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Eph. 4:22-24).Our evangelicalism became destructive when it promoted a life that affirmed withdrawal from the world for the sake of its truncated conception of holiness. Jesus did not withdraw from the world. He engaged the world and brought healing and redemption as He did the will of the Father in all respects. THAT is holiness and that is what God wants from us.
Instead of feeling condemned by the concept of holiness because I know that I do not measure up to someone’s artificial standard, I now see holiness as being the outworking of God’s character and life in every area.To see the beauty of holiness in a primarily negative (i.e. what we put off) sense is surely an abomination and it is entirely incomplete.But, to see holiness the way that Jesus demonstrates and to know that we have been called to be like Him is amazing, creative, beautiful, and life affirming!It is something that causes me to want to be holy and to violently pursue Christ and lose myself in obedience to Him as He brings restoration to the world!
Last night, I couldn't get to sleep. My mind was racing. Finally, I drifted off, but not before I ran through a dozen different subjects. I've been told by friends that I have adult ADD. Maybe so. It would explain a lot. Normally, I write essays for this blog because it is really rewarding for me to lock in on one topic and explore it and I use it as a teaching platform for my church. Today, I'll take you on a random tour of what I'm thinking about in classic, stream-of-consciousness form. Each of these thoughts could be a blogpost all their own and they have been building up in my head. So, I think I'll clean out my brain a little so that I can think more clearly and start over.
I'm going back to India at the end of next month. Around midnight last night, I called Thom Wolf in India and talked with him for awhile. It was almost noon there. He was my professor and intellectual mentor in school back when I lived in San Francisco and he lives in New Delhi. We will go north to the Himalayas and do our normal thing with the ministries there, and then possibly travel with him for a couple of days to the south of India to meet some people doing very interesting things.
I am working through Paul's letter to the Philippians right now in my Bible study and my preaching. I am also writing essays to go along with each topic. Philippians is a great letter to address the "God as a means to an end" syndrome that plagues contemporary Christianity. I am thinking of releasing the essays after I am through with this. It has been really interesting. Today, I am working on one called "Chains" about how Paul volunteered to put himself in less than ideal situations so that the gospel would be spread to others through his life and suffering. Check out Philippians 1:7-14. Am I willing to do the same?
"According to some estimates, Christians in developed Western countries now represent only 37 percent of believers worldwide. As I travel and also read chruch history, I have observed a pattern, a strange historical phenomenon of God 'moving' geographically from place to place: from the Middle East to Europe to North America to the developing world. My theory is this: God goes where He's wanted." ~ Philip Yancey, Finding God in Unexpected Places.
I ran across a fascinating article today on urban development in post-Katrina New Orleans on Newgeography.com by Andres Duany. Duany, of Cuban descent, says that "New Orleans is not among the most haphazard, poorest or misgoverned American cities, but rather the most organized, wealthiest, cleanest, and competently governed of the Caribbean cities." He says that New Orleans is not really an American city at all. Rather, it is a Caribbean city. Jimmy Buffett, after Katrina hit, said that the northern Gulf of Mexico is actually the northern part of the Caribbean, not the Southern part of the U.S. I agree. Being from there, it is different that the rest of the country, and I love it. Totally different way of thinking, worldview, and lifestyle. Maybe this is why Baptists have had so much trouble reaching the Gulf Coast? Hmmm.
My two favorite songs on my ipod right now are "Rocket Man" by Angie Aparo and "A Change is Gonna Come" by Ben Sollee. They are both cover songs, but the music and vocals are really intriguing. If you haven't heard either of these guys, check them out. Here's a live version of "Rocket Man." I think about this when I am travelling too much.
And, Ben Sollee on the cello. Yes, the cello. This is amazing.
This week marks the 3 year anniversary of us finding a lump on Caelan's chest that was a cancerous tumor. It has been a hard three years, but I praise God everyday for His faithfulness. Last night, Erika told me that the little 3 year old girl that my family has been praying for since we saw her at Caelan's last scans died last week. Her name was Cassie. My heart was broken over that. Maybe that is why I keep singing "A Change is Gonna Come." Ben Sollee, covering Sam Cooke, says he doesn't know what's beyond the sky. I do, and more and more each day I pray that God's Kingdom come.
"As heretical as it sounds today, it is probably worth telling Americans that you don't need Jesus to have better families, finances, health, or even morality. Coming to the cross means repentance - not adding Jesus as a supporting character for an otherwise decent script but throwing away the script in order to be written into God's drama. It is death and resurrection, not coaching and makovers." Michael Horton, Christless Christianity.
Baseball season is about to start. I really don't like baseball. Too slow for my taste. During the dead of summer, it is almost like there are no sports going on. I'm just waiting for football. Although, our church has formed THREE softball teams with about 50 players and they'll be playing mostly on Monday nights, so I am glad for the fact that a lot of people from our church will be hanging out together and building relationships. Being blind in my right eye caused me to never play baseball because I have no depth perception, so maybe that is why I don't like it. I do plan to play summer league basketball, though.
The groundbreaking for our church's new building is April 5, right before we have a huge neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt. We've been reaching a lot of teenagers in our community lately, and God really moved in their lives at a youth retreat that we had this past weekend. Several came to Christ and many more opened their hearts to Jesus. We have also started tutoring, GED classes, and are helping with job placement. God is doing some amazing things. The building is just a tool to help us with this, and it should be finished by October. I'll be very happy.
I keep watching Jon & Kate plus Eight. I don't know why. Erika keeps asking why I stop there when we are watching TV and I have the remote and I told her that I really can't believe how mean Kate is to Jon and I can't fathom how they manage eight kids like that. Wow. It's like a car wreck. I have four kids of my own. Do I really need to watch someone else's stress? Strangely, I'm drawn to it. That, and Clean House, which is about people who live in an unfathomable mess. I guess that it is cathartic to see other people's stress and mess instead of my own. Normally, these shows come on right after we put the kids to bed. Hmmm.
I turned in my taxes yesterday and I'm trying to get some insurance stuff taken care of. It's a pain and seems to be taking forever. Car tags have to be paid on Monday and I'm doing a TV interview tomorrow for a local religious broadcasting station about our work in India. I lump all of that together because it all feels about the same to me - stuff I have to do that I don't like doing. I'm not just trying to be humble about the TV thing either. I HATE stuff like that. Communication should be two-way and interactive with feedback, not captured on a television for people to pick over and misinterpret as they wish. Maybe I'm just insecure.
Books I'm reading right now (they happen to all be "Christian" books, which is not good - I need to vary things up a bit and learn from some other disciplines):
Finding God in Unexpected Places by Philip Yancey - picked it up in the airport last week. Yancey writes essays about where he sees God working in the world. Excellent.
