STOP in the Name of Love

"Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. " James 5:1-4

Think about your life. Your clothes, your money, the computer that you are sitting at right now reading this. The computer that I am sitting at, my own MacBook, cost me an arm and a leg, but I have it and it is mine. Or am I it's? When I read this verse, I thought about how scary this is for people of wealth, basically people in our culture of American Middle-Upper class. 

Let me more clearly define my purposes for writing this article though, I do not wish to demean or condemn anyone more than myself. Honestly, I don't even think that this scripture is limited to a literal interpretation although the literal definitely does apply. I want to look at this scripture through the lens of a metaphor and a broad-scope interpretation. I don't mean to make you or anyone else "feel bad" about these things and motivate them to sell all of their belongings for a good old-fashioned guilt trip. 

I believe that all people have gifts and talents that are also not meant to be hoarded. I think that we should lay our lives and talents down for each other. I think that in the same way, we should be motivated by love to lay our possessions down for each other. The "Me" culture is really what I am attacking here. If we understood the meaning of sacrifice and humility, we would be more motivated to do these things. Our culture has an emphasis on "me". I want to make enough money to provide for ME and MY family. I need to get a job that I will enjoy. I need to find a person that I want to marry. I should give to the people in Africa because I feel guilty...and so on and so forth. We hoard things because everyone else does too. We can't share anything because if I give up MY stuff, I will be taken advantage of and get nothing in return. Living in community and bearing with one another really means looking out for your brother or sister and caring for them first, and letting them care for you. 

I submit that James is trying to get the point across that those who hoard wealth and gifts and things are condemned by God because God condemns living on an island unto yourself. Taking care of  YOU is not good enough for God because there are people who need to be taken care of. Don't live because of your selfish-dog-eat-dog attitude, live aspiring to something higher. 

Making Church Relevant

Should churches make use of all of the talents of their members? Sure. Should they strive for inclusion and making people feel at home culturally? Probably. Should the compromise the mission of the church and futhermore Christ so that people are "happy" at church? Absolutely not. 

This project on the Mosaic church and Mars Hill in Seattle made me think about the way that we use our members to structure the church at large. Both of the churches, especially Mosaic really reached out to their community in that they were versatile and open to what all members could bring something to the table. They were open-minded and seemingly very busy. They had members involved in the arts, medical missions, graphic novels, singing and audio-visual things all across the board. I really appreciated this about the church. They had venues for all people to serve in all capacities and seemed to be dreaming up new ways in the mean time. 

The only critical argument that I would have is that this might not challenge people to invest and try new ways of passion and service. I think it is great to get plugged into a group of people like you in a ministry that you have God-given passion for. But I think that it would allow people to get plugged in and never leave their area of service to explore what other things they might be good at. 

Scripturally, I think of I Corinthians and how it says that we are all part of a body and how that body functions together. I think that this is a great image (obviously, it's God's image) but I think that we can look at it like, how do we know that a finger isn't a toe. Well, it works on the hand and not the foot. It might kind of work on the foot, but not really because it is meant to be a part of the hand. If the finger never tried working with the other part of the hand, but on the foot, it would serve and do great, but never fulfill what it was truly made for. 

I think that a balance of assimilating the culture and remaining intact in the message of Jesus is the best way to go. The answer is not black and white, but grey, as it usually is. I would advise any minister, church, family, and Christian to evaluate if this ministry is congruent and vital to loving God and bringing people to Him through Christ and if so, do it with all your heart, mind, and strength; if not, step back and think about why you are really pursuing this. 

Rough Road Ahead

I spent the day on the road with my friend Collin and saw some interesting road signs. This inspired me to return to the theme of road signs for this week. As you can see, I have picked on that relates to the troubles and hard times that we all experience in life. What if we had a sign on our journey, that said, "WATCH OUT! SOMETHING BAD IS ABOUT TO HIT YOU!!?" What would we do? Would we turn around? Would we keep going?

As Christians living in the midst of a "broken" or "fallen" world, we must realize that hard times are approaching, constantly. For non-believers and believers alike, both good and bad things befall us. Rain and sun fall on all people, regardless of who you are or what you believe. Sometimes I think that Christians should expect more to deal with things, rather than treat their life like they have some bizarre immunity to the whole thing. Culturally, we all think that we should personally be immune from "rough roads" for a variety of reasons. We each think that we should be guaranteed an easy life and all that jazz. I think that this very assumption can sometimes intensify the grade of "rough road" itself. 

