Category: idolatry

Posted on

Little Shop of Horrors?

Earlier this week, I drove a busload to a local high school to see a performance of “Little Shop of Horrors.”  It was a fun way to spend an afternoon, and it even provoked some thoughts. Disclaimer: my thoughts are not always normal.

The play is set in a failing flower shop on Skid Row. One of the employees, a young man named Seymour, comes into possession of an unusual plant that looks somewhat like a Venus Flytrap. The plant appeared mysteriously after a total eclipse. After the plant is displayed, the shop begins to do a booming business. Seymour soon realizes that keeping the plant alive and growing requires human blood.

As time goes on, the shop begins to prosper more and more, and Seymour himself begins to be famous. He is in high demand, and begins to fall into the “end justifies the means” trap. After a couple people end up dead and eaten, Seymour realizes that things are beginning to get out of control. However, he doesn’t know how to get himself out of this mess that he is in. After losing the woman he loves to the plant, he tries to  kill it and ends up being eaten himself. Because of an earlier deal Seymour had made with a grower, the plants are propagated and end up taking over the world.

As I watched the performance, I began to think about the Church, and its relationship to politics. Those of us who claim to follow the King of Kings are subjects of a Kingdom that transcends earthly kingdoms. The problems come when the Church, like Seymour, latch on to things that we think will bring power and prestige and allow us to influence others. We think, like Seymour, “What’s a little blood? It doesn’t take much, and it’s helping the cause so much!” We don’t realize that, like the plant, the systems of this world will not be satisfied with just a little blood. They continually cry, “Feed me!,” and demand greater and greater allegiance.

Look at the times when the Church has mixed with the state, from Constantine through the religious wars of Europe, through Germany in the 1930s and on into today’s struggles in Europe and the United States. The Church (Seymour) has enjoyed some brief periods of power and influence, but ultimately it’s been the state (the plant) that has come out the winner. The lure of using the power of the state to promote the Church is seductive, and it does make things better for some, for awhile. But the cost is far greater than we realize.

We are called to proclaim that Jesus is the True King, that he calls us to follow and obey him, and that he will return some day to consummate his Kingdom and set everything right. As part of that, we are called to speak the truth, whether that is to our neighbors, or to those in positions of power. We cannot speak truth to those in power if we are tangled up with them. As George Bernard Shaw said, “Never wrestle with a pig because you’ll both get dirty, and the pig likes it.”

Since our allegiance is to be given to the King of Kings, we should stay away from entangling ourselves with the powers of this world. It may be satisfying for awhile, but eventually they will eat us.

Posted on

Palm Sunday: The Coming of the King

On Palm Sunday, Christians commemorate Jesus’ entry into the city of Jerusalem. It was just before the Passover celebration and the city was full of pilgrims who had traveled many miles to participate. The city was also full of Roman soldiers who were brought in to keep the peace. Tensions ran high, as many of the Jews were hoping that this year would be the year that the Messiah would come and lift the boot of Rome off their necks.

As Jesus rode into the city on a donkey, the crowd hailed him as the King who was prophesied.  They thought he would call all Israel to himself and send the Romans back to where they came from, restoring the glory that Israel had back in the days of David. After all, it was prophesied that a descendant of David would come and take the throne.

The people were correct. Jesus was the King that they had been waiting for. What they didn’t understand was the kind of King he was. They were looking for a King who would drive out the oppressors, who would rule a kingdom where everyone kept Torah, who would make Israel great again. Their focus was on an earthly king and an earthly kingdom. Pilate misunderstood too. He put a notice at the top of the cross proclaiming that this man being crucified was “Jesus, the King of the Jews,” in effect telling all who saw that Rome was powerful enough to do this to any would be king who challenged their authority.

I fear that many Christians in the West suffer from the same misunderstanding of Jesus. Yes, he is King. Yes, he is going to return and set everything right. But, his kingdom is still not a kingdom of this world, and it does not come by earthly means. We can not bring in the kingdom at the ballot box or in the halls of government. No government or nation can lay claim to being a “Christian” government or nation. No matter how good a nation may be, it is still a kingdom of this world. Babylon still exists in different forms around the world, and those who follow the True King are not to put their hopes in, or give their allegiance to Babylon. Our allegiance is only to Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Followers of Jesus realize that when he returns, it will be on his timetable. We can not work to arrange things in order to speed his return. None of that is in our hands. It’s a good thing, because we would royally screw it up.