Christless Christianity by Michael Horton - states that the American church has given itself over to an alternative gospel that he calls, therapuetic moralistic deism.
No Place for Truth - Or Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology by David Wells. This came out about 15 years ago, but it was recommended to me by a friend of mine. It is pretty dense, but a good read. Makes some of the same claims as Horton, but from a historical perspective.
My church is always heavy on my mind and my heart. I graduated from seminary over 9 years ago. I've been the lead pastor of our church for 3 1/2 years. I'm realizing more and more each day that I am not smart enough, talented enough, entertaining enough, or gifted enough to do what needs to be done, no matter how many books I read. God has to work through me. I need Him. I carry the weight of people's struggles pretty intensely. I greatly desire for people to walk with the Lord and to glorify Him and I want our church to hunger after Christ with their whole lives and to reach people who do not know Jesus. But, I am really having to pray about this and release it to the Lord. I can't make anyone do anything. I am completely powerless to make anything happen. God has to do it. I have always known that intellectually. I am learning that emotionally and spiritually and it isn't easy, believe it or not.
Ashtyn has started soccer.
I have great kids and an amazing wife who listens to me go on and on about everything that I am thinking about. She is really patient and she always gives me great feedback. I do not deserve her, and I'm not just saying that because it is what I am expected to say. She's really something. She texted me two days ago and said that we should go on the mission trip with the youth group this summer. I told her that I agreed. Not many mother's of four kids would do that.
My city, Montgomery, just elected a new mayor in a special election a couple of weeks ago. In his election night interview, he said that he hoped that he would "rule" well. Rule #1 in American politics: Never tell the people that you plan to "rule" them. It doesn't sit well in a democracy. Then, he said that he was pushing the inauguration back a week because he was taking his family to the beach. Rule #2: When we are in a severe recession, don't tell the people that just elected you that you would begin to rule, er, serve them, but first, you have to go to the beach. Go to the beach in a few months AFTER you have worked for them for a little while. Wow.
Look, a BUTTERFLY!!!! Sorry, had to get that out. Does anyone ever feel that way? Random as can be.
I've lost 10 pounds in the past two weeks and I don't know how. I guess that I haven't been eating as much. Duh. Stress? Busyness? I don't know, but I'll take it. I could stand to lose a lot more.
Well, that's about it. Not really, but I figure that no one is still reading at this point, so I might as well stop. Believe it or not, engaging in an exercise in complete randomness actually made me feel better. So, I leave you with a picture of my kids that I really love.
God is good, by the way. And, He's always working in every thing. Big, little, important, mundane. God is always at work.
God has a purpose for His Church in all of this if we would but open our eyes and be salt and light. I believe that He has a purpose for the local church that I pastor in our community as people begin to struggle. Isaiah 58 is a guiding passage for me in all of this. Unless my hope is in the Lord, I will not be able to offer hope to others. Unless I am looking to Christ, I will not be able to point others to Christ. We need to be aware of what is happening in our nation and help people trust in Christ instead of what is fading away.
Richard Florida, the director of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management and writing for The Atlantic, tells us that America has changed forever with the current economic crash. As a country, we will have to remake ourselves and the future will not look much like the past. Gone are the heady days of manufacturing, construction, and the suburbs. The creative class will group in large urban conglomerations of cities and those areas full of educated and versatile people will drive economic growth in America. This is a fascinating essay and if you want to be educated on what is happening and what is coming, I highly recommend that you take the time to read it.
Florida says,
On one level, the crisis has demonstrated what everyone has known for a long time: Americans have been living beyond their means, using illusory housing wealth and huge slugs of foreign capital to consume far more than we’ve produced. The crash surely signals the end to that; the adjustment, while painful, is necessary.
The result of this, according to Florida, is that the suburbs are dying. Housing wealth is declining at a rapid pace and it will not return. People are going to be stuck in areas because they will not be able to sell their homes. This will lead to rising unemployment and suburban blight. Florida says something that I have been saying for about six months now: It is smarter to rent than to own a home. Instead of an investment, home ownership is going to be seen as a liability in the future. Glenn Beck has an amazing video on that HERE (the average American home was worth twice the historic market value in 2006. A correction has started and will likely not stop until the average American home loses half its value from 2006-2007.).
More doom and gloom from Downshoredrift, I'm afraid. I'm a lot more fun in person, I think. I promise I'll write something funny and trivial soon so that we can amuse ourselves to death as Neil Postman once said, and not have to deal with reality. But, until then . . .
Thomas White from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary writes a scathing editorial against the disease of consumption that has plagued America and especially Christians over the past few decades. Finally. Some of us have been sounding this message for quite some time, but no one listens when your home values are increasing like crazy. We were so intoxicated with our growing wealth that we never realized that it was all a house of sand. We were sitting on top of a bubble that has now burst.
Here are White's comments. I agree with all that he says and commend you to read it:
I do wish, however, that we had had more leaders saying this back in 2004 or 2006 or even early 2008. Apparently, we are only able to understand the dangers of materialism and consumerism when we have lost a lot of money and stuff. But, isn't that just materialism's lament? I mean, if we start harping on the dangers of it only AFTER our 401k and housing values drop, then doesn't that just show how in love with money we really are? The prophet is the one who could question the morality of all this even when things were going well. Of course, no one listens then. Perhaps they will listen now.
It seems that the Bible should shape us more than the bottom line if Jesus really is Lord. How many of us gave thought to the dangers of consumerism when we were moving to ever trendier neighborhoods in the suburbs or bedroom communities? How many pastors challenged their church members to NOT run off after bigger houses, nicer neighborhoods, and more genteel living? Or, did we just chase the suburbanites with bigger and better megachurches to "meet their needs?" I know that John Piper was saying this mid-decade but few others joined the chorus. Now that everything is falling apart, people are piling on and acting like a bunch of know-it-alls. Me included, so I need to repent of that attitude.
So, where do we go from here? Obama gave his State of the Union speech tonight and did not say much, as far as I can tell. But, I have been studying and I think that we are headed for complete economic ruin, unless something dramatic changes. The only thing even remotely keeping things stable for the average American right now is the value of the dollar. Many economists are predicting the collapse of the dollar sometime this Spring. If that happens, all bets are off. I hope that it does not, and if it doesn't, we might be able to weather this storm. But, from all that I am reading, things are about to get REALLY bad. Like, rioting in the streets bad.
My wife said to me the other day that this world's system is collapsing and at every point that we have attached ourself to the world, we are going to feel enormous pain. She is right. But, every place that we cling to Christ, we will stand. Jesus is not collapsing. His Kingdom is secure and will not be shaken. But, the world will. We are not to let our hearts be troubled. In this world we will have trouble. Trouble is coming, guys. We are going to be facing some very tough times. But, Jesus has overcome the world. He gives peace that surpasses all understanding.
