Theopolis Part I

The question we left off with essentially was how does Jesus and church stuff fit in with the world in which we live? Actually, that is the purpose for this blog. Typically this can be quite a touchy issue. Afterall Religion and Politics are BIG no-nos for parlor-party-public discussion. Both are typically passionate issues that tend to be private, apple-of-the-eye areas.

Interestingly, you like I, perhaps made the unconscious leap from Jesus and society to Jesus and politics. Actually for me it wasn’t unconscious but intential to present an observation or two. In our time and place in the world people, especially the up and coming generations, are quite passionate, waiting for “their cause” to vehicle their idealism. Politics is an accepted venue in which to carry that out. Thus, I have perhaps, unwittingly, bifurcated my audience into older and younger readers. For the older readers, politics is a private matter … except for the news broadcasters and very close friends. For the younger readers politics is a ship of adventure to be caught on the way to changing the world. For these people politics involves more than holding office itself.

The second observation follows from the first. Many (mostly older people) see the Jesus and church stuff as matters of very private concern; something to be kept separate from every other sphere of life … especially those areas which involve habitual contact with other people. Many others (mostly the younger) see the Jesus and church stuff as value laden, which can impact the world. The problem with the younger people is that many of them see the Jesus value system as one of many different options out there at different times.

Taken together, the umbrella point covering these observations is that Scripture teaches that Jesus is to be lord over every area of the disciple’s life. There is no area of anyone’s life that is inherently private, for any one area of one’s life touches every area of that one’s life. Likewise, there is no one person who is completely detached from the society in which he lives. In some form or fashion, he is connected to the community. Thus, even the “private” areas of his life touch the public areas of the lives of those in his community. Therefore, there is no such thing as a private Jesus. Jim Wallis, one who I respect but sorely disagree with on most socio-political issues, rightly says, “Christianity is deeply personal but never private.”

That being said, the individual who follows Jesus lives within a larger community … and the interaction of being a devote Christian within society is certainly a topic of concern. And … living in society involves the interaction of many individuals and many different groups of individuals. Therefore, the regulation of that interaction … which is essentially the nature of politics … is of important concern for anyone in that society … especially the Christian.

Thus, I’ve entitled this series of posts Theopolis (which might be Greek for God-city). I want explore some issues of Christianity and society (especially politics). Many will disagree with my conclusions. Many will agree with my conclusions. Many will agree and disagree. But hey, let’s have fun with respect for one another along the way.

Suicide Bomber Blows up More than Himself Part 2

Of particular interest to me has been the response to Bhutto’s unfortunate and utterly tragic assassination. The presidential candiadates have “inherited” (exploited?) this opportunity to appear “presidential.” Even Obama, who proudly touts opposing the Second Iraq War, says that we (the American Government) should do all we can to promote and stabilize democracy in Pakistan. Obama’s response is not really surprising, given his recent “presidential make-up and tea party” where he said that we should immediately pull all troops out of Iraq and redeploy them to Afghanistan. John Edwards even placed a call to Pakistan. Hopefully Bhutto’s supporters can spot the nature of these remarks better than they could Bhutto’s assassin.

Hey, the Republicans are doing the same thing. But perhaps this is to be expected. Afterall, the young bucks have to test their antlers before attracting their “sugar-mamas” at the polls.

But what does all of this have to do with Jesus, church, and stuff? “I mean, pastor, shouldn’t you simply keep to writing about Jesus and loving the world.” Where does Jesus fit into politics?

Good question.

Before answering, allow me to take a trip into the wilderness of newpaper journalism to a spot the Columbus Dispatch ran on Pakistan on the Front Page, “Pakistan 101.”

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/national_world/stories/2007/12/28/ap_pakistan_101.ART_ART_12-28-07_A1_AD8T9EA.html

In clicking on the link you’ll notice four categories in this highlight of Pakistan and the War on Terror, “Terrorism, Religion, Government, and Nuclear Neighbors.” Allow me to highlight under Terrorism, “But the country’s intelligence agency also has supported Islamic radicals in Pakistan and the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan in an effort to gain political influence in both countries.” Allow me also to point you to the last part of the Religion section, “The Islamic religious right shot to prominence after Musharraf’s rise to power in a 1999 military coup and was further boosted by a wave of anti-American sentiment after the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.”