The other way of interpreting this sign would be to look at the cross-roads of Christianity and Culture as being a "rough road." First of all, we see that Christianity and Culture may not always interact politely or well by any standards. They are in fact made to contradict in their innate design and purpose. The second word though I think is even more worth looking at. The image of it not being an intersection as in one little hiccup in time, but rather a road that we journey together. Switching and mingling Christianity in non-evasive and non-synchronistic ways. Letting them interact over time as each person grows and shapes them. To visit the intersection once and have a rough time is not enough. One must travel the road a while to be able to live in the context of both Christianity and culture. 

Rough roads are easy to identify with on many accounts and on many levels within each person. Some rough roads are meant to be rough to get you to turn around, others are simply less traveled and really beneficial at the end. I pray that the rough roads that you, reader, must travel will be beneficial in the end and if not, that you will remember that God is the definition of good and the author of a much bigger story than what we can currently see. 

After Dark

The campus center was buzzing on Monday morning after chapel as all of us students gathered around to check out the different events and prospective hangout spots for the week. A new table was set up with shirts and ballons and flyers and everything. Maybe this might be something worth going to! Upon further investigation, my friends and I decided that as all busy college students, we would have to decide about that event, whatever it was, later in the week and closer to the actual date. Well, that event was AfterDark, a national tour-type thing with speaker and a band. The band, The Afters, promised an entertaining show and I had heard them on the radio before. What started out as a curious event that was so highly publicized that students were drowning in the flyers, became a great example of college culture and Christianity reaching out to it. 

I thought that the event was well put together, although, I am very skeptical of rallies and things like that. I ended going to the event with a few friends and I was surprised to find that it was a rally, but it could be more than that too, if you wanted it to be.  The cultural aspects were clear. What do college kids want more than food? Free entertainment. That was the best part of this thing was that it was free. The next word is entertainment. It was highly entertaining. Sometimes entertainment can make you lose the depth of the event, but they did a good job of safeguarding against that. 

I saw a lot of post-modern type influences as well. The show was very flashy and entertaining, and the use of the lights and the volume were well choreographed to put you in the mood for each part of the show. The speaker, Joe White, started out by telling his own story. This made him very relational and thus, easier to listen too. He didn't tell us why we should listen to him, but showed us when he carried in a 14-foot long log of solid wood. He carried it in on his back and talked the entire way. Then he put it up onto a thing and used a real axe to chop a square hole in it. Then he fit the pieces together and used huge stakes to nail the pieces together. For the first time in my life, I was seeing a real, 14' tall, Roman cross. 

At that point I thought we were going to get the guilt trip for the rest of the time, but he moved into a very relational talk about how the love of God is what made him do that for us. He never gave the students a list of things to do (that would turn them off) but rather let them be convicted in their own lives. 

He used a lot of music and video and the cross to help us pay attention. Our generation is so caught up in doing a million things at once, that we can easily listen and text or whatever. But there were so many things going on during the show, that most students were not tempted to try to cram anything else into their brains during that time, a clever approach. 

When the event was over, they handed out books and pamphlets and asked us for our information so that they could keep up with us after we left, which is a good concept as well. They spoke about getting plugged in to other ministry opportunities in town and being locally connected. I think that AfterDark did a good job preserving the bite and punch of the message of Jesus and being culturally relevant at the same time. 

Friends, Love, Deeds, and Country

Tim McGraw's song "Find Out Who Your Friends Are" sends a powerful message about loving one another in friendship. This is the chorus:

"You find out who your friends are

Somebody's gonna drop everything

Run out and crank up their car

Hit the gas, get there fast

Never stop and think 'what's in it for me' or 'it's way too far'

They just show on up with their big ol' heart

You find out who your friends are."

In this song, we find the culture, namely the country music culture, appreciating one of the "biggest picture" kinds of things with Christianity. I heard this song on the radio and immediately thought of this project. "Here is someone who gets it." I thought to myself, "Someone who understands that even in the context of culture without Christianity that we are called to love each other. Sometimes Christians and non-believers fall into the tricky trap of making love an emotion or feeling. While I think that there is an emotional aspect and all that jazz, I think that love without deeds is ungrounded and should probably fall under the category of like or lust. Like in James 2, "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." (James 2:14-17) I think that the same applies to love. Telling someone you love them is great, but showing them is even better. Think again with me about the Tim McGraw song listed above. What are the depictions of friends in this song? Someone who is "going to drop everything/ run out and crank up their car..." The true friends that Mr. McGraw is trying to get at is that true friends are invested in their relationship enough that they value the other person more than themselves. Many times in my personal experience, I have had friends that were both more invested in the friendship than I was and less invested. I can tell you that when the scales are unbalanced, the relationships are strained. I think that the main problems with people in our culture today is the individualistic, dog-eat-dog mindset of "getting on top." Everything is about self-promotion. We don't count on each other to lift us up, but rather, we count on ourselves because everyone else is busy doing the same thing. 