I am trusting Jesus. I am also frantically trying to get out of debt and I am putting away a couple of weeks of food for my family and to share with others, just in case. That sounds severe, I know, but if the things happen that many experts are predicting, then we will need it. If not, then I have a lot of extra canned goods. No harm there.
From what I understand, things will be touch and go with the economy over the next few months. We could pull out of this. Or, things could become Great Depression bad. We need to be praying that God would have mercy on us. I also wish that evangelicals would have had just a touch of discernment about this over the past decade instead of just building bigger churches, buying bigger houses, and buying fancier cars. What if we had been storing up treasures in heaven instead of building bigger storehouses for ourselves?
I am guilty too. I saw things that were wrong but I succumbed to pressure and went along with the world and other Christians because I didn't trust my own judgment and what I saw the Scriptures to be saying. I repent. Never again. Maybe that is what Thomas White and others are doing now too. If so, then I will give them the same grace that I myself need. No matter what we saw or didn't see, however, from this moment on we need to seek God and obey Him. He is our only refuge.
Baptist Press had a couple of really good articles tonight. This one is outstanding and confirms all that we have been doing in India and around the world. British columnist for the Times of London and atheist, Matthew Paris, has declared that Africa needs God. Although he himself does not believe in God, he cannot deny the difference in the lives of those on that continent that know Him. Paris lived in Africa years ago and after a recent visit to Malawi, he makes some absolutely stunning assertions for an atheist. I highly recommend that you read this article.
I have been reading Consuming Jesus: Beyond Race and Class Divisions in a Consumer Church by Paul Louis Metzger. It is a very provocative read. Metzger's premise is that white, middle-class, Evangelicals, especially in our pursuit of church growth, have capitulated to consumerism, individualism, and preference and have reinforced the divisions of racialization and classism that the Gospel seeks to tear down. In that, we are actually working against Jesus and the effects of His Gospel by perpetuating walls of division between believers. Instead of making things better, our systems actually make things worse. He takes a specific aim at the Homogenous Unit Principle (HUP), which states that churches grow fastest when they are focused on one specific subculture so that those who are targeted will not have to deal with any prejudice. They can come to church and be with people just like them, not upsetting any of their preconceived ideas. This view states that the gospel is the main thing and that we should not deal with social issues. Metzger says that the gospel does deal with social issues however (see Eph. 2:11-18), and that it tears down dividing walls between groups that have been historically divided for one reason or another.
Metzger addresses the preponderance of small groups among contemporary evangelical churches and says that these small groups only make things worse because they are almost solely focused on the personal preference of those attending:
Homogenous churches and care groups can easily - even though inadvertently - promote and preserve middle-class conservative values. Confronting race and class divisions lacks importance when this value and motivation is present implicitly or explicitly; and confronting the problems becomes counterproductive to the main goal of catering to a middle-or upper-middle-class target audience for Christ. Those targeted would quickly lose interest in Christ and that particular church if it were to suddenly gain interest in addressing these issues. However, while the church may gain that group in the short term, it may be found guilty of blaspheming God's name among the gentiles in the long term, as one lay leader said of his own successful church's homgenous ways when awakened to these issues.
I think that Metzger makes some good points and they are points that I have made before. I am much more hopeful than he is, though. I think that many Evangelicals really do want to follow God and to obey Him. Yes, we are selfish and stubborn. We want comfort and what we think is best for us. But, for a very long time, we have also been told that that is what Christianity is ultimately about - us following God to have a good life, a good marriage, a good family, a good job, prosperity, health, and inner peace. Who would not want all of that? The problem is that those things, while good, have replaced Jesus as our goal and source of life. I think that things are changing, however. I think that many Evangelicals are tired of just getting their needs met. They are seeing that there is more to the Christian life than their own satisfaction or spiritual success as it has been defined by the "teachers." At least I think that they are. I am seeing that transformation occur in our church.
The Gospel tears down dividing walls between believers. It does not just get us into heaven. It is the Gospel of the Kingdom and it announces the reign and rule of God. It is good news and it changes things - turning the world upside down. We have to begin to articulate the message that our salvation is not just about "me and Jesus," but rather, it is so much more. We are saved to be ambassadors for Christ - His representatives in a fallen world.
I like Metzger's book. It will shake you up on multiple levels. I hope to review more of it as time goes by. This call against consumerism, personal preference, and individualism in the church is getting louder and louder and it is one that we need to heed.
America is changing rapidly. A little over 40 years after his death, the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King and others is becoming a reality as Americans of different races and ethnicities learn to live with one another and be one nation. The fact that the holiday that commemorates Dr. King and Obama's inauguration are on back-to-back days is not lost on those paying attention. The inauguration of Barack Obama is just the first major event that will usher in a new America, one very different than the nation that we have previously known. Newsweek has a great article about the changing demographics of our country and it links the most dramatic changes to the immigration bill that Lyndon Johnson signed in 1965 that effectively opened our borders.
Closer to home, public approval of interracial marriages (like the one between Obama's parents) has risen significantly in the past decade, from 54 percent in 1995 to 80 percent today. The percentage of Americans who say they know a mixed-race couple has risen from 58 to 79 percent since 1995, and more than a third (34 percent) say they or a close family member have married or live with someone of another race or who has a very different racial, ethnic or religious background, including a quarter (24 percent) who say it is specifically an interracial marriage or live-in relationship.
By and large, the younger you are, the more assimilated you are in this new tapestry of daily life. The key cohort is the 75 million-strong generation known as the millennials (those born roughly between 1980 and 2000). To state the obvious, the experiences of the younger generation—now voting and beginning their adult lives—are not the experiences of their parents or of their grandparents. Vietnam seems as distant as Saratoga; Roe v. Wade as far off as Dred Scott. That much is self-evident, and perennial. (Every generation is shaped by unique forces; that is part of what makes them a generation, aside from the accident of a birth date.) What was less than clear until the election of 2008 was whether the experience of younger Americans would produce a shift in political attitudes, and would such a shift be felt beyond Facebook and Starbucks? Could Obama count on them to show up?
Yes he could. The disparity between older and younger voters was greater in 2008 than at any other time since exit polling began in 1972, according to the Pew Research Center. Obama won 66 percent of the 18- to 29-year-old vote, 12 points more than John Kerry attracted in 2004. The younger cohort is more diverse than the general population, more female, more secular, less socially conservative and more willing to describe themselves as liberals. Note to the ghost of LBJ: 20 percent of this crucial group are children of immigrants.