In these two statements “Islamic radicals” and “the Islamic religious right” are used to describe the people who “shot into” power, using religious ideology to “gain political influence.” What is the end result of their politcal influence …. totalitarian control of the masses and campaigns of guerilla terror.

Question: What is the media’s description of those who lean right of center on the political spectrum here in the States, who also happen to be Christian in general or more specifically Evangelical? According to Rodney Clapp in his 2000 book of essays, Border Crossings, the religious right are similarly out for power to advance their causes and will only have “draconian” methods in which to highjack power. According to others the religious right are taking refuge in the hinterlands of North America, card-carrying members of the John Birch Society, and lying in wait to blow up abortion clinics.

Perhaps among the debris the suicide bomber has left behind is the idea in our culture that all people who lean to the social and political right-of-center and who happen to be religiously conservative are all of the same ilk … despite the tenates of their religion and the nature of their religious convictions.

The question at hand, which will be stabbed at later, (sorry for the violent imagery, I couldn’t resist … my religious-right tendencies must be taking over–Ha Ha) is the nature of involvement of a person who is devoutly religious in the political realm. Where does the theological intersect with the political? If we are serious about Jesus being lord over every area of our lives, this will include our political involvement and thus will be of importance for this blog dedicated to following Jesus in the “everydayness of life.”

Suicide Bomber Blows up More than Himself

Today, Benazir Bhutto was assassinated at a rally in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. (Actually she died an hour later at a hospital.) A suicide bomber then blows up himself. Now, normally the usual “analysis” concludes Islamo-fascism has arisen in response to any US military presence and campaigns in the middle east. Obviously, if we were not in Afghanistan (and especially in Iraq) attacks like this would never have happened. We are at fault for not placating Islamo-facism. The hate-America secular left here in the States loves to bloviate this rhetoric. The more extreme versions of this even condemn the World Trade Center to deserving its 9-11 demise. The Bush administration are condemned as war criminals by this radical left.

However, I fully believe this utterly absurd notion is blown sky high by our friendly neighborhood suicide bomber. The attacks were against Bhutto and the reforms she was advocating … just like they were against her father, who was also assassinated. Islamo-facism has arisen not simply in response to any specific efforts of the US in the middle-east per se. Rather Islamo-facism has arisen primarily in response to significant challenges to the status quo of the 6th and 7th Century and to the primacy the Golden Age of the world-wide caliphate. Anything short of the world-wide caliphate garbed in 7th Century Arabic culture is an afront to Islamo-facist dignity.

Remember the Original Santa Worshipped Jesus

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas is a truly wonderful American holiday that is one of the last anchors for the family in our society. Despite whether one is a believer or not, seeing family at Christmas is a top priority for most in our society. Gift-giving … at least for a moment … potentially draws the focus off of oneself and onto certain special others. Let’s not forget that glorious bird who lays down his life every year for us … and turkey gravy, turkey sandwiches, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pies … well you get my point.

Yet, in watching my baby girl tear into her presents this morning … as well as tearing into everyone else’s presents … tore into a certain part of my heart. “Mine, mine, mine,” was her anthem. Now you might well say that “mine, mine, mine” is the anthem of every 2-year-old, and you are certainly correct in this dry bit of factual information. However, the implication is on the naughty list. As our society grows infinintly more secular, I’m afraid that the “mine-mine-mine” anthem lasts a bit longer past toddler-age than ripped-up wrapping paper. I know many adults (myself included at times) whose anthem is merely a more sophisticated version of “mine, mine, mine.” In my favorite movie, “A Christmas Story,” the mom asks her two present-happy boys and worn-out, syncial husband if everyone is ready for Christmas to begin. This morning I even found myself teaching my baby-girl to say “Merry Christmas” after the paper-ripping fest.