Involvement in government is not necessarily a bad thing, as long as it does not take the place of doing justice, loving mercy, walking humbly with God, loving God with all our being, and loving others as ourselves. These days, that may be the most subversive, revolutionary thing we can do. It may get us in trouble in some circles, but we are called to follow our King wherever he leads, just as the early Christians did.

How many of us are willing to do that?

 

Posted on

Christian Nationalism?

Back in the early 80s, (yes I am that old) I was what you might call a Reagan Republican. I was a pretty conservative evangelical who believed that it was the Christian’s responsibility to influence government in ways that reflected God’s kingdom. I remember voting pretty much straight ticket Republican, except for the Senate race where the Democrat was more conservative than the liberal Republican. I was a teacher in a small Christian school affiliated with the Accelerated Christian Education folks. The writings of North and Rushdoony came across my desk and I earned a Master’s degree in Public Affairs, with an eye of possibly going into government. Of course, that was the time when the federal government put a freeze on hiring. I spent a summer carrying my resume all around downtown Washington in stifling heat in a futile attempt to convince someone that they should hire me. We moved to another town, and that idea disappeared.

The idea of “Christian Nationalism” was something confined to a few writers who believed that the country should be governed under Old Testament law. Fast forward to today. The words “Christian” and “Nationalism” have been combined to describe a philosphy that believes that the United States is and always has been a Christian nation and Christians should seek to take control and govern the country according to the Bible. Many believe that America is a special nation that has been blessed by God and that we must bring America “back to God.” A few years ago, I might have agreed with at least some of that thinking. Something happened though. I began to read the New Testament, especially the gospels, and in particular the teachings of Jesus.

Now, I still believe that 2 Timothy 3:16-17 is true, that all Scripture is given by God for us, but I have come to believe that the teachings of the apostles found in the New Testament are not simply stand alone writings. They are the teachings telling the early Christians, and us, how to practically live out the teachings of Jesus. The teachings of Jesus in the gospels is where we start. Jesus didn’t come to earth just to die on a cross. He came to teach and to show us who the Father is. He spoke of a Kingdom that is not of this world, of how to enter that Kingdom, and of how to live as a subject of the true King. Not once can you find Jesus telling someone to ask him into their heart, but you can find many times when he told folks to follow him. That meant more than just going around the countryside with him and listening to what he said. To follow a rabbi as disciple meant to become like the rabbi. Jesus even said that those who did not obey his teachings had no place in his Kingdom.

The early Christians got in trouble with the Roman Empire, not because they were preaching that you had to accept Jesus in order to go to heaven when you die, but because they were proclaiming that this man from Galilee that the Romans executed had risen from the dead and was the one True King. That meant that Caesar was not the true king. The early Christians obeyed the laws of the empire, but they refused to pledge allegiance to Caesar. This continued for roughly three hundred years. Then Constantine claimed to have seen a cross in the sky, and made Christianity a legal religion. You could say that he was the first politician to use the Church for his own political ends. The next step was the decree by Theodosius I that Christianity was the official religion of the Roman Empire. It was downhill from there.

History has shown that combining church and state tends to benefit those in both who are willing to use the other for their own ends, but it has also shown that while the state and the offical church gain, those who follow Jesus are often persecuted like those in the early Church. The state and the church wash each other’s backs and anyone who doesn’t go along with them is out. The founding of the United States was an attempt to end that, with the exception of those that saw this new land as a sort of a “new Israel.” For the most part that separation of church and state was successful for a couple hundred years. Now, that seems to be changing, at least in some circles. There are people who are calling for the Church to lead the state, for the laws of the country to favor one religion (“Christianity”) over all others. Many are using words and phrases that are only properly applied to Jesus Christ. “The best hope for mankind,” “The savior of our country,” among others.