And 2009 is only the beginning of the story. According to Pew, if current trends continue, the U.S. population will rise from 296 million in 2005 to 438 million in 2050. Eighty-two percent—let me repeat that: 82 percent—of the increase will be attributable to immigrants arriving after 2005 and to their descendants. By that point, whites may make up only 47 percent of the country, ending centuries of a majority-white America.
Meanwhile, the church in America is in decline. During the same period as the immigrant influx, evangelical churches have remained white and middle class and have begun to decline. We know that the SBC is in decline. Ed Stetzer has some interesting analysis of this in a recent blog post:
In 1978, just before the start of the resurgence, there was one baptism for every 36 members of the convention. By 2007, that ratio was one baptism to every 47 members.
"We are baptizing fewer of our own children, and fewer unchurched people," LifeWay's Rainer said.
More than 9,000 congregations, or almost a quarter of all Southern Baptist churches, reported no baptisms in 2007. And, in that year, only 8.3 percent of the churches were responsible for 49.8 percent of the convention's baptisms.
Also:
In 1971, there were 1,434,892 children ages 6 to 11 in Southern Baptist Sunday schools. By 2007, the last year for which statistics are available, that number had dropped by about 455,000 to 979,429. At the same time, the U.S. population grew by 46 percent.
Could it be that part of the reason (among others) that our churches are declining is that we have refused to understand and embrace the reality of a racially and ethnically changing America? Up until about 40 years ago, white evangelicals (especially Baptists), were aligned with forces that sought to disenfranchise minorities and keep them out of the mainstream of American life through segregation. When segregation was abolished, many whites (including evangelicals) fled to the suburbs where we built our malls, gated communities, country clubs, and megachurches so we could be with people just like us. Those days are fading. In 40 years, America will have a majority of minority groups. How will the predominately white evangelical churches respond? Will we finally become multicultural the way that God intended? Will there finally come a time when there is neither Jew, Greek, Barbarian, Scythian, Slave, or Free? Will we finally put aside our consumeristic preferences and live out the implications of the gospel and become one in Christ? If not, our demise will be well deserved.
Dr. King said that 11 am on Sunday morning was the most segregated hour of the week. It still is. On Tuesday, January 20th, this nation will celebrate the inauguration of its first black president, Barack Obama. It will celebrate its multicultural promise. What will the church do?
The church is not a sanctuary for people who want to hold onto the past and their culture and not change. It is not a place for protection from a changing world. The church is the people of God who follow in the Missio Dei to seek and save the lost. We are not consumers who huddle together to get our needs met and indulge our appetites and preferences. We are disciples, followers of Christ. We are to live wasted lives for the Kingdom and for those who need Jesus. We live in a rapidly changing world. No one will be left unscathed or unchanged. The time to soothe feelings and make sure that everyone is comfortable is long past. We talk about missions all the time and how we care about the nations. Well, God has brought the nations to our own doorstep. How will we respond?
How much money net worth have you lost since September? With the market crash and the loss of equity in my home, I have personally lost thousands of dollars. I don't even look at my retirement accounts. The belief is that we will eventually get all that back, but many economic analysts are doubtful. Between the plummeting value of our real estate and the markets, Americans have lost trillions of dollars in net worth over just the past 6 months.
So, how are you managing? Are you miserable? Has your life fallen apart? Are you dead yet? Did the loss of money destroy your life? Hopefully, if you are a follower of Christ, the answer will be a resounding NO. Yet, I couldn't help but think about the poor around the world. The 1.5 million children a year who die because they do not have clean drinking water. The 3.5 billion people in the world who live on less than two American dollars a day while the average American teenager spends nearly $150 a week. The 1.6 billion people in the world with no electricity. The 40% of people in the world who lack basic sanitation while Americans use and throw away 49 million diapers per day.
Trillions of dollars lost in the economic collapse. How much did Christians lose? Recent estimates are the Christians in America give around 2% of their income to local churches for ministry. How much do you think we lost in the last 6 months? How much money just vanished into thin air with nothing to show for it?
What if we would have used it to bless others? For only $10 billion, every man, woman, and child in the world could have clean drinking water, yet we spend almost $500 billion per year on average on Christmas presents. What if just a fraction of the money that we lost over the past 6 months had gone to bless the poor, to support missionaries, to build the Kingdom of God? What if we had not been so selfish and we had not been trying to build our own Kingdoms of Comfort? What if?
It is all gone now. Moth and rust has destroyed it. Many of us cannot afford our pricey, lavish homes. We've spent the blessings of God on ourselves and we wonder why we lack a sense of purpose and why with all of our wealth, the number of Americans taking antidepressants has tripled in the last decade.
What if we had given it away? What if we had blessed others? What if we had followed the example of the Wise Men who traveled hundreds of miles to lay gifts at the feet of the newborn Savior in Bethelehem? What if we had not just thought about ourselves?
It is all gone now. We will scramble and work to get it back so that we can live in comfort while millions die around the world without their basic needs being met or without knowledge of salvation in Christ. It is not even because of them that we should live differently. It is because of God. God is the great giver. Freely we have received, now we are to freely give. When we live with open hands and hearts, we reflect the glory of God and we live in communion with our Creator. When we store up treasures in Heaven, we worship God with our faith and our lives. When we horde here on earth, we worship ourselves.
Al Mohler, president of Southern Seminary, has an excellent article today about the controversy surrounding Rick Warren's selection to give the inaugural innovation for Barack Obama. The Left and pro-Gay rights advocates are furious that Obama would choose a pastor who supported Proposition 8 in California which outlawed gay marriage. Even though Rick Warren has been civil and has tried to rise above party politics and traditional divides, because he believes that homosexuality is wrong he is being opposed vehemently. Mohler makes some excellent points in his article, saying that no matter how relevant and cool you try to be in being tolerant and open to other viewpoints, if you cross the line of not accepting gay marriage, you are going to be villified. I would disagree with him in that I don't think that Warren has been trying to be "cool", but I do understand what he is saying about some Christians wanting to prove their relevance and worth to an aberrant culture.
I think that Mohler is right and it is the great contradiction that exists in Leftist thinking. They call for tolerance and sensivitivity to diverse views, but really that means that they want room for their own views to be preeminent. There is no room for opposing views at all. I am not trying to rail against homosexuals. The Bible teaches very clearly that homosexuality is a sin, so I oppose it just like I would any other sin. But, the Bible also teaches us to love all people, even those who struggle with sin. We should also recognize that we sin ourselves lest we become self-righteous. Jesus died for us while we were still sinners (Rom. 5:8), so we should express the same sacrificial love.
