From Outrage to Action

I am tired of hearing about the newest example of human depravity.  Yesterday a disgruntle former employee murdered a reporter and cameraman as they were interviewing a guest live on the air.  This gunman then later took his own life.  This news has been all over any form of media and the responses have been generally responsible in the sensitive particulars of this story.  The shock, outrage, and grief is evident.

I do believe it is important to allow for the proper time for the grief process to occur.

But I also think we must talk about what else we need to do beyond moving through the stages of grief.  We need to move beyond our outrage and into action.

I am not in favor of OVER-reacting...but sensible steps can be taken.  Here are a few thoughts:

1.  Can we please develop some sensible laws about who can get access to guns and other weapons?  I am not in favor of removing all guns from the public but there are steps we can take to keep such weapons (and for the record I reject the notion that a gun is for defense- a gun is a weapon, not a shield), but I am in favor of keeping guns out of the hands of people who through negligence, ignorance, and irresponsibility pose a risk to others in the community.  Police and other armed officials train for hours and hours, and keep training, to understand the responsible care and use of such weapons.  Right now no such training or education is required for your average gun owner.  Traveling gun shows have little accountability on how and to whom they sell their weapons.  The rhetoric of the NRA lobbyists and the left winged opposition can be put aside to resume a discussion on methods to make gun ownership safe for would be owners and the community where they live!

2.  More important to me is the process of educating ourselves and our children on the danger of concepts such as anger and revenge.  We have parents teaching children that sometimes the only way to gain respect is through the use or willingness to use violence.  We praise aggressive behavior, model activity based upon anger, and lift up revenge as a romantic notion of righting wrongs.  How about talking to our children about the cost of violence, the damage hate does to a person's spirit, or the danger of acting in anger.

Better yet, why not teach (and model) to our children concepts such as healing, caring for one another, forgiveness, and reconciliation?  Why not encourage our families to develop empathy for others who might be different or seem foreign to us?  Jesus calls us to love our neighbor as our self.  When Paul describes love (agape) he uses words that are active, not feelings or emotions.

If all we do after this tragedy is talk about it for a couple of days, we leave it as a tragedy.  

On being Pro-Life and a supporter of Planned Parenthood

https://www.yahoo.com/politics/ted-cruz-to-pastors-no-delay-on-defunding-planned-127594562226.html

The above link is to an article about Ted Cruz and a conversation with Christian pastors about organizing to de-fund Planned Parenthood in the wake of recently released videos of upper level leadership discussing the sale of aborted fetal tissue.  Reading this article led to a couple of serious reflections on my part.

1.  I can not believe that there is an organization of Christian pastors dedicated to improving political involvement by ministers.  This American Renewal Project runs against the idea of separation of church and state.  As a Baptist minister serving in Indiana, this very concept seems foreign to the role of the church and its leadership.

2.  A bigger issue for me is the realization that around 3% of the budget for Planned Parenthood covered their expenditures in 2009 (http://www.factcheck.org/2011/04/planned-parenthood/) while a much larger percentage went towards other women's health services which included contraception, testing and treatment for STDs, and cancer screening.

I am Pro-life.  In every sense of that word, I am for the living.  I do not believe in abortion as it ends the possibility of human life.  (It is important for me to note now that I am still undecided on the moment I believe life begins- finding little common ground with life begins at conception or with the notion that life begins when a fetus can sustain itself independently of the mother).  However, I am also a Baptist who believes in the concept of soul liberty and the freedom of choice.  I do not think that it is my right to impose my viewpoint on anyone other than my own self.  I also believe I have NO right to tell a woman what she may or may not do with her body.  While one interest in this conversation shouts about the choice of the unborn, the other side lifts up the choice of the impending mother.  While difficult to navigate I am one of those who thinks that the rights of both muddy this issue and that each case should be evaluated with the interest of both mother and the unborn child.

This movement to de-fund Planned Parenthood appears to be an attack upon the concept of abortion itself.  Since politicians have failed to make abortion illegal in our nation, the next step seems to be to pull any financial support that might make this possible (was this not a similar tactic as those who opposed the so called Obamacare?).  Is it not interesting that this same value for life does not apply to the loose laws for gun ownership in this nation- especially when recognizing the percentage of these handguns involvement in the taking of human life.  If preserving life were really that important would we not be having a different discussion about gun ownership?  Taking funds away from Planned Parenthood will severely hamper the greater mission of the organization that directly invests in improving women's health and PREVENTING unwanted pregnancy.

