When Politics Trump Grace

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I try not to talk about politics much because:

1). I'm not educated enough to articulate my views in an intellectual manner, only short sarcastic remarks.

2). I end up getting into shouting matches with the Tea Party folks.

But there is also a third reason why I try not to talk about politics much: too often politics prevail over grace.

In politics it's not enough to simply explain why your viewpoint and your agenda and your policies are better than the other guy; you have to drag your opponents through the proverbial mud. You have to paint your opponent as not just naive or misguided, but a subscriber to the deadliest ideology since fascism. You have to make people believe a vote for your opponent means a vote to let the bad guys take away your civil rights and human dignity.

And unfortunately, I've seen way too many self-described Christians let their politics prevail over speaking words of love and grace. To them, Christianity is no longer about looking after the widows and orphans (James 1:27), but tearing apart liberals, gays, Muslims, etc.

For example, La Shawn Barber. I know I got into some trouble for talking about her before, so I don't want to say much (plus I'd be a total hypocrite if I tore her apart). But it does disturb me to see some one with such a heart for God use her words not to praise Him and build up others, but to tear apart liberals and anyone else she disagrees with.

Now don't get me wrong, there are times when we, as Christians, need to speak up against things that go against our values. And there are times when we need to gently correct one another. But the keyword here is gently. As the Bible says, "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction." (2 Timothy 4:2, emphasis mine) It's so sad that there's hardly any room for this left in politics.

And, yes, I am just as guilty as Barber. It's hard for me to say this, but I sometimes use my words to tear people apart instead of building them up. I've used my tongue to praise my point of view instead of God. I love being right, even when I'm wrong. And anyone who knows me knows this is an ongoing struggle.

So here's my question--is there a way to talk about politics in a loving, graceful manner? Can we forget our political affiliations long enough to act like Christians?

Monday Morning Awesomeness: 04/26/10

As you all know, I am a huge Don Miller fan. I would love to just hang out with Don someday, drink coffee, and talk about God. In this video, Tripp and Tyler attempt to do the same thing, but things don't turn out the way they planned.

What the Enneagram Taught Me About God

Yesterday I went to the annual Maryland Library Association conference in Ocean City, MD (unfortunately, I was not able to enjoy the beach). The workshop I attended was about the Enneagram, one of those personality assessment things. The goal of the workshop was that by knowing your personality type, you can understand your strengths and weaknesses, and how that applies to the way you serve the public.

There are nine personality types in the Enneagram. Sevens are fun-loving free-spirits who hate being tied down by anything (see either Holy Golightly or Chelsea Latimer). Twos are caregivers who love to serve and feel appreciated (Amy is a Two). Me, I'm a Four, which is your typical brooding artist. At our best, we Fours are creative and sensitive to others. At our worst, we're self-absorbed and whiny. I had a feeling I would be a Four, since I spent most of college sitting alone in the campus cafe, reading Kierkegaard, and writing angst-ridden poetry.

(Who am I kidding? I still do this!)

With all the talk about personality types and strengths and weaknesses, I couldn't help but think about what Paul said about the Church being like a body. Our own bodies are made up of various parts and cells and organs that function in different ways, but they all work together. "If the foot should say, 'Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,' it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body." (1 Corinthians 12:15) In other words, God gives us all unique gifts and talents to serve God and love our neighbors.

Sometimes, however, I am like the foot who wishes he was a hand. I wish I could be one of those mission-driven anti-poverty activists who wouldn't think twice about embracing a homeless man, or maybe a dynamic speakers who can address a large auditorium full of people without any fear. But the truth is I'm really shy, I'm uncomfortable embracing people I don't know, and I don't have the best speaking voice in the world (if you listen to my podcast, you'll know what I mean). I can, however, do other things. When a friend is struggling with depression and anxiety, I can give him/her my shoulder to cry on. I can write about my struggles in hopes that some one else might be inspired. So maybe I don't have to be the super-duper Christian I want to be; maybe all I have to be is me.

How do you think you can use your personality to serve God? If you've taken the Enneagram, what's your type?

Green Like God

Long-time readers will know I'm a big fan of Jonathan Merritt. I love the way he analyzes current issues not from either a right-winged or a left-winged perspective, but a biblical perspective. A few months ago I had the honor of interviewing him for Blog Action Day about creation care, a subject he is deeply passionate about. So passionate, in fact, that Merritt recently released a book about the subject called Green Like God: Unlocking the Divine Plan for Our Planet.