But, we should also realize that even if we love sacrficially and are very tolerant and open to people, as soon as we express that there is a Biblical standard on this issue, some people are going to become very angry. They are going to call names. They are going to throw fits, protest, and disparage. They don't want to hear the Biblical standard. They don't want anyone around who would call their lifestyle sinful. Eventually, they will push for that type of language to be considered "hate speech." The reaction to Warren praying at the inauguration shows that everything that takes place in this arena is part of the battle for them.
We live in a post-Christian culture. We need to realize that and understand that as Christians, persecution over holding to Biblical truth is coming. Many Christians will rethink their position on this issue in order to be loving and tolerant and be accepted by others. But, it is not loving to say that something that God calls sin is okay. That means that God doesn't know what He's talking about and the Bible is not our authority. I don't usually take positions here on issues like this, but the opposition to Rick Warren giving the prayer has been so vehement and shocking to me that I felt something needed to be said. Does anyone remember when Ellen Degeneres kissed another woman on her sitcom "Ellen"? There were protests and shock expressed. How far have we come in just ten years? Now, that would be nothing.
So, what do we do? I am not suggesting that we take over the country and write letters of protest. I am not wanting you to send in money to your favorite Christian ministry to fight the evils of homosexuality. I am saying that we should expect to be persecuted. 1 Timothy 3:12 promises us that "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted . . ." Just by lovingly stating what Scripture says means that people will reject you and persecute you. You don't have to be a religious fanatic or right wing crusader to be demonized in the press. Is there any evangelical more middle of the road and understanding than Rick Warren? We need to make sure that we are always loving and that we not judge others (biblical mandates), but at the same time, we need to teach our children, our families, and others the path of life that God has laid out for us. We should not be afraid to do so, even if we are persecuted.
I lived in San Francisco in the late 90's. I knew a lot of gay people. I worked with them at different jobs that I had. I ministered to them in the ministry that I did in the city. Most of them were good and kind people in the way that they treated others. One lesbian lady was a boss of mine at a job that I had and she was one of the best bosses that I've ever had. She really cared about people and I cared about her deeply as a person. This is not written as any form of attack against gay people. I am just saying that as Christians, we need to make sure that we affirm what God affirms and express what He opposes so that people can clearly hear the words of life and choose God over death in a culture that is immersed in it. We will not get this guidance from the media or the merchants of opinion. We only get it from the Word of God.
Eugene Peterson says that it is the role of the pastor to keep the community attentive to God. In speaking of community here, I think that he means the church. He is right and I take that role very seriously, however imperfectly I carry it out. But, I also think that it is the role of the church to make the larger community attentive to God. God is always working (John 5:17) and He works through us, His body. So, every Christmas season, we have begun looking for ways to be attentive to God ourselves and to call our community to be attentive to God as well.
This year, we have seen some amazing things happen. We had our annual Thanksgiving Dinner where the place was packed and we had 19 nations represented. Two weeks later, we had our annual Christmas Extravaganza, where we joined with Family Life Bible Fellowship, a predominately African American church for a night of worship, singing, dance, instrumentalists, food, and fellowship. It was amazing to see people from different churches and cultures come together as one in Christ. Christmas is about the Incarnation and we got to experience Christ in our midst through this gathering. I really feel that when we do these things, we are prophetically saying that we live differently from the world. The world divides according to all kinds of things. In Christ, we come together. Where there is strife and struggle in the world and peace is usually false, in Christ, all dividing walls are taken down and we are one. This is our lost witness and it must be reclaimed. I am not talking about oneness based on nothing, but oneness based on Christ and the unity that He has already provided for us. If Christmas is about Jesus being made flesh to bring us salvation and redemption, then the best thing that we can do is to herald the reconciliation that we have in Christ. We are reconciled both to God and to one another. Praise God!
A few years ago, we also started doing "A Time to Serve." I actually read about a church in Colorado that did this and ripped the whole thing off from them, so I am not claiming originality. Each year, we develop 8 or so service oriented projects and get people to lead them. Then, others in the church sign up for them and carry them out. We will wrap presents for people for free at the local Wal-Mart, have children sing at retirement homes and homes for disabled children, adopt needy families and buy presents for them, pass out Christmas cards in the neighborhood around our church, etc. Each year, the projects vary, but the point is that we encourage people to serve someone else and to share the real meaning of Christmas. It has gone well again this year and I praise God for all those who are taking part.
Last night, we danced, ate, laughed, and laughed some more. And, we ate. Our LIFE Group had our Christmas Party at our house. We had almost 40 people come over (adults and children) and we had a great time. Christians don't seem to have a lot of parties, or if we do, we tend to be pretty stiff about it. But, not this group. I love our group because they are made up of real people that know how to share life together, laugh, cry, give, and minister to one another. We have seen God do miracles in one another's lives and we have been able to intervene and intercede for one another. There is little pretense. Basically, this small group of people acts as the church within a larger church and it is a blessing to be a part of it.
I really do want to brag about my church. Gateway Baptist is the finest church I have ever been a part of. It is not perfect and it is not made up of perfect people. But, they know that they aren't perfect and they depend on God's grace. They also really want to follow God and make Him known to others. I have a lot of friends that are pastors and I hear stories about the struggles with their churches. Honestly, I can say that Gateway does not struggle with the vast majority of things that other churches do. We give God the glory, but I think that the reason is that we have kept following hard after God a top priority in our fellowship. People who have other agendas or who don't want to do that either repent and live for God themselves (that is always what we work toward and there is much love and grace for people to do just that), or they don't stick around very long. I was telling some folks last night that it is a blessing to know that there is a church that is supportive in what we are trying to do so that we can all face a broken, needy world together, instead of us all having to focus on unnecessary problems within the church. Jesus living through His people is a beautiful thing.
I just wanted to praise God and thank Him that in this time of Christmas celebration, He causes us to be attentive to Him and enables us to represent Him to others. That's about all that I want for Christmas and I have already received it. God is good.
Every year, we have a huge Thanksgiving Dinner, the Sunday night before Thanksgiving. We bring tons of food and pack out the sanctuary, which also serves as our fellowship space. Each year, we are almost filled to capacity with our members and their friends. We eat, sing, and people share from the floor what they are thankful to God for. It is really a beautiful time as the Body of Christ is on display and we see the beauty of Christ at work.
This year, our Thanksgiving Dinner promised to be a little different. Over the past couple of years, we have been praying about how we could reach across ethnic and cultural lines and we are starting to see that happen. We are seeing African Americans and Hispanics come to our church. Our youth group has doubled in size, primarily with African American boys who are coming to Christ and being discipled. God is at work and it is amazing to see.