What would the world look like if we cared for each other first? Isn't that what God has been asking all along? I think that is what Tim McGraw is asking in that song. Why aren't we trying to be friends like that instead of just expecting to have friends like that? 

I think that the interaction between culture and Christianity is parallel on this issue. I think we are striving to get to that point but we have given up. What would our world look like if we hadn't given up already?

RESPECT - Find Out What It Means to Me

"My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?" James 2:1-4 (NIV)

This week, I have really been inspired to figure out how to make community service a bigger part of my daily and weekly life. After leading an SBC to Houston last week, I have had time to reflect on what that means to me.  Living and serving for a week unveiled my deep-seated discontent with the way that I live my life here on the ACU campus. We had our eyes pealed for one week of things that God would do in our lives and He did. Why not live like that now that we are back? 

So with this inspiration in my heart, I decided to go and serve Breakfast on Beech St. because we had worked with "the homeless" in Houston at an organization that is called Crossroads. So, in the dark hours of what seemed to be the night, I, feeling very persecuted, got up and went to help cook breakfast for these people that I could touch for God. It was great, but I noticed a problem in my heart. Referring back to the scripture, I was discriminating against them in my heart. I wasn't treating them like friends; I was treating them like they were homeless. I would like to propose a paradigm shift in that the people we were serving are not "the homeless" but people, in a homeless condition. Some of these people showed me that with the economy, almost anyone could be homeless in the blink of an eye. Our culture would like us to believe that these are all poor, bad, terrible, dangerous people that are not worth being treated like humans. They are NOT bad people overall. Overall, they are people with lives and families and should be respected as such. 

I think that James was trying to say this in the passage above. He was emphasizing that people are people and believers are believers. We need to love all those around us actively. This isn't something that just happens; each of us has to actively pursue this goal, every minute, every day. That is my new calling for myself.

Casting Out Filth

Continuing on with our discovery of counter-cultural passages in James, I want to focus on James 1:19-21: 

"My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for a man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you."

The first thing I wish to point out is that he calls his readers "dear." To me, this implies that the author is well acquainted with the fellowship of believers to which he writes and cares for them. These are no flippant instructions or doctrines, these are "Hints for Happy [Righteous] Living."  But the culturally different piece comes next. "EVERYONE should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry." When I look around my life, society, people, even people I look up to immensely, struggle with this. For instance, even my preacher at church during a sermon will stop and speak firmly to the audiovisual people to "Get to the next slide, please;" or  "Let's move a little bit faster, guys." He stops his sermon almost every week to correct them in a harsh tone. Then he goes back to his preacher voice and everything is "happy love Jesus" again. I think about this in my own life and how this story is reflected. Often times, I am the one that judges my friends problems and tells them what to do. I see that while advice can be good, it is burdensome if it comes when you do not ask, if no one is in real danger. I have taken steps to improve this. 

The next part of the scripture is about "casting out evil/filth." I think that to many non-believers, this is kind of assumed that it is how Christians should act, but don't, so it's a reason to dismiss them. I wish this weren't true, but I can't deny it. There are two things that I think we should do. First, I think that we should try harder to live sinless lives, always reaching toward righteousness, and believe that we can get there. Second, I think that we need to be open about our faults so that we may be encouraged to do something about them. 

This is the question I would like to leave you with, "What would the world look like if we lived a James 1:19-21 style life?" If you can't see the goal, you can get there. Visualize what it could be like; believe that we, someday, can get there if we try.

Change of Pace

This week, I decided to change pace a little bit and perhaps relate more to scripture than experience for a little bit. Here is what I would like to explore today: 

"A brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. ¹⁰But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower.¹¹For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business."