Merritt may not look like your stereotypical Birkenstock-wearing, granola-eating, bearded hippie environmentalist [I, on the other hand, happen to be eating granola while wearing my Birkenstocks at this very moment]. He's a Southern Baptist [his father, Dr. James Merritt, is the former President of the Southern Baptist Convention] who identifies himself politically as an independent conservative. But as Jonathan explains, caring for the environment is neither a liberal or a conservative issue--it's a commandment from God.

As you may remember from the book of Genesis, when God put Adam and Eve in the Garden, He told them to tend to it and take care of it (2:15). Unfortunately, many Christians have overlooked this passage and instead focused on (and abused) Genesis 1:28, the one where God tells mankind to rule over creation. As Merritt points out, the biblical command to rule is different from the tyrannical way we think of ruling--in the Bible, even kings have to answer to a higher authority.

Green Like God is a wonderful book that goes beyond the "going green" fad, and uncovers the biblical case for taking care of God's green earth.

What Is Emerging?

A number of bloggers today are sharing their thoughts about what they believe is the Emerging Church. And here are my thoughts.

First, let me say what I don't believe the Emerging Church:

-The Emerging Church is NOT a specific list of doctrines and beliefs.
-The Emerging Church, in-and-of itself, is NOT plain old liberal theology.
-The Emerging Church is NOT an exclusive club for white Christian hipsters (or at least it shouldn't be).

To me, the Emerging Church is an on-going conversation about what it means to be a Christian, especially in this post-modern/post-colonial/post-Religious Right era.

In a way, the Church has always been emerging. Throughout history we've seen Christianity transform from the early Followers of the Way to the Constantine Empire to the Protestant Reformation to the modern Evangelical movement to the Emergent/Emerging (I use both terms interchangeably) Church. Every new generation of Christians has to look at the past and see what has worked, what has not worked, and what can change. The essential message of Christianity--the Gospel--stays the same, but the ways of preaching it must change as times change.

Of course as each generation searches for new ways to express the Gospel, some resistance will always meet them. In the case of the modern Emergents, the critiques have ranged from putting too much emphasis on conversation to drifting into "liberal theology." Some critiques may be right, and some may be wrong. But as I said last week, if the current Emergents want to prevail, they need to rely on the Word of God (and most of them do). As Gamaliel once said concerning the early followers of Christ, "If their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God." (Acts 5:38-39)

Anyway, those are just my two proverbial cents.

Monday Morning Awesomeness: 04/18/10

Since April is National Poetry Month, and this Thursday is Earth Day, today's Monday Morning Awesomeness is brought to you by one of my favorite poets, Wendell Berry.

The Future Of The Emerging Church

Why is it that as soon as I start becoming involved with certain movement, people say the movement's over? I guess it's just my luck.

There's been a lot of talk lately about where the Emerging Church is going. Over at Sojourners, there's a discussion about whether or not the movement is racially diverse enough. Recently John Piper said that in ten years no one will talk about the Emerging Church anymore. And in this Relevant Magazine article Dan Kimball believes that the discussion has drifted from its original intent--how to better love people--into "liberal theology." So the big question now is, "What is the Emerging Church's future?"

Even though I identify myself as "Emergent," I'm afraid I don't have much insider information about where the movement is headed. Like I've said a million times before, I'm just a regular guy trying to figure it all out. However, I do have a few suggestions that I think can help the Emerging Church survive:

1. Rely on the Word of God. "How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your Word." (Psalm 119:9) God reveals His will and His power through His word. From His lips came all of creation (Genesis 1), and John refers to Jesus as the "word made flesh" (1:9). We need to study and meditate on the Word, and let it guide us on our journey.

2. Find a balance between progression and tradition. It's good to question doctrines and explore different theologies in order to distinguish what is biblical and what is a man-made rule. However, I don't think it would be wise to automatically reject all doctrines and traditions, because there could be some truth in those doctrines. We need to remember the essentials of the Gospel: the Kingdom, the Cross, and the Resurrection. While our ways of communicating the Gospel changes, the message itself remains the same.

3. Avoid echo chambers. One criticism I've heard about the Emerging Church is there's not enough diversity. I don't know how true that statement is, but I do believe it's way too easy to surround yourself with only people who walk, talk, and act just like you. If the conversation wants to continue, it has to include all points of view. How else can we learn and grow if we don't consider the other side?

I don't know if any of this will help, but it won't hurt.