Also, we live in Montgomery, AL where Maxwell AFB is colocated. So, we have a lot of military personnel in our church. Every member of the Air Force will come through Maxwell at some point in their career because Air University is here. All of the schools for the Air Force are located here. This also means that international officers and their families from the nations of the world come to Maxwell each year for Air Command and Staff College. Over the past couple of years, people from our church have been adopting these families and have been spending time with them. When a lady in our church told us that she had invited about thirty of them to our Thanksgiving Dinner, I was happy, but I was also thinking, "Where are we going to fit everyone!" Our youth minister had already invited the families of the 20 or so new youth that were coming to our church. We are already usually packed for this event. I am always talking about outreach and missional living, and here was a prime example of how our church had been doing and they wanted to bring everyone together. But, we just don't have much room! My excitement over the evening was mixed with the implications of a looming disaster as people would not have seats and would bump into each other all night.
I met with my administrative assistant and we just decided that we'd make it work and we weren't going to worry about it. Somehow, it would work out, we hoped. So, we set up every table and chair that we possibly could, started serving early, and trusted God for the rest. And . . . it all worked out! Somehow, we fit everyone in, and people didn't mind sitting in corners and along the walls and down the hall. It was our largest Thanksgiving Dinner ever! People shared with one another, gave praise to God for His work in their lives, and enjoyed being together. At one point, I asked people to shout out what nation they were from. There were people there from America (obviously), Mexico, Peru, Brazil, The Philippines, The Ukraine, Germany, India, Egypt, Jordan, Bangledesh, Pakistan, China, Turkmenistan, and other countries that I cannot remember. There were people from 19 countries in all. We also had a great number of African Americans that are coming to our church now and are getting involved in our body. That is notable because we are a Southern Baptist church that was lily white just two years ago, and I understand how difficult it is for these barriers to be broken down.
Jesus was represented and the gospel was spoken by people as they shared. It was beautiful. At one point, an international officer from the Middle East stood up and said how happy he was to be here. He thanked us for inviting him and his family. He also said something very interesting: He said that he was amazed and honored to be in a place where Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and many more could come together and gather in peace. He couldn't believe it. For many of these people, this was the first time that they had been in an environment like this. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Through Him, we, as Christians, can respect and love others, even though we know that there are differences. We believe and represent that Jesus is the only way to the Father. But, unless we build relationships with people and love them, they will not hear that message. Jesus also enables us to love people different than us because we recognize that each person is made in the image of God.
In two weeks, we will have our Christmas Extravaganza. We will join together with Family Life Bible Fellowship, an African American church in our city and have a mass choir, singing, praise dance, poetry readings, and other artistic expressions of worship on display. We will celebrate our unity in Christ. We will eat lots of good food together and we will laugh, pray, and celebrate. The international officers and their families will be invited again and the place will be packed out. I can't wait!
Christmas is the celebration of the Incarnation of Christ, where Jesus took on flesh and made His dwelling among us (John 1:14). He is doing it again in churches and communities all across the world. We'll make room for Him, no matter what it takes, or at least we should. I praise God for people in our church with great imaginations and faith to believe God for great things!
President Obama. I'm still trying to get used to saying those words. I didn't support him, but now that he is president, I will give him my respect and prayers as he engages the very difficult task of leading our nation. I had an interesting talk with my kids as I took them to school this morning. They asked me why Obama's election was so historic. I was able to explain to them that just a few years ago, it would have been impossible for a black man to be elected president. They didn't understand, so I told them about the evils of racism and how white people behaved in ways that were not pleasing to God. That is changing, and for that I am glad. In many ways, America is a better place today because we are putting aside race as a determining factor in how we treat people. I still believe that the Church can lead the way on this, but I am glad to see America moving on from past sins. In a strange way, America engaged in national repentance last night for over 300 years of wrong. If our eyes are closed, we will miss what is happening. UPDATE: My friend Andrew sent me a link to a really interesting CNN article talking about the racial healing that is taking place in America with Obama's victory. Some of the interviews take place in my city of Montgomery, Alabama. Check it out.
As I said in my previous post, I am not worried about a liberal Democrat becoming president. I do not agree with many of Obama's policies, but I trust that God is in control. I choose to look to Him. As I watched the news coverage last night, I heard news anchors who were almost in tears because of their joy. I saw people dancing in the streets and I DID see many people in tears. A lot of people in America now have a great deal of hope that things are going to be better. I understood the emotion from African Americans, and to an extent, I understood why Obama supporters were so happy. Even though I understand, I am struck with the folly of putting our faith in men. I hope that Obama is a good president, but no matter how well he governs, he is just a man. Men fail and disappoint us. It seems that we struggle to learn that lesson.
Along those same lines, I hope that evangelical Christians have learned that the Republican Party is not our hope. It is now fractured, inept, and very sad. They lost their way and we didn't even have enough moral strength to affect the party that we had lashed our hopes to, must lest affect the nation. Something in me says that evangelicals have lost their way as well. Most younger evangelicals that I know have long given up on the Republican Party, seeing it for what it is. The issue of abortion has kept us in the fold up till now, but after years of Republican presidents, a majority in Congress, and 7 out of 9 Supreme Court justices being appointed by Republicans, many understand that if Republicans were going to do something about abortion, they would have done so. We have to get back to changing hearts and minds and that only happens when people have an encounter with God. Unfortunately, our close ties with Republicans have caused many to see evangelicals in a political way, instead of as people overcome by the power of the gospel. We should be involved in politics, but we should do so in a prophetic, transformative way.
A.W. Tozer said, "It is impossible to keep our moral practices sound . . . while our idea of God is erroneous and inadequate."
Rick Warren has said, "What you believe about God determines your happiness, your direction . . . and ever facet of your life."
It appears that our view of God has diminished a great deal and we are bearing the fruit of that. We see God in a consumeristic way, as though He is there primarily to meet our needs. Salvation becomes all about us. Our spiritual life becomes all about us. Church participation becomes all about us. God becomes a means to our own personal happiness. It is not surprising that we view politics, government, the economy, our relationships, our jobs, and our marriages the same way. So, how will things change? We must be salt and light and value God and His glory above everything else. If we will live from that point and lash our hope to Him, then we are free to change and engage the world prophetically. There are a lot of positives that could come from an Obama presidency. Let's make sure that we, as the people of God, act as a blessing to this nation we say we love during this incredibly pivotal time. Let us rejoice with those who rejoice because for many, this election signals a new America - one that they have spent their lives praying for. If we fail to understand that we will not be able to communicate with people from other perspectives. The gospel remains the issue. Let's not diminish a hearing for the gospel over politics.