While I am certainly not advocating the complete abandonment of gift-giving as a major facet of Christmas, as a believer and as a decent human being, I wish to train my children in civility and train them out of barbarity. The root of this is found in who Jesus is and was … this Jesus who came “to give his life as a ransom for many” and “came not to be served but to serve.” May we not deceive ourselves into thinking we are serving the children in our subsidizing of barbaric “mine-mine-mine” attitudes through indulging their commercialized whims and fantasies. Rather may we train our children to truly worship the same Jesus that the original St. Nicholas truly worshipped (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus). May we train them to be givers and producers rather than merely consumers.

The Luster of Christmas

Christmas has since I can remember been a time of fanciful imaginging and wonderlands of daydreams. However, in recent years, this favorite time of the year for me has been losing its luster. Even my all-time favorite movie, “A Christmas Story,” was a bit anti-climatic this past week. Have I shot Christmas-eye out?

However, this Christmas will go down on record as the most memorable for me … due to a short visit back in Georgia (where most sweetly-good things are!) with my brother’s family and a couple of friends. In visiting with my brother’s family, he and I got the unique opportunity to teach his 5-year old daughter how to ride a bike … with no training wheels. He had already begun to work with her. Upon arriving at his place, I joined in the fun, and together we helped her move from terrible fright (especially on concrete) to riding by herself (on concrete) with emotional zest … all in one day!!!!!!!

From whipping him in several riviting games of checkers to great conversations with several other family folks to putting stickers on Burger King toys for both my neice and nephew to staying up late and watching “Pirates of the Carribean 3″ and eating fudge with my sister-in-law to connecting over lunch with three really great friends who really love the Lord with deep passion; this visit really scratched my Christmas itch. As an emotional stocking-stuffer, I got to return home to my wife, who has become my best friend and talk to a another good friend on the phone, who I had to leave behind in Kentucky.

Yes, giving is a major part of Christmas; and while buying stuff to give to people can potentially cause you to think about someone other than yourself … many people are actually drowning self-consumption. The gift-giving tends to be more about them than the person for whom they’re buying.

What made this visit so rewarding, I believe, (even though I happily and proudly bought things for people) was the opportunity and ability to personally invest in the lives of others and tend to relationships with people very important to me. That is something which makes even the brightest Higbee’s Christmas window display pale in comparison.

The Higbee’s picture is from the site: http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=022301.

The Basic Christmas Spirit

As you may or may not know, I’m a pastor. As you may or may not know further still, I don’t have an unlimited spiritual reservoir. I get tired. I am tired … spiritually speaking.

I need the Lord. I guess that’s how I know that I know the Holy Spirit is holding fast in my heart, filled with multiple distractions. My first mentor once said to me that one of the greatest tools the devil has at his disposal can be being busy. And … as believers who are hard at work … at the Lord’s work … there is much temptation to go, go, go … without resting in God’s presence in personal worship.

After all, if I take care of myself, then I’m being selfish … right? WRONG!!!!!! There is a reason why the airlines advise parents to secure their own oxygen masks before those of their children.

In my Christmas sermon series, I’ve made one critical comment concerning nativity scenes. (Mostly, the criticism is not directed so much at the nativity scene themselves as at our own perceptions and conceptions.) Nativity scenes can be way too polished, often leading the observer to forget the scandal and hardship and heart ache that was that first Christmas for many of the major players.

However, one thing that I’ve never seen a nativity scene mess up on is the power of a moment. All nativity scenes I’ve ever seen (live ones excluded) have each of the characters kneeling, bowing, standing … but all are still and quiet … at worship before the infant King. That I believe is the moment of glory for the nativity scene. Even as I write this my heart is longing ever more to be still and quiet in worship before my King.

That, my friends, is the basic Christmas spirit. Every thing else that’s good about Christmas must flow from that attitude of worship.

Anyone Know Where They Keep Some Extra Towels Lying Around?