It Was (Pre)destined to Happen

Last week I said I don't consider myself a Calvinist because of the whole "predestination" thing. But I like to keep an open mind, so the other day I started reading Mark Driscoll's Religion Saves: And Nine Other Misconceptions, which has an entire chapter explaining the issue. Although he did a good job explaining predestination, I'm starting to think that perhaps the Calvinism vs. Arminianism debate isn't that important after all, and that there's room at the table for both views.

With the gaining popularity of Calvinism among modern Christians, the old Calvinism vs. Arminianism debate has spread all over the blogosphere. The main difference between the two camps are Arminians believe we have the free will to choose to accept God's grace, and Calvinists believe since our nature is so sinful we can't choose God's grace even if we tried, so God salvation is limited only to the 'elect.' Arminians point to 1 Timothy 2:3-6, Ezekial 33:11, and of course John 3:16. These verses suggest that God is offering His gift of salvation to the entire world, and is waiting for us to respond. Calvinists, on the other hand, point to Romans 8:29-30, 9:14-18, and John 5:1-15 (Driscoll points out that Jesus could have healed everyone at that pool). These verses suggest that God decides who will receive His grace.

While I lean more towards Arminianism, I think the Calvinist view holds some truth. God alone has the power to save. And despite their differences, both sides believe in the essentials of Christianity: that Jesus Christ died for our sins. Which is why I think both camps should discuss this issue with civility, and listen to what the other side has to say.

Unfortunately, I've seen a lot of Calvinists on the blogosphere (not all of them, of course, just the "hyper" ones) look down on Arminians, and vice versa. It's as they've forgotten that were are all one in Christ. What if we set aside our desires to be right all the time, and actually listened to one another? We don't have to agree, of course, but at least we can recognize each other better as human beings.

Whether atonement is limited or not, I think my future-brother-in-law Brad said it best: "Love them all and let God sort them out."

Monday Morning Awesomeness: 04/11/10

Today's Monday Morning Awesomeness is brought to you by Surfer Blood.



I have no idea what's going on in this video, but the song is still awesome!

Calvinism: The Punk Rock Theology?

Since for the past couple of weeks I've been blogging about Brian McLaren's new book, I decided it's time to focus my attention on something a little less controversial . . .

Calvinism!

As you may remember, last month I wrote about the growing interest in Calvinism. Since then I've done a little bit of research, and now I'm starting to see why the sudden attraction.

As Brett McCracken writes on his blog, Calvinism "is a little bit edgy, dark, and punk rock." I'm not sure about the "punk rock" part (most of my punk rock friends are irreligious, so they never talk about limited atonement), but he has a point. Unlike the self-help feel-good message of Joel Osteen and the Prosperity Gospel, Calvinism reminds its adherents that we are all sinners who do not deserve God's mercy. As the prophet Isaiah puts it, "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags" (64:6). Fortunately the story doesn't end there; Calvinism reassures us that God shows His grace to us by sending His Son Jesus to atone for our sins. And it's this grace Calvinism calls "irresistible."

This is where I agree with Calvinism. At first I didn't want anything to do with God because I thought He was a judgmental control-freak. After years of trying to fix my problems on my own, though, I fell completely in love with that irresistible grace.

Another reason why I think Calvinism is catching on is because it stresses the importance of doctrines. One of the most common criticisms of the Emerging Church movement is that it has no need for traditional doctrines (which isn't entirely true; we just want to explore what's truly biblical and what's a man-made idea). But as Mark Driscoll puts it, "To answer any significant question about where we come from, why we are here, what is right and wrong, who God is, and where we are going when we die requires doctrine."

Me, I try to find a balance between doctrine and deconstruction. As I explore what it means to be a Christian in these modern times, I try to keep one foot in traditional teachings and practices.

I still would not consider myself a Calvinist, most because of the Limited Atonement thing (I'll come back to this issue later). But hopefully I'm understanding it better.

Brian McLaren and Where We Go From Here

Well folks, here we are at the end of our journey through A New Kind of Christianity. We've finally reached the tenth question, "How Can We Translate Our Quest Into Action?" It's not the end of the book, though; there are two chapters left. So I'll post my final thoughts on Disturbed Christians on Friday.

