Posted inRaw Thoughts viralJesus (main)

Evil.

September 11, 2009

800px-wtc-2004-memorialI don’t know why I turned on the tv in the morning 8 years ago today, September 11, 2001. I was up for an early staff breakfast, and watching the news wasn’t part of my morning routine. But I distinctly remember feeling the need to turn it on. It took me a few minutes to understand what I was seeing. A few minutes later I watched a second plane hit, then a tower collapse live. And then I knew what it was:

Evil.

There are some who disagree. They say this was justice – payback for years of American Imperialism and greed – some even say God’s judgement against us. If you want to decide what’s God’s judgement and what’s not (say for instance you’re John Piper and you like to interpret the weather), more power to you. I don’t claim that prophetic authority, and it is God’s to judge the merits of those who do. For me, one thing was abundantly clear: brutally murdering thousands of men, women, and children is evil. Cowardly, vile, despicable, murderous, and evil.

Posted inRaw Thoughts viralJesus (main) What does God want?

Justice begins at home.

June 5, 2009

obeyContinuing on my public processing of vexing questions, let’s pick up here – I promised to post “the things I am mostly almost pretty sure are true about justice. Maybe.” And so I shall. At least I shall try.

Global justice is a big chalupa. Economic, social, political, and religious inequities abound. I am increasingly convinced that during this moment of grace we live in – somewhere between the Resurrection and the Final Judgement, injustice will continue to abound. This is not to say I am fatalistic about the subject. God commands us to pursue justice, and we must, even if we can’t fix it all. 

But I find in Scripture a profound emphasis on another term that find itself in vogue today – personal responsibility. Simply put, justice begins with me. God’s heart is that I first and foremost consider my own actions. Have I marginalized, oppressed, manipulated or misused? Have I gone out of my way to use money, position, relationship, and authority in ways that honor, benefit, and respect others? Some proof texts are included below.

 

There is, however, a seemingly subtle yet vital distinction that could be a danger here. We must seek to rid our lives of prejudice, bigotry, hatred, and injustice. But we must not define these concepts or allow them to be defined by our own experience, pre-conceived notions, or soceital norms. Our culture does not define justice. Justice does not conform to our personal history, moral equivalence, social contruction theory, or any other relativistic norm.

God defines justice.

 

Posted inRaw Thoughts viralJesus (main) What does God want?

Five: The Extra Mile, pt. 1

November 1, 2008

A lot has been said lately in our national dialog about concern for the poor (or at least the poorer than you). There’s a raging debate about “spreading the wealth around.” Is it Socialism? Is it good, compassionate fiscal policy? I even heard a guy on the radio expounding on how the book of Acts espouses the same principles and could be considered a Socialist text. This guy was, of course, an avowed atheist of the ilk that likes to quote Bible verses as proof that American Christians are hypocritical. And that got me thinking…

DISCLAIMER: Just about everything in this post is mostly for me. I am not writing to anyone external, I am writing to myself. If you find yourself in the same boat, so be it. And I don’t think I am doing ANYTHING right on this topic in my own life. Think of this as sermon to me, at the end of which I responded to call to repentance and said “yep, that’s me. I suck.”

The early church in Jerusalem for a time had a very communal approach to life. There isn’t definitive evidence that the extreme level of sharing they were practicing extended to every community of faith, but it IS very clear from Church history that concern for the needs of others – especially “the poor” was paramount. Paul even recounts Peter, James and John’s only instruction to him, when they gave him the right hand of fellowship (a phrase we really ought to revive) was to “remember the poor“.

The debate now is fascinating – many Christians have come to believe that a government that cares for the needs of the “poor” or “poorer” (however you define that) by means of taking money from the “rich” (however you define that) is a righteous form of government, and making sure our leaders push through that agenda is more important than any other moral issue. Many Christians believe helping the poor should be the work of the Church, so government should stay out of it and leave the giving to us. Inexplicably, many of the people in camp #2 fight for less taxation and then do very little or nothing at all to directly help the poor (beyond small donations to their local church or some other “distance giving” activity). Which makes the people in camp #1 think the gov. should take their money so they would be forced to do the right thing.

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A Savior on Capitol Hill

October 14, 2008

Okay – brief break from the assignment to myself (See the last posts). ‘Cause it’s political time – might as well get caught up in ELECTION FEVER (as Craig Ferguson puts it). And yes, I stole the title of this post from Derek Webb.

It’s that time again to look to Washington for salvation – from budget crises and overseas terrorists. I wrote before a post called The Politics of Faith about our sometimes obsession as people of faith with political heroes. I won’t rehash it all, but I do want to approach this from another angle…

The hip thing these days is to mock and ridicule the “other side” in politics. This creates an environment where it is tempting to get into wars of words and witticisms, both on TV and around the water cooler. The question, then, becomes “what should people of faith do in such an environment?” Is it our responsibility to determine which candidates are best for our country from a moral and even a spiritual perspective and attempt to thoughtfully defend those candidates around the office and the lunch table? Shouldn’t we be the people who advocate forcefully for candidates that hold to Judeo-Christian principles? Shouldn’t we try to convince people who they should vote for?

It’s a dilemma to be sure. On the one hand, we would like to see things go “our way” (whatever you have determined that to be). But many of us also live in environments that are hostile to our worldview, and choosing our political candidate based on that prism opens us up to heated attack and even ridicule. In a place like Seattle, I am even seeing a trend amongst Christian-types – a concerted effort to rationalize the dispensing of certain moral criteria in order to support candidates that will gain them a little more credit with co-workers and friends.

 

Who would Jesus vote for?

That’s what we’re trying to figure out. Some of us say he would vote Democrat because of social justice, and anyone who elevates other moral issues above helping the poor is not a real Christian. Some of us say he would vote Republican because of abortion and gay marriage and anyone elevates helping the poor above these issues is not a real Christian. Who would Jesus really vote for?