This passage form James 1 contradicts most of the American lifestyle. I would say that most American strive to be on top of whatever they do because being on top is part of the American Dream. We do not want anyone to be smarter, faster, more athletic, or better in any capacity that we are. I think James is warning us about this. When he says that, "a brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride..." as Americans, we turn off and away from that part. We see that the brother in humble circumstances should work his way to the top so that he can feel better about himself and provide for himself and his family better. We for the most part do not identify with the second part of this passage either, "...the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business." We see that if a man is rich and still going about his business, he will make more money and be even happier and more comfortable. The image of something passing away after a normal amount of time has also been lost in our culture. We are very reluctant to let something pass away. We preserve our food and plants, we strive to preserve our youth, we preserve our health through strenuous means. Basically, we are not willing to let something pass away in the first place, much less our wealth, fame, power, or position. I think that James is telling us that we should be more content and less attached wherever we are in life. If we do have wealth and power and other resources, we should be good stewards of that realizing for the most part that we are only STEWARDS, not owners. We should realize that like it says in Job, the Lord gives and takes away. Everything is ultimately his, not our own. The flip side of the coin is that if we are on the bottom of the ladder, we should take pride and hope from the fact that God is a God of creation and change. We do not have to stay down forever. God can help us and does help us by instilling his hope and peace. I think that this is not really manifest in our lives as Christians for the most part. Why do Christians still buy into the game of being on top? Don't you think that God can use us no matter where on the "totem-pole" we are?

And the Winner is...

For my final blog on this subject, possibly, I would like to introduce to you the best sign that I could find that describes the intersection of Christianity and Culture as we really see it. It may not be the sign that we, as Christians, were hoping was the most realistic, but regardless of what we think, it is probably the most truthful of all. I hate to say it, but I really think that most of the time Christians leave non-believers staring at the sign as if they had been left there by their mother to find their way home. I think that we definitely do not intend for there to be this much confusion or the feeling of being left, but nonetheless, it happens. I think that sometimes in Bible study or some small group format, the differing opinions of different Christians can lead to a lot of confusion. For me, if I was to be left at this sign, I would have turned right around and gone on my way. As Christians I think that we should strive to be in deep enough relationship with people that they do not see this sign at all, much more, that they are not alone if this is what they see. We need to be walking along side people on their journeys as we further our own journey. You can't walk a road for someone, but you can hold their hand while they walk onwards. The second thing that I think we need to do is simplify. This has been known to be a dangerous word in the church because we think that if we over-simplify, we won't present truth. I think that the same can be true though. Sometimes, the more details and rules and doctrine that you shove down someone's throat, they more discouraged and turned off they will become. I think it is important to remember that the real message is the love story of God for His creation and what He has done to reconcile it to Himself. When we forget that it is all about the love of God shown in Jesus Christ, we trade our simple truth in for some complex, distracting, harmful un-truth. Just like the sign could have simply stated the directions, so too we should be able to tell non-believers what the real moral of the story is. God loves us so much that He sent His son to die for us so that we could live a present and eternal life with Him. Let's not forget what all of the sign really says.

No U-Turn

Have you ever done something that you thought was so bad that you could never be forgiven? Have you had people tell you that there is an unforgivable sin in your life that not even Christians can heal or set you free from? You were right about one thing: "Christians" can do a thing about it; but God can.

When I was a little girl, I had heard that there was an unforgivable sin. I had heard that, but no one had ever told me what exactly that was. I went around asking people, "Is it true? Is there something I can't be forgiven for?" The adults in my life would always say that there was something that couldn't be forgiven, but that was always the end of the conversation. I spent about 4 hours one night watching TV and crying hysterically because I thought that I couldn't be forgiven for something (who knows what!) and I was certain that my fate was to burn in hell away from God. 

Since that night, I have always had a very broad view of forgiveness both from God and to other people. I think that culture would have us believe that there are things that we cannot turn away from and be forgiven. I think that things that are labeled with the words, "sinful" or "addicting" may lead people to believe that they cannot be forgiven; they are blatantly marked with "NO U-TURN" signs left and right. However, the truth is that God loves U-turns. I think they just might be one of his favorite traffic maneuvers. God loves for people to turn to Him. He loves to forgive, even when the culture or churches label things, "unforgivable." He loves to be near to his creation and He loves for them to turn closer to Him. I apologize for all the times that you or someone dear to you may have felt like they can't be changed or forgiven by silly Christians. Just remember, Christians can't do the healing; only God can.

CAUTION! DO NOT ENTER!