It is why I find myself in a very tense position- being a Baptist minister who supports the concept of life, but also the work of any organization that works to preserve and aid life.  I believe it is possible to be Christian, Baptist, and support continued financial support of my tax dollars for Planned Parenthood.

Present(ce) of Christmas

I read a wonderful article the other day that did a great job tackling the myth of Christian persecution in the Christmas season (the "War" on Christmas, Keep Christ in Christmas, etc...).  The full link to the article is here:  http://www.organicstudentministry.com/?p=61156

I would add that many of these Christians who feel so called to defend Christmas are also the same ones lining up at the doors when they open on Black Friday (or Thursday) to get great deals.  Because let's be honest, Jesus talked about discount shopping in a nation of excess almost as much as the Kingdom of God, right?  If there is a "war"...I'm not sure who is fighting on which side, never mind what the sides are.

But I do think there is an important point in the Christmas season which continues to be overlooked.  When speaking with many church members as we talk about the importance of Christmas many of them boil down the significance to the arrival of Jesus.  Why was that important?  He came so that he could save us from our sins.  I do not disagree with this statement but I also believe that an important point is missing.  We Christians celebrate a separate holiday for when Christ saved us from our sin (We call it Easter- proof that maybe Christians have lost this war since Easter comes from a pagan term-- I should point out I don't buy this argument as Christians have been adapting pagan cultures and traditions into many of our practices).  No, I believe there is a point in the Christmas season that is overlooked and its the presence of God.

It is no accident that God With Us is a title given to Immanuel.  In the birth of Jesus God became fully human- entering into a relationship with all of creation in an intimate way never before understood.  And so often we overlook just how powerful this moment in history truly is.  Yes, it is the arrival of God's Promise to the Chosen People.  Yes, it is the culmination of generations of waiting.  Yes, it is a new definition of "people of God" that transcends borders, race, socio-economic and now even sexuality.  But first, and always foremost, Christmas is about being present.

About being present the way my 10 year old still insists on climbing into my lap when we watch a movie at home.  Being present in the way my 13 year old son always asks if I am coming to his basketball game (and then ignores me while I am there so I can not embarrass him- which never works- I take pride in my ability to say or do something to embarrass my 13 year old son).  Being present with my wife in the evening after the kids are in bed and we relax from a long day of work, after school activities, etc...

There is power in being in another person's Presence.  And I mean when that other and you are both FULLY present for one another- giving your full attention, care, and support.  This is what happened with the arrival of Jesus- God came down, climbed into the lap of the world (or rather, cradled the world in his lap) and spent some serious quality time together.  The Christmas season is about being present with those whom we love!  They are family by whatever definition we choose.  And this intimate time is a Divine gift.  For whenever we are present in such a way we are reminded that God too is present in that moment.

Merry Christmas my friends and loved ones.  I really do hope you get lots of presence this year.

God Loves Uganda

Last night I had an opportunity to sit down and watch a recently release documentary entitled, "God Love Uganda."  The documentary featured the work of conservative evangelical Christians who have used a version of the good news about Jesus Christ to this nation in order to promote and incite homophobia and hate in this African nation.

It was a painful video for me to watch as these self proclaimed missionaries, serving the good news about Jesus worked to brainwash an entire nation of people.  This ideology has spread and been twisted to the point where Uganda has now passed an Anti-gay bill into law in the country where known (or even suspected) homosexuals can be jailed for life.  For repeat offenders, the bill allows the death penalty.

A link to the website, complete with access to the video is here: 
http://www.godlovesuganda.com/

One of the men in this film, Scott Lively, is currently on trial in the US courts for inciting the murder and torture of homosexuals in that nation.  He is accused of violating human rights in this African nation with the spread of hate couched in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Is this the pastorate that God calls us into?  How is it that the desire to serve Christ can so easily be turned into a campaign of hate and intolerance? 

The actions of this IHOP community seem to border on the edge of criminal in its activity and scope.  It concerns me greatly that a community that is supposedly concerned with sharing the good news about Jesus Christ has become de-railed by this attempt to build a homogenous community of like minded people.  It appalls me that this community might be grounded not in the love for all of creation but instead of in hate for those they perceive as sinners. 

What can we do to call this community, and others that share these sentiments into a sense of responsibility for the message of love that Jesus calls us to share?  How can we avoid the judgment and condemnation that I so quickly want to cast upon these efforts so that we can engage this community in a healthy, authentic manner where growth and understanding can blossom?