I am taking a huge political step this election season and am deciding to break with my lifelong allegiance to the Republican Party. I am voting for neither McCain nor Obama. Since I was a child, I have been a staunch Republican. Reagan was elected when I was six years old and I vividly remember his "Evil Empire" speech regarding the Soviet Union. Even though I was 6 or 7, I remember his charts with the number of ICBM's that Russia had compared to the number that we had. I was a big Reagan fan and still am. George H.W. Bush seemed to fumble Reagan's legacy a bit and Bob Dole was not a good candidate. Still, I voted for the Republicans in 1992 (my first election at the age of 18) and in 1996. I even worked on a campaign for a local Republican candidate when I was in high school. He lost, but I remember the excitement that I had the night of the election at the campaign headquarters. In 2000 and 2004, I voted for George W. Bush and have been severely disappointed. I remain a staunch social and economic conservative, but I can no longer say that the Republican Party represents the future that I want for America. Their vision is gone and after years of bowing to big business, deregulating almost everything, and waging unending war at the behest of the neo-conservatives, they have run far afield from the Republican Party of my youth.
So, where do I go? The Democratic Party is NOT the answer for me. Their views on big government, abortion, and other social issues run counter to my beliefs. But, I am tired of party politics altogether. I find that both parties care more about power and the special interests that give them money than they do about representing the American people and doing what is best for our country. We have major challenges facing us economically, militarily, socially, and in regard to our foreign policy. The immigration issue has been forgotten about, Social Security reform will not happen until all the money is gone, our national debt now tops $10 trillion with over $1 trillion expected next year, and both parties have shown that they have no desire to cut spending and balance our budget. Education is getting worse instead of better, health care for middle class families remains a huge issue, and America continues to play at empire all around the world, but our commitments far outweigh our ability to meet them. I have not seen anything in any party that tells me that they have the courage or desire to actually address the problems that face us. If these issues are not addressed, the nation that we grew up in will not exist for our children and our decline will be a fait accompli.
As a Christian and a pastor, I do believe that we should be involved in politics. Politics are only the means by which humans organize their societies, their tribes, and their countries. Christians SHOULD be involved in that so that we can be salt and light in a broken world. I believe that God has given us answers as to how we should live that apply to all people, whether they are Christian or not. "Love your neighbor" is a concept that applies to all people. Caring for the poor, honesty, integrity, hard work, morality, personal responsibility, and the sanctity of human life and the inherent worth and dignity of all people are all concepts that come from the Bible. The principles, along with many others, apply to all people and can be represented in our government. What if Christians stepped away from party politics? It seems that evangelical Christians have sided with Republicans because of a few issues and mainline Christians have sided with the Democrats. What if we tried to advocate a biblical view on issues and called BOTH parties to righteous action on the issues that confront us? What if the Church was neutral when it came to political parties and we affirmed righteousness no matter which party presented it? What if we opposed unrighteousness when it was presented by either party? It seems that we cheer for our team and we refuse to hold them accountable when they do not do right because we are afraid that we will lose access to power. In doing this, we show that we are bound by the kingdoms of this world and we have lost our prophetic voice. We do not belong to this world - our citizenship is in a heavenly Kingdom and we are called to be ambassadors of Christ. Isn't it time that we started living like it?
What type of affect would this have on the political process? What if millions of Christians refused to be led along by party allegiance and instead forced BOTH parties to do what is right starting with just the values that were commonly accepted like the ones listed above? People would see a clearer picture of what the Church is actually supposed to be and we would be free to be Christians first and Americans second, rather than dividing over party allegiances. Political parties primarily exist as an apparatus to gain power. What if we forsook worldly power and embraced and held up truth, no matter the cost? How would we affect things locally, in our states, and in national politics? I think that we would be shocked as to what affect this would have. It is completely different from the world system and it is the only real chance that we have for transformation of the political process.
So, this year I declare my political independence so that I can express my whole dependence upon Jesus Christ. I am done playing the power games. Instead of feeling that I am throwing away my vote, I actually value it more now than ever. As an American, our vote is the most fundamental thing that we have to speak out on how we feel our country should be run. I actually feel that I am saying something this year instead of just falling for the same old song and dance that gets run out every four years so people can gain power to do what they want. Our nation is in trouble and until the American people begin to recognize that what we are doing is not working, things will only get worse. I think that Christians have a role to play in that and I am happy to begin playing that role this year.
In case you are wondering, I don't know who I am voting for yet. I am still looking at third party candidates and I might write someone in - someone that I think would be a great leader but they are not in the process - yet. Winning is not the point. Being prophetic is and when I stand before God, I hope to have represented Him with everything that I have rather than just have been on the winning side here on earth. I might just enjoy this. Let's see where political independence takes me!
The Church remains largely silent about the economic problems of our day. Why is that? Alan Greenspan in his report to Congress yesterday admitted the fallacy of deregulation and expressed shock that banks took on risky loans and did not protect their shareholders. It seems that CEO's with $20 million salaries and golden parachutes weren't really concerned about their shareholders. I'm shocked. The truth is, some regulation is good. It is the role of government to constrain the wickedness that comes from our sinful natures. Romans 13:1-5 tells us that God has put government in place to direct the affairs of men. Not all government is good, and too much government regulation and taxation does affect our freedom and prosperity. But, the absence of regulation also shows us that the human heart, unrestrained, will engage in more and more evil. In this case, greed is destroying us.
Of course, this greed does not just take place in the financial sector. Consumers also want more and more. I believe that this is one of the greatest spiritual problems of our day. We are desperately trying to fill a void within us and we have bought into the lie that bigger is better and that the more we have, the happier we are. The truth is, only God satisfies, but we seem to have forgotten that. I am not saying that we cannot ever have big houses or nice things. Those things are not inherently wrong necessarily. But, so many of us are living beyond our means to chase after an illusion. Contentment escapes us.
Let's look at house sizes for an example. The American Dream involves home ownership, among other things. Well, we have taken home ownership to a new level. Apparently, as families have gotten smaller in America houses have gotten bigger. New homes are 239% larger now than they were in the 1950's. 239%. Families have dropped from 3.1 people per family to 2.6 since 1974, the year I was born. Why do we need all of this house? A very interesting article from 2006 told us that people thought that it was their right, they NEEDED this much space, they were looking for privacy, and they wanted to have their own private space. Was all of this good? With the collapse of the housing market, what will happen to all of these huge homes?
Owning a home is a wonderful thing - or, it can be. My point is that we never seem to be satisfied. We want bigger and more all the time. Our appetites are unrestrained. America is 4% of the population and consume 25% of the world's resources. Our prosperity is built upon our appetites. If all of this prosperity had led us to become more generous, then it would be put to good use. But, that is not the case either. Recent reports are telling us that Christians are giving less and less each year to their churches. Maybe that is because churches spend the money on themselves as well (it has been said that over 90% of all the money given by Christians is spent on themselves).
Americans spent nearly twice as much on first-day sales of the video game “Grand Theft Auto IV” as the Southern Baptist Convention and its International Mission Board would need to share the gospel with all the world’s unreached people groups by 2010, according to a new report on church giving.