Picture this: You are sitting in a room with a group of so-called "Christians." A new believer asks a question. The room falls completely silent as if a one-hundred-year-old glass has just been broken. People shift in their seats and the leader takes a deep-breath. What did they ask? What broke? What suddenly pitted these generally nice people against each other so suddenly? You don't understand and you look to your Christian friend beside you, she says in hushed tones, "Here we go..."

There are some things in the Christian faith that it seems that Christians themselves are not willing to talk about. Some have been burned by these things themselves, some have only heard of the devastation that came from these conversations. People leaving churches, people bashing each other. Most people from the outside see the desention and recognize a group of Christians by that very trait. Issues like baptism (sprinkle vs. immersion), instrumental music, praise teams, and other seemingly unimportant things become great "taboo" phrases among Christian circles. Why is that?

I think that it is because our generation has been hurt and burned and heard the stories from our parents. We are so afraid of these hurtful conversations that we often fail to engage in them in the first place. A major trait of the post-modern thinker is the pluralistic mindset of this generation. Unlike most of our parents and grandparents, we are not afraid to say that more than one viewpoint might just be okay. We are afraid to even admit that though, because that is not accepted by the older generations.

Like a road marked "Do not enter" we flee these issues. I think that we should be more willing to discuss these issues. It is a huge turn-off to non-believers and new Christians when we shut down their questions because we don't like talking about them. Perhaps we need to become even more post-modern in that we are conversational and communal about bring about solutions and truths. Sometimes, as we stand at the intersection of Christianity and Culture, we should not be afraid to go around the "do not enter" sign set by tradition and discover what may lie on the other side for ourselves.

The School Crossing

Have you ever felt run-over by a Christian? Have you ever felt as though, while trying to grasp a theological topic, you were bashed or shut down harshly by someone who has claimed to be "Christian"? I know that I have. The analogy I wish to draw this week has to do with the pedestrian crossing sign, specifically those seen in school zones. 

School zones and pedestrian warning signs are designed to protect those trying to cross a street. They might be going at a slower pace than those in the cars, but their lives are equally valuable, even more so because of their vulnerable condition without a metal cage on wheels protecting them. The children crossing the road are depicted on the sign to specify that the area has a special purpose. It is right to slow down in these areas to respect the children and the teachers. I think we can all agree on that. 

Now, how this relates to Christianity and Culture is a bit more of a stretch. I wish to point out how some times, Christians do not respect the faith of their younger or newer brothers and sisters. As the new Christian or non-believer is stepping out to answer or ask a question, many times they are run over because a Christian thinks they know the best answer. I would submit that sometimes, even though one might truly believe they have the best way or answer, one must slow down and let the other discover the answer. Experiential learning is the best kind of learning. Running people over because they are "slower," younger," or "unprotected" is absolutely wrong. Just as you would slow down for a pedestrian crossing or a school zone, sometimes we must slow down for the discovery of an answer or question to come from somewhere else. 

A Two Way Street

The first way that I wish to present culture is as a two way street. As in the picture, we see that the lanes are going different directions, exactly opposite of each other. I would like to submit that this happens between Christianity and Culture. Let’s look at how Paul deals with the situation in Ephesians:

 

“For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” Ephesians 5:5-10

             In the context of this passage, we see Paul rebuking and correcting believers because they were not living as though they were changed people. The culture around them was leading them in a different direction than that of Christ. I hold to the conviction that there are some things in this life we as Christians should abstain from because of the life that we now lead. Christ’s message was a sacred and holy blend of love and truth. I believe that most of the time, one is thrown out for the other. We LOVE the sinner to the point of ignoring the sin. I do not wish to sound harsh or rule abiding, but I do believe that God calls us to help people out of these things as He leads us. People in our generation are highly tolerant of sin because we are highly tolerant of other versions of the truth. Our culture’s truth is that people who don’t party, drink excessively and illegally, smoke anything, blow off their parents, or have pre-marital sex are missing out on the “fun” of life. This speaks very loudly in our ears all the time through the noise that we are constantly bombarded with through television, Internet sites, magazines, song lyrics, and movies. I believe in some ways we are as tolerant of the same inherently human problems as some of the first century church was. I am terrified that we are ignoring the sin in our world because we just want to love everyone. We can’t love them if we see them doing wrong and allow it to go on. Some things are a two-way street and we would do well to remember that and in love, as God calls us to, help people and ourselves keep our nose pointing in the “light” direction.