Prader-Willi and Food as an Idol

We have some very good friends who have a child with Prader-Willi syndrome.  This is a genetic issue that manifests itself in many different ways, but one common issue everyone with Prader-Willi shares is an insatiable appetite.  This terrible condition leaves those afflicted with a never ending desire to eat.  The condition is so great that refrigerators, pantries, and other avenues for food storage must be locked at all times and their contents carefully monitored and managed to prevent people with this condition from literally eating themselves to death.  For more on Prader-Willi, please see this link http://pwsausa.org/

But recently they made a comment about what will happen when their daughter reaches this age where the hunger is triggered and their concern over how it will affect her, their other children, and even their relationships with other friends and family.  We get together often with them and other friends at events such as parties, Colts games, etc... and every time we gather there is a great host and selection of food available.  We all pitch in and share and no matter what the purpose of the gathering eating is an important part of each get together. 

Ministerially thinking, it has led me to consider the balance between food and eating as an important bond of fellowship and food as an idol.  Our American society is dominated by the abundant presence of a food culture.  We throw away more food in a week than many populations have available in the same amount of time.  Eating together is an important aspect of fellowship (think of how often our social time is connected to food and eating- dates, parties, celebrations, etc...).  The Scriptures are full of these references from the Jewish kosher system to the New Testament examples of the Last Supper (part of the Jewish feast) and early fellowship issues (food sacrificed to idols, etc..).  It is obvious that food plays an important part of establishing and developing human relationships.

So then how do we respond to our friends when food and eating has become for many purposes the enemy?  How do we prepare for that moment when the trigger kicks in and this darling little girl develops an insatiable appetite?  Is there a way to redeem the importance of a shared common meal together as a means of fellowship without allowing these gatherings to become an idol to excess?

Of course there is.  But it will take some adjustments.  It will ask us to place more importance on the fellowship of community and less on cakes, treats, and grilling out.  It will force us to consider whether we enjoy each other's company based upon our personalities or on our culinary expertise.  It will shift our emphasis to focus around the joy of community and the event planned rather than bowing down to worship at an idolatrous dinner table.  These are important adjustments that this community of friends will be asked to make.  I believe that these adjustments are important and necessary.  Not just for the sake of this family and their precious daughter, but also for the sake of the community of our friends gathering. 

If one is a believer in the resurrection of Christ, then it is important to understand that the resurrection is about life.  It is about life in abundance.  It is about a transformed way of existence that pays attention both to the blessings of the present and the hope for the future.  The resurrection of Christ Jesus reminds us that God did not just die for us-  God lives for us!  And calls us to be alive as well.  This gift of community, this presence of friends and loved ones, reveals the abundant life God makes possible to us today.  This adjustment will not just be about a sensitivity to the needs of our friends.  It won't be just a change so that a growing child has a chance to be included.  It will be a commitment from us all- friends and loved ones- to discover and reclaim the gift of life and fellowship that God has provided for us.

World Vision, Missions, and Sin

In the past couple of days, World Vision had decided, then reversed the decision to hire and allow same sex couples and gay people to serve within its organization.  Their reasoning was that gay marriage is now allowed in so many states and some denominations are starting to recognize the validity of same sex marriages in their tradition.  In an effort to be respectful to the changing approach World Vision wanted to honor the decisions made by these states and churches without making any comments on their own version of legitimacy or understanding of Scripture.

It was, for a short time, a breakthrough of sorts.  At least while it lasted.

The reaction was strong and vocal from the religious right (specifically the Southern Baptist leadership) as calls immediately came to withhold funding to the organization in protest of its recent decision.  Even though World Vision was an organization dedicated to serving those in poverty all over the world he religious right refused to contribute to World Vision and its fight against poverty because of a theological issue.  Now, who loses?  You've already figured this out, right?  Children and families living in poverty all over the world.  How faithful is it to say to people all over the world, "My theology means more than your survival!"

Now, I believe that this withheld support would then be channeled into different agencies.  In fact I will list all of the new agencies targeted for increased donations as these groups withheld their support from World Vision here in this report:








Yep.  This was never about that.  It was about applying financial pressure on an organization to accomplish their goal.  It has been suggested that this is financial bullying. Now, this happens all of the time in our world and we have discovered that the contemporary manner to wage war is with economics.  Hard to condemn a group for withholding financial support to achieve their goal since this is a standard practice today.