In chapter 20, Brian McLaren describes mankind's spiritual journey in seven phases:

1. Survival. Primitive man relied on God for the essentials for survival (food, water, land)
2. Security. God became mankind's protector from external threats.
3. Power. God became Emperor of all to promote civil order.
4. Independence. As earthly kings started abusing their powers, God became the judge to which even rulers would have to answer to some day.
5. Individualism. God became more personal the more individualistic and self-serving we became.
6. Honesty. Our individualism left the world in shambles. Mankind becomes more repentant.
7. Ubuntu. Ubuntu is more than just a character from The Goode Family. Ubuntu means "interconnectedness." Since the Honesty stage does not reach many conclusions, it must lead to Ubuntu.

And for Honesty to lead to Ubuntu, we must first recognize that the previous steps were necessary to get to where we are now. Trashing Christians from the previous steps will only make us just as judgmental and ignorant as they were. And second, we need to nurture a "robust spiritual life" (p. 226) that includes prayer and learning from the great saints of the past: from Augustine to Luther to Francis of Assisi to the early Pentecostals.

When I look at the history of Christianity, I see an evolving understanding of God and His Word. From the underground Church to Constantine to the Reformation to the Religious Right to the Emerging Church, the Church is always emerging (in the classic sense of the world) and evolving. Like a real body, the Body of Christ goes through periods of both maturity and illness. I don't know where the Church will go from here, but I hope McLaren's right. I hope we are headed towards Ubuntu.

Where do you think the Church is headed? Where do you think we should go from here?

Brian McLaren and the Pluralism Question

Well, here we are at Question #9--"How Should Followers of Jesus Relate to People of Other Religions?"--of A New Kind of Christianity. Only one more question left after this. I'm going to miss this series.

Early in chapter 19, Brian McLaren says that wherever he goes he always comes across Christians who are troubled with the "us vs. them" mentality held by many Christians, yet want to avoid sounding like they believe in universal salvation. For Christians who want to build better relationships with people of other faiths, the first step is to admit that Christianity hasn't always been the nicest to people of other faiths. Anyone remember Manifest Destiny? Or the Crusades? This, of course, isn't Jesus' fault; according to McLaren, it comes from centuries of Christians buying the Greco-Roman narrative, which is where the "us vs. them" mentality comes from. But if we look at John 3:17, Romans 2:1-29, and 2 Corinthians 5, among others, we'll see that God does things differently: God does not pick favorites, and He desires all men to be saved.

Of course, this leads to John 14:6--"I [Jesus] am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Many Christians use this verse to justify their "us vs. them" world view. McLaren, on the other hand, offers a different interpretation. This verse comes in the middle of a long discussion at the Last Supper about Jesus' death and resurrection. When He mentions His Father's house, McLaren says He is not talking about Heaven, but the Body of Christ (see John 2:15-19). So Jesus is talking about preparing room in the Body of Christ for his disciples (although McLaren is quick to point out that He is preparing room for us in Heaven as well). As far as Thomas' question in verse 5, he is asking about how the disciples don't know where Jesus is going. So when Jesus responds with "I am the way . . ." He is telling the disciples not to trust own understanding, but to trust Him alone.

McLaren's right about how we should relate to people of different faiths. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, we need to remember that we are all sinners. We are all broken people who cannot repair ourselves on our own. Yes, we need to preach the Gospel (see Matthew 28:18-20), but we should do so with a mentality of compassion and peace, not warfare.

As far as McLaren's interpretation of John 14:6, I don't think he's that far off. I always saw that verse more as an invitation to trust in Jesus, rather than a condemnation towards people of other faiths. Don't get me wrong, I don't believe in universal salvation (see Acts 16:31). But I do believe we should show God's grace to people of other faiths just like we would to anyone else.

How do you think Christians can better show God's grace to people of other faiths?

The "Is That Contestant on American Idol a Christian?" Scorecard

So Jon Acuff and several other bloggers are doing a giant collective blog post called "The 'Is That Contestant on American Idol a Christian?' Scorecard." I have the privilege of posting #17:

17. They wear a cross = 0 points (A million people wear crosses. Maybe they just ridiculously huge fans of the letter "t")

To add up your score with over a 130 other ideas on this scorecard, visit Stuff Christians Like

Monday Morning Awesomeness: 04/05/10

Hope everyone had a great Easter.

A few days ago Carlos Whittaker from Ragamuffin Soul posted the video below. Within hours, it became a YouTube sensation.

Coffee Chats Episode 8 - Brian McLaren

A couple of days ago I mentioned that I was going to interview Brian McLaren for my Coffee Chats podcast.

Well, here it is!