The total portion of per capita income given to churches in 2006 was lower (in 2006) than in the worst year of the Great Depression (this was a year of great prosperity).
it would cost each U.S. church member just 8 cents a day to help reach the U.N.’s Millennium Development Goal of cutting infant mortality by two-thirds by 2015
The financial crisis that we are in reflects a major moral crisis in our nation. We have put money and things ahead of God and people and. But, the Church says nothing because we have bought into the same lifestyle that is producing the problems that we see. We have even altered the gospel of Jesus Christ into the "prosperity gospel" so that we can go to church to learn how to become rich and keep feeding our insatiable desires.
Something tells me that this is what judgment looks like. We need to repent. But, if the Church does not call people to repentance, then what hope do we have?
That scenario was being put forward by Spiegel, the German newspaper yesterday amidst the second day this week of over 400 point losses in the NYSE. "Nothing will be like it was before," said James Allroy, a broker who was brooding over his chai latte at a Starbucks on Wall Street. "The world as we know it is going down." Apparently, Morgan Stanley, one of the last of the great Wall St. investment banks is looking for a buyer. Some are saying that we are headed for another Great Depression. Then today, the market rebounds over 400 points and traders are jubilant because the Federal Government is "thinking" about setting up an entity to absorb the bad debt of the banks. Maybe I have this wrong, but it sounds like traders are happy because the mistakes that the banks made will basically be absorbed so that they can get back to business and not be saddled by the bad debt that they have taken on. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Spiegel said this just this morning,
But what's really happening? Experts have so far been unable to agree on any conclusions. Is this the beginning of the end? Or is it just a painful, but normal cycle correcting the excesses of recent years? Does responsibility lie with the ratings agencies, which have been overvaluing financial institutions for a long time? Or did dubious short sellers manipulate stock prices -- after all, they were suspected of having caused the last stock market crisis in July.
The only thing that is certain is that the era of the unbridled free-market economy in the US has passed -- at least for now. The near nationalization of AIG, America's largest insurance company, with an $85 billion cash infusion -- a bill footed by taxpayers -- was a staggering move. The sum is three times as high as the guarantee provided by the Federal Reserve when Bear Stearns was sold to JPMorgan Chase in March.
The most breathtaking aspect about this week's crisis, though, is that the life raft -- which Washington had only previously used to bail out the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- is being handed out by a government whose party usually fights against any form of government intervention. The policy is anchored in its party platform.
"I fear the government has passed the point of no return," financial historian Ron Chernow told the New York Times. "We have the irony of a free-market administration doing things that the most liberal Democratic administration would never have been doing in its wildest dreams."
So, we basically have the nationalization of insurance companies and financial institutions, in addition to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, all paid for by Federal money (that's money that comes from taxpayers like us, by the way). Is this the beginning of the end of capitalism, or at least the curtailing of it? Under the free market, the individuals acting in the market promote what works and what is helpful. Bad business decisions meet failure and something better comes along and takes its place. The market guided by Adam Smith's "Invisible Hand" makes the decision and things ultimately work out. We have long maintained that markets performed best (and provided the most long term prosperity) when they were not controlled by the government or central planning. Are we now moving in that direction because it is too painful to allow some of these institutions that have made horrible financial mistakes (influenced by greed and a lust for short-term gain) to fail and take our economy down with us? It seems that we believe more in comfort and short-term profit than we do in our own financial system.
This has been the problem all along. "Get what you can while you can" is what has led us into this mess. We have not been building a national economy of any strength for the past 30-40 years. We outsource jobs because it is better for the bottom line of multinational companies and because Americans want cheap goods from overseas. We don't care that our manufacturing and skilled labor is leaving our country - we have to feed our consumptive appetites. We borrow against the future without concern as to how we will ever pay it back. Now, the government is telling our investment banks, mortgage lenders, insurance companies, and brokerage houses that they do not have to pay it back - the American taxpayer will. So, all of the people who have blown it get a mulligan and we have to foot the bill because the cost for the American economy would be too large a price to pay. I guess that I'd be happy to pay a little more in taxes to keep from losing my job and having the economy fall apart - because that effects all of us - but it just puts us into a deeper whole. The problem is that if we keep paying more in taxes, more jobs leave, prices go up, and eventually, we are left without the ability to create wealth.
It appears that we are headed for very tough times. Combine this with the aging Baby Boomers, the impending Social Security/Medicare crisis, high gas prices, the ongoing War on Terror, unbridled immigration, a national debt approaching $10 Trillion, etc., and it appears that the chickens have come home to roost, so to speak. Unless this is just a blip or correction (like the supposed oil shortages that were causing price increases - that was actually caused by speculators in the commodities markets - again, greed), we are facing times like we have not seen in almost 80 years.
How will this affect the American family? What is the role of the Church in such a situation? At what point do we begin to publically and prophetically speak against the love of money that is destroying our country and actively promote a Biblical ethic in regard to buiding our nation? We say that we love America, do not stop and say "Enough!" when it comes to these issues. Are we not training Christians to be active in guiding the marketplace? Or, does the Christianity of some succumb to the bottom line? We cannot continue to be 5% of the world's population and consume 30% of it's goods and resources without some plan as to how we can pay for all this consumption in the long term - and a corresponding plan to strengthen what remains.
Capitalism is a good system (the best we've come up with), but there needs to be a moral compass within the people to govern our appetites and cause us to live within our means. People are sinful and will act selfishly. Adam Smith's Invisible Hand stated that selfishness was basically good because everything would work out in the end for everyone's benefit. Unfortunately, selfishness at a macro level where speculators and the titans of finance are able to affect things far beyond Smith's wildest imagination is not good. Our moral compass is gone and it is destroying us all. The American Church, especially the Evangelical Church, has done a good job of calling attention to our moral laxity and the sins like abortion, homosexuality, sexual promiscuity, etc. that have plagued us. But, it appears that our moral breakdown has also destroyed our ability to govern our resources and to make sound financial decisions. We should give some attention to this area as well. Apparently, greed is just as dangerous as the Bible says it is.
Who says character doesn't matter? When it comes to sound financial principles, it appears that character IS the bottom line. It seems like God is smarter than us, doesn't it?
Andy Crouch says that Christians are to be involved in making culture instead of just consuming it or reacting against it. I think he's right. God is the Creator and we are made in His image, after all. I just started reading his book, Culture Making, because I am convinced that the missional role of the church is to equip and unleash its members to be salt and light in all of the world. God has gifted us in incredible ways and we should use those gifts to bless the nations. I also want to recommend Andy's website where he looks at the creation of culture from many different angles. It is pretty interesting.