“One will never question our authority again.” This is a line from the recently released movie, “The Golden Compass,” which I actually saw last Friday. Peter T. Cattaway has written an excellent synopsis of the movie and the trilogy from which it came in this month’s “Christianity Today” magazine. Please check it out. http://www.ctlibrary.com/51955

In my opinion this movie, like “V for Vendetta,” released in 2005, follows a trend that seems to hearken back to the glory days of the French Revolution. The authority is all-encompassing and absolutely evil. It is to be questioned, disbelieved, and overthrown. The catch is when both movies are speaking of authority, they are not speaking of any individual in authority per se, but of authority in general. If we just overthrow authority, we can lead ourselves. We have no need of anyone to tell us what to do.

The problem in both movies, like the revolutionaries in France soon found, once the authority is overthrown … then what? In “V for Vendetta” the “hero” is V, a man seriously maimed in body and soul by the government. For the rest of his life he will plan the day when he will take the ultimate revenge on the government by overthrowing it. He has faith that the population will rise up and create a more perfect society, free of the overshadow of the authority.

In “The Golden Compass” Lira is a little girl who doesn’t like to be told what to do by anyone. She comes into her own when she realizes the megalith battle for civilization has fallen into her pocket via the last golden compass in existence. The others have been confiscated by the Magisterium (the overshadowing authority). The golden compasses are “truth meters,” allowing anyone who knows how to read them to find any answer to any question. However, the Magisterium wishes to be the only answer-man on the block, monopolizing “the truth.” Lira’s responsibility is to take the golden compass she possesses to her uncle (who is really her father), so that he can make contact with another world like their own. In the mean-time she leads an effort to free all the children who have been captured by the Magisterium for a special surgery, which will free them forever from the burden of wanting to question any “truth” given by the Magisterium … or any part of their authority. “One will never question our authority again.”

As in “V for Vendetta,” once the authority is overthrown who will be responsible for care and feeding of the masses? Keep in mind the masses are filled will people who will never be told what to do. Also keep in mind the ones responsible for caring for the masses are in essence defacto leaders … and they will be filled with individuals who will resist being told what to do (which will in essence include being told what to do with their authority).

Anyone know where they keep some extra towels lying around … for a little blood ooze? Secular humanism ignores … all the way to the guillotine … human sin nature.

This 1792 model of a French guillotine is courtesy of Michael @ http://boisdejustice.home.att.net/

Remodeling

Recently, I was given permission to repaint my office and was thrilled. Of course the prospect of making some much needed updates and changes was exciting. However, a major part of the excitement for me was incorporating others into the discussion and planning phase, rendering this project more of a “we-thing” than simply a “me-thing.” I truly believe this can represent great ministry possibilities for the two churches with which I work. I have many talented and blessed-of-God-to-minister-to-others type folks in both of my churches … and I want church ministry for us to be more of a we-thing than a me-thing.

Here are some pictures of the office before I moved in:

Here are some pictures that were taken after I moved in, but before I remodeled.

Here are some pictures taken of the remodeled room, and, yes, your eyes are not deceiving you. The above picture was Windows 95 in the Spring of 2007!

The “before pictures” were all taken during daylight. So you can see that it was a fairly dark room. The first four pictures of the remodeled room were taken at night. The remodeled room is now brighter at night than the old room was during the day time. You can see how shiny the book shelf is now. Before the bookshelf was only stained with one or at most two coats. The wood was super scratchy, because it had not been sanded. Thus, I sanded the book case and the boards, before painting the book case (and wood paneling!) with semi-gloss. For whatever reason the builders decided it would be a great idea to put ceiling pop-corn on the upper trim and the upper half of the wall. I scraped and sanded all of that off. The paint went on remarkably. As long as I have a choice in the matter, I will only use Sherwin-Williams paint. Sherwin-Williams, you rock the house (and my office!).

Needless to say, the room needed some serious updates (I can’t believe wood paneling was ever in style!). But with a little attention it looks great now (at least in my humble opinion). Even the wood paneling, once painted, looks great. Instead of sucking all of the light out of the world like a black hole, the room reflects light beautifully. It no longer has the feel of a dungeon or storage closest.

The room beautifully reflects what the Holy Spirit can do with some willing materials for church ministry.