I do have an issue with the pressure affecting an innocent party, such as people living in poverty worldwide.  This behavior is the same as church members withholding their contributions to churches when they are upset about an issue(s).  More people are affected than just the party with which you are displeased.

Is the difference between our understanding and interpretation of Scripture so important that this difference of understanding becomes more important than the mission of carrying the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world?  For the religious right, it appears that this answer is yes.  Because suddenly World Vision was not a company devoted to fighting poverty worldwide, but an organization leading people astray with a demented version of faith.  Never mind that this change in policy would have,  in no way, affected the work of the agency. 

For me, this crosses an important line.  Being correct becomes more important than being loving.  Theology trumps service and mission.  The "I" becomes more important than "Christ".  It is idolatrous. 

When this happens, it is our responsibility to offer hope, healing, and repentance to the afflicted.  I am not in favor of withdrawing from the religious right and this righteous call to only support straight people.  I am in favor of increased dialogue on how we together, with our differences, can continue to advance the good news of Jesus Christ together:  To discover and work according to the common ground we share to care for the sick, the poor, and those living in need.

And honestly, I am not sure World Vision is the organization to choose.  Roughly, only about 85 cents of every dollar donated goes to actually help people in poverty worldwide.  While that is a respectable percentage, it means that about 15% of each donation goes to other avenues such as advertising, salary for employees, administrative costs, etc...

In my own denomination we offer three separate special mission offerings where 100% of your donation go directly to help those in need.  To fight hunger and poverty across the globe, we support missionaries through the World Mission Offering:

http://www.internationalministries.org/drives/12

And there is a special offering collected that is used to bring hope, healing, and recovery to emergency situations such as tsunamis, tornadoes, etc... the One Great Hour of Sharing  100% of these funds that are designated go directly to help in the situation a donor requests:

http://abc-oghs.org/

The administrative costs of these agencies are supplied through other gifts and offerings so that your gifts go directly and completely toward your desired goal.

And this is only the American Baptist denomination.  Chances are other groups have other organizations that offer 100% return on your mission investment.

More importantly than this is the concept that we can disagree on what is and is not sinful and still minister together in the work that God has set before us.  It saddens me that World Vision reversed its decision based on pressure from this religious right who demand it conform to its own theology.  But this sadness does not discourage me from wanting to work with the religious right, left, and center towards reaching out to a hurting, needy world.

Shame on us for fighting about this when there is so much work to do.

Does God Hate?

In preparing for a message on Sunday I found myself looking at a series of passages in the Bible that have caused me an undue amount of distress.  Specifically, I ran into a group of passages that talk about God hating...hating sin, disobedience, wicked people, etc...

Here are some of the sample passages:

Psalm 5:5- you (God) hate all who do wrong

Psalm 11:5- the wicked and those who love violence his (God's) soul hates

Leviticus 20:23

Proverbs 6:16-19

Hosea 9:15

Deuteronomy 12:31

Malachi 1:3- God loves Jacob and hates Esau (?)

Amos 5:21- God hates, despises the feasts...

Revelation 2:15- Jesus hates the Nicolatians

Hate is defined as an extreme aversion for or extreme hostility towards.  In Freudian psychology, hate is an ego state that wishes to destroy the source of its unhappiness.

In my work as a pastor, I have been drawn to the stories in Scripture of God's love for creation, people, and the desire to redeem those who have been lost.  Paul speaks of love as an activity in I Corinthians 13.  John tells us that God is love and anyone who claims to love God yet hate their brother is a liar (I John 4:20).

It does not make sense to me that the Divine could be in the business of hate.  Especially hate as defined by Freud.  If hate seeks to destroy, if hate is extreme aversion and hostility towards an object, then how/why would God ever go through the process of salvation?  Why save us?

I have heard the argument hate the sin, love the sinner, and reject this.  The sin is a part of the sinner, not an independent aspect of them.  I do not believe it is possible to separate the sin from the sinner.

And is there even any room for hate to exist where love is?  I am not sure this is possible. 

In spite of all the references in Scripture to God hating sin, wickedness, etc...  I find it difficult to accept that God could hate anything about us as human beings.  We are God's creation.  We are who Jesus came to rescue.  Why would God rescue us if there was a part of us that God hated?

Its why I believe that as Christians, as followers of Jesus, we should work to eliminate hate from our vocabulary- and not just by erasing the word, but by overcoming the concept.  Hate does lead us to destroy, whether in our heart or in real life.  It is a poison which affects and infects and shares no benefit with us.

I believe that this struggle to understand will continue.