In the first half of the last century, a man sought to gain power by promising the people that he would restore the nation to its formet glory and lead them to even more greatness and power. He promised a regime that would last a thousand years, surpassing even the Roman Empire. That man was Adolf Hitler. One of the groups supporting Hitler was something called the “German Christian Movement”. (sound familiar?) They saw him as someone who would end the decadence in Germany and purify it. A poster from the time features an image of Martin Luther, along with a swastika and the words, “Hitler’s fight and Luther’s teaching are the best defense for the German people.” Of course, we know how that pairing of church and state turned out.

The Kingdom that we belong to as followers of Jesus is a Kingdom that is not from this world. It is a Kingdom that comes through love and service, rather than power and force. It is a Kingdom that works from the inside out, not through law and coercion. It has been said that the Kingdom of God comes, not through a sword, but through a towel. Unfortunately, the Church has forgotten that through the centuries, and has aligned itself with the kingdoms of this world in an attempt to bring God’s Kingdom to this earth. Instead, these unholy unions have only brought war, bloodshed, and oppression. The nations have disappeared or been greatly reduced and the church has suffered. What would lead us to think that the results would be any less disastrous in our day.

Some (many?) of you may disagree with me. That’s your prerogative. I would only ask that you look at the history of the early Church. I would especially ask that you look at what Jesus himself said about his Kingdom. The Sermon on the Mount is a good place to start.

Posted on

Summertime, and the Living is…

I wrote this as part of our church’s monthly newsletter, and thought I’d share it here.

Officially, summer is not here yet, but the temperatures are getting summery, and the tropics are already heating up for a busy storm season. It seems that the weather is not the only thing heating up. All we have to do is read or watch the news, and it becomes obvious that the culture around us is growing hotter as well. The violence in the country is rising at what seems to be a faster pace than ever before. I fear that it may not be long before that spirit of violence spills over into people and groups we would never think would be affected. The rhetoric coming from those who desire to be called our leaders is becoming incendiary, and even some who claim to belong to Christ are joining in.

We however, are called to be different. We are called, as followers of the Prince of Peace, to be peacemakers. We are commanded to be humble, seeking only to glorify our King. We are called to love our neighbors as ourselves, even if those neighbors are our enemies. We are even commanded to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. Talk about counter cultural! 

I believe that Christ is beginning to winnow his Church. The time may come quickly when those of us who claim Jesus as our King will have to put up or shut up. The dividing line will become sharper and clearer. If and when that time comes, we will need each other. We will have to show that love for others that we say we have, and trust our Father to take care of us.

Let’s not wait until we are forced to depend on one another. Let’s begin now.

Posted on

What Kind of Kingdom?

It’s a few days before what we call Palm Sunday, the day Jesus came in to Jerusalem to the loud aclaim of the crowds of people. Jesus has told his disciples that the time for him to go to Jerusalem and die was drawing near. Judging by some of the things they said and did, they seem to have forgotten the part about dying. As the week goes on, Jesus continues to teach about the kingdom of God. He has raised Lazarus from the dead, further solidifying in the minds of many that he was the promised Messiah. Because of all this, the Jewish leaders are plotting to kill him.

I can imagine the excitement building in the disciples as they draw nearer to the city. It’s almost time for Passover, the annual celebration of Israel’s deliverance from bondage in Egypt. Some had been saying that when the Messiah came, he would lead a new Exodus and deliver Israel from theit bondage from the pagan Roman oppressors. This may have been at the forefront of the minds of some of the disciples. We know that some of them were zealots who would have gladly taken part in an armed revolt if Jesus gave the word.

Perhaps the feeling was similar to that of some of those who gathered at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. Many of those folks seemd to equate the United States, and the rule of a particular person, with the kingdom of God. Some of the loudest voices in the rally that day were preachers, and many of the symbols carried by those in the crowd were Christian symbols. “Prophets” abounded, each one assuring their listeners that God had ordained what they said was going to happen and that these things were necessary for God to bless America.

I wonder if there were those in the crowd following Jesus who proclaimed to those around them that this Jesus was going to lead them in a great battle in which the hated Romans would be destroyed and that they would “make Israel great again.” There were those who were quite willing to kill Romans, Jewish ‘traitors,” or anyone else who stood in their way. Perhaps this Jesus was going to begin the revolution.

As we study the New Testament, and at least the first 300 years of church history, we quickly notice that those who thought the kingdom of God would come in by force were way off. The kingdom was established, but it was established by the King submitting himself to the powers that be, letting them kill him in the most shameful, horrific way known at the time, and then overcoming them by rising from the dead.

Over the centuries, many who call themselves followers of Jesus seem to have forgotten that he taught that his kingdom is not a kingdom of this world, that it does not come by human strength or force. This is true in the United States today. Many of those with the loudest voices on January 6 were part of a group that believes that Christians should be in charge, and that the government should enact laws and policies that favor Christians above all others. Some would even go so far as to enforce Old Covenant law. The problem with this kind of thinking is simple. It has nothing to do with the Gospel or any of the teachings of Jesus.

Jesus taught that we are to first love God with every fiber of our being. We can easily say that we love God, but do we really? The second greatest commandment, according to Jesus, is to love others as we love ourselves. The Apostle John tells us that if we don’t love another, who is made in God’s image, how can we say we love God? If you were to read through or listen to the speeches that have been made regarding the political state of this country, I seriously doubt you would find much, if anything, that shows love to God or love to others. Instead you would find much vitriol and anger toward others.

If we going to call ourselves Christians (“Christ ones”), wouldn’t it make sense to look at what he taught, and what his disciples continued to teach, and follow that? The thrust of much of what the apostles wrote was to tell their readers to live like who they were. They weren’t citizens of this world anymore, they were citizens of a heavenly kingdom. The old had gone. The new had come. We too, need to live like who we are. We are no longer citizens of this world and its kingdoms. We are citizens and heirs of the unshakeable kingdom of God.

May our lives reflect who we are and whose we are.

Posted on

Native Tongue

I was listening to this song the other day, and I got to thinking about the lyrics and how they ring true to much of what is going on today. As someone who came of age in the 1970s, I remember well the hippie movement and the somewhat naive belief that the young could change the world. Woodstock, the Summer of Love, the protests against the war in Vietnam, and the Jesus Movement were all attempts to make the world a better place. Even with all the baggage that came with these things, there was a certain innocence and hope that was clearly present. Like any movement, there were those elements that sought to tear down and destroy, but I believe that we had the right idea, even if some twisted it for their own selfish ends. Many of us believed that we could change the world through love, even if some didn’t understand what love really was.

Fast forward fifty years or so, and I ask the same question that is posed in the lyrics to the song: “My friend, where did we go wrong?” Many of the very folks who spoke about love and peace, who helped end a war and bring down a corrupt President, turned into the ones who have accepted and particpated in the combative dialogue and actions of the last few years. The idea of love has been left in the dust of power and influence. The loudest voices today are the ones that speak of shutting down, and even destroying the “other side.” The ideas of working together for the common good seem to have disappeared, and love has become something that is reserved only for those who agree with us in every area.

What saddens me the most is that those of us who call ourselves followers of the Prince of Peace don’t seem to be any more loving than those who don’t claim Christ. I have seen posts on social media and heard things from the lips of Christians that are hateful rather than loving, and spiteful rather than gracious. Many have traded a kingdom of love for a kingdom of this world that demands that we put others down. This should not be. If we truly belong to Jesus Christ, love is our native tongue. If we truly are born of the Spirit, love is our default. Will we always love perfectly? No. But we will strive to do what our King commands.

Fellow Christians, I want us to sing in our native tongue, to sing it like when we were young, back before the pendulum had swung to the shadows. Fellow Christians, I want us to learn to use our lungs for love and not the shadows.

Posted on

Thoughts on Epiphany, 2021

The word epiphany, at its core, means a revealing. This past Wednesday was Epiphany Day, and the events that unfolded in Washington, DC and other cities revealed a few things.

First, they revealed the true nature of some, not all of the supporters of Donald Trump. I recognize that many of the folks who have supported him the past four years are good people with motives they consider right. Having said that, I also believe that many of the folks that have ridden the Trump train have done so because they do not want to see “their side:, whatever that is, lose power. Many of the Republicans who are now loudly speaking out against him had nothing to say the last four years because they wanted to keep their party in power. There are folks who are afraid that white Americans will lose power and “those people” will take all our liberties away. I believe that this fear has led many to embrace some of the conspiracy theories swirling around the recent election. If a theory about the election, or anything else for that matter, is put forth by someone who believes that lizard people are among us and out to take all our children away to be eaten or turned into zombies, it’s probably not true.

The other thing the events of last Wednesday revealed is the utter bankruptcy of trying to do the work of the Kingdom of God using the tools of the world. There is actually a huge conspiracy out there. It is the conspiracy of the ruler of the powers of the air, i.e. satan. He has been conspiring and attempting to destroy God’s creation ever since the beginning. He is the father of lies, and is constantly trying to hinder what God is doing by attacking and dividing. He has succeeded in dividing the Church in America, because we have bought the lies that our political allegiance is paramount, that the ballot box will determine if the Church will succed or fail. I was appalled to see banners with Jesus on them carried next to Trump banners, as if they were equal. I was disheartened to see the Christian flag carried into the chambers of Congress by members of the mob. I am saddened by the preachers who stand in front of rallies and proclaim that they must fight to preserve their rights. Peter tried that in the garden and Jesus told him to put his sword away. And don’t quote the verse to me where the disciples tell Jesus they had two swords and he said that was enough. Do you really believe he was saying two swords would be enough to fight against the Roman Empire?

I don’t care on which side of the aisle we place ourselves. If we claim to follow the One who said his Kingdom was not from this world, who told his followers to love their enemies, who willingly gave himself over to the authorities to be killed, we have no business condemning folks who disagree with us. We have no business hitching our wagon to the star of any political party. Neither Trump nor Biden is equal to Jesus. The United States is not equal to the Kingdom of God. We have no business downgrading our faith by taking it down to the level of our political ideas.

Followers of Jesus, we have work to do. There are too many who have taken the mission of the Kingdom and turned it into gaining earthly power and influence. There are too many who are making Republicans, or Democrats, or Libertarians instead of making disciples of King Jesus. I can understand why many have rejected the message. It’s because we have either proclaimed the wrong message or we have hidden the real message under layers of garbage. We must return to telling others that there really is a King, that he died to free us from sin and death, that he rose again because he had broken the power of death, and that he calls everyone to follow him. We must tell them that this King will return and that he will set everything right. Along with this proclamation, we must show the world that it is true by the way we live our lives, loving each other, loving our enemies, and living out our sole allegiance to the King of Kings over and above any other party or man.

God help us to recapture the gospel.

Posted on

A Plea to Christians

In the next few days, we here in the United States will elect a President. It seems to be a close race, and because of circumstances we may not know the winner by the end of the day on Tuesday. There is a lot of talk in print media and the internet about unrest and possible violence in the next week or so. Some of that is nothing but fear mongering, but some it has credible evidence behind it. Our nation seems to be divided as badly as it has ever been. There is even talk in some circles about civil war. I am not a prophet, nor do I play one on TV, but I do believe that violence is possible after Tuesday because of the emotions that have been raging in the last few months. I hope I am wrong. I also hope that what I have seen and heard out of some who call themselves followers of Jesus is an aberration.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in the days and weeks to come, if this country falls into the division and unrest that many foresee, remember to whom we belong. We are followers of the True King, and ambassadors for his Kingdom. While we may be citizens of the United States, it is not our true home. Like Abraham, we are strangers in a strange land. Our identity is not found in our ethnic make up, our lineage, our nationality, or our political beliefs. We are not Christian Americans or American Christians. We are Christians who live in America. This nation, as good as it is, is a temporary dwelling place for us.

I love America. My father and other ancestors fought for this country, going back to the War for Independence. Our system of government is unique in the history of the world. In spite of its flaws (yes, America is not perfect) it is a great nation. But, America is still a kingdom of this world. It, like every other nation, is still Babylon. The ancient Jews who were captive in Babylon were told to seek the peace and prosperity of that city, but their allegiance was to be to the God of Israel. We also are to seek the peace and prosperity of the nation we sojourn in, but our allegiance is to the King of Kings and we are to seek first his Kingdom.

We are brothers and sisters in the family of God. We are the body of Christ. Because we are family, we are to be united. Because we are one body, we are to be together. How many times has your big toe told your left ear that it was not part of the body because it wasn’t a toe? How many times has your left eye trie to prove its superiority over your right elbow because the elbow couldn’t see? Ridiculous, right? It is just as ridiculous for one Christian to denigrate another Christian because of their political ideas, in particular who they vote for. It is just as ridiculous for a group of Christians to pull apart and form churches that are “Christian Nationalist,” or “Patriot Churches,” as if those churches were somehow more pleasing to God. As Christians, we are looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. That is our nation.

Please do not let the voices that are trying to divde this nation do the same to we who call ourselves Christians. Particpate in the process, vote, be passionate. Do not, however, let your passion for a candidate or party overwhelm your passion for Jesus Christ. All of the parties, candidates, and groups will fade fade away. All of the energy put into all of the campaigns will be gone. Those who let their rage and hostility rule will cause harm and suffer harm.

We have a more sure hope. We are children of the Father who sees the end from the beginning. We are called to make disciples, calling people to allegiance to the True King. We can only do that if we present an alternative to a world that thinks that conflict and hatred is the way to win, because we know that in the end, love wins.

Brothers and sisters, in the next few days and weeks, let us show the world the Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of Jesus in contrast to the ugliness around us.

Posted on

What Can We Do?

In the October 15 issue of the New York Times, David Brooks writes an opinion piece titled, How to Actually Make America Great.” In the piece, he writes about a new book, The Upswing, written by Robert D. Putnam and Shaylyn Romney Garrett, which chronicles the changes in American life from about 1870 to today. The book looks at a wide range of sectors of American life as a whole rather than as separate entities.

The authors find that American social trends improved from 1870 up to the late 1960s. All of the indicators of good life improved, from civic particpation to church attendance. Income inequality fell and the greatest improvements in the lives of African Americans happened duriing this period. All of that changed and began to reverse in the late 60s. Why? Was it economic inequality or political dysfunction?

According to Putnam and Garrett, the problems began when the word “I” began to take the place of “we” in the minds of Americans. America began to turn from solidarity to individualism. The frequency of the word “I” in American books doubled between 1965 and 2008. We began to be more self-centered, whether it was those on the left who celebrated the freedom to do their own thing socially, or those on the right who celebrated the freedom to do their own thing economically. Everyone began to look after their own self interests while forgetting the interests of others.

Obviously, this was not a total change. Their were, and are, folks who spend their lives looking out and caring for others. Non-profits and other groups that help others have not disappeared. However, the culture as a whole has become much more self-centered. All you have to do is look at the advertising on television or radio. It’s geared toward those who want more for themselves. Even much of the political ads are pointed at the interests of the voter. “Candidate X will raise your taxes, while candidate Z will let you keep more of your money.” “Vote for this person, because if they are elected, the economy will soar and your stocks will increase in value.”

I see a lot of this in the wider Church in America. A gospel is preached that tells the person to ask Jesus into their heart to be their “personal Savior,” so that they can go to heaven when they die. The emphasis is on the individual. Much of what passes for “discipleship” in many churches is focused on the individual’s walk with God. I don’t see a lot about an individual walk with God in the Scriptures. although it is true that I personally am called to follow Jesus. All through the Bible, those who are called are called to be part of a family, whether it’s the family of Israel in the Old Testament, or the new family of God which includes Jew and Gentile in the New Testament. Christians are described as members of a family with God as our Father, as members of the body of Christ, and as fellow citizens of a Kingdom ruled by sacrficial love for others. It is in community that discipleship happens, as we learn and grow together.

The emphasis in the Bible is on the interconnectedness of those who follow Jesus, and the command to love others and put their interests ahead of our own. That is countercultural in a world that puts self first. But then, we are called to show a better way of being truly human. The early Christians lived in a world that was very self absorbed, much like our world today. Rather than buying the bill of goods the world was offering, they threw their lot in with the true King who gave his life for others. In doing so, they gave their lives for others and turned the world upside down.

May God grant us the desire to live as ambassadors of the Kingdom that conquers through sacrificial love and not selfish power.