Category: culture

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Blast From the Past: Thoughts on Les Miserables

This was first posted in March of 2013.

A little while back, Jan and I went with some of our church family to see the movie, Les Miserables. We thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s one of those movies you want to see on the big screen and then want to see again on DVD because the story is so good. A lot has been said and written about the theme of grace vs. law and the triumph of grace. The movie was saturated with grace, and the embodiment of grace in Jean Valjean and law in Javert was thought provoking and emotion producing.There were a lot of tissues used, and hopefully a lot of thinking about God’s grace. My thoughts after the film, while still including grace, were a bit different than others that I heard.

There were many scenes in the film that made folks cry, and I choked up many of those times myself. However, what brought me to tears was the scene near the end when Javert dove off the bridge, finally holding on to law all the way to death and rejecting the grace that was offered. Now, keep in mind that I had not read the novel or seen any of the stage or film productions. In my wild-eyed optimism, I hoped that Javert would see the light and be transformed by grace as Jean Valjean was. It broke my heart.

My heart still breaks when I think about the many people who reject a grace that gives life and cling to law which brings death. Some don’t know any better, having been raised in religions that are all about human effort. I would include the American religion of pull yourself up by your own bootstraps self-sufficiency. Many however, should know better. There are multitudes of churches and organizations that will say they are all about grace but then proclaim rules to follow to be “right with God,” or any number of steps to be a better whatever. This includes those “ministries” who proclaim grace but then tell you what to do to have any number of “blessings” in your life.

If those things worked, churches would be full of perfect, completely fulfilled and whole people. Do you know any of those? I don’t. Law doesn’t work to bring life, whether it’s religious commands or simple human effort to get better. Our effort, whether it’s obeying regulations, following steps, or trying to have more faith, will not change us. It is only God’s grace that transforms us, making us into people who show love to others, who trust God, and who sometimes do the right thing. This comes about because the Spirit of the living God dwells in us and changes us from the inside out. We no longer live by law, but we live by grace, out of a heart consumed with love for our Father because he loves us with an unchangeable, everlasting love.

Let us reject law, with its striving and death. Let us embrace God’s grace, which does what we could never do and transforms us into the new creation God means for us to be. 

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Blast From the Past: Half Empty or Half Full?

I wrote this back in March, 2009. Even though some of the details are different, it seems that it might be even more apropos today.

There is a lot happening in the world out there. And it’s all good, or all bad, depending on your point of view. We know that the American economy is in bad shape. The recession/depression is expected to last until the end of 2009/2010/2011… Some think the economy will come back stronger, as it did after World War II. Some think America is going to drift into becoming an underdeveloped, powerless nation.

Some are predicting a cataclysmic event that will bring God’s judgement on us. Others are foreseeing the collapse of evangelicalism within this generation. All the while the number of folks who identify themselves as Christian is decreasing and the number who identify with no religion is on the rise. Some say that America is heading down the same path that Europe has travelled.

Is our glass half empty? Is it half full? Or should we wonder who the heck has been drinking out of our glass? As a follower of Jesus, the Lord of lords and the King of kings, I believe that in the midst of all that is going on around me I can be confident in the goodness of my Father and his care for me. This doesn’t mean that I just throw caution to the wind and continue to live as if the economy was humming along smoothly and there was no evil in the world. It just means that I know who is in charge and trust the Father to do what is right.

I also see a great opportunity for the Church to be the church. For so long the message of Jesus has been obscured by those who have attached it to realizing the American Dream, or by those who have made it a question of morality and being a “good” person. It has been reduced to a formula where a prayer is prayed and a set of propositions is assented to. Now, as more and more people reject the “gospel” of the modern church, the spiritual landscape seems to be moving toward what it was in the first century.

As the economy continues to slide, the church has an opportunity to show the love of God to those who are impacted by job loss, home foreclosures, etc. It’s possible that churches will be more concerned about the hurting in their midst than the next building program. That concern may even spill over into the surrounding community. Some churches may be forced out of their facilities by the economic problems in their area. What would it look like if churches had more to give to the needy around them since there was no need to spend on upkeep of buildings?

As the American Dream fades, those who have attached themselves to Christianity for the sake of material prosperity will drop off, leaving those who are more committed followers of Christ. As this happens, those who are left can be discipled and taught what it really means to follow Jesus. As the number of Christians shrinks (possibly to a minority, as it has in Europe) there will be a more stark difference between believers and the rest of society. The hostility to the church from those in power may continue to grow, and it may actually become somewhat dangerous to proclaim allegiance to Christ above all else. It has happened and is happening around the world. What makes us think we are exempt?

While it may look like a grim future, remember what the church in the first century faced. They had no political, economic, or social power. They were seen as atheists and were considered enemies of the state. They were driven from their homes, imprisoned, beaten, and killed.

Yet, they turned the world upside down.

Now, is the glass half empty or half full?

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Christians and Statism

One of the biggest problems I see in the church in America is the problem of statism. A classic definition of statism is “concentration of economic controls and planning in the hands of a highly centralized government often extending to government ownership of industry.” I am not going to use that definition. I would define statism as I see it in this country as the the belief that the state will solve our problems, and that our job is to work to elect the people that will take care of those things.

Usually, statists are thought of as being on the left side of the political spectrum. These are the folks that are accused of wanting the government to control everything, from the economy to health care to individual rights. What some may not realize, is that statists are found on the other side of the aisle as well. Theses would the folks that see government as the means for restoring, or at least protecting, Christianity and ensuring our rights.

Statists can be found all across the spectrum, from the individual who told Bill Clinton that we are his children, to the almost worshipful praise given to Barak Obama, to the statements made about Donald Trump comparing him to King Cyrus or even King David. Look at the way politicians are idolized by the members of their party, and the way they are vilified by the members of the opposite party.

Statists believe that the most important thing in life is ensuring that their candidate is elected to office so that life will be better. Whether it’s returning to some fabled yesterday when we and those who agree with us were on top, or moving on to a new utopia, the prevailing thought is that if our side doesn’t win the country is headed for hell in a handbasket. As our country heads down that dark road, our faith will go down with it, and Christianity will suffer greatly.

When Christians put that much faith in whatever political system we think is best, we forget that we are not just citizens of this nation. We are not just under a certain political system. We are citizens first and foremost of the Kingdom of God, and our first allegiance is to King Jesus. Our King told Pilate that his kingdom was not of this world. he was not afraid of the man who represented the most powerful empire of that day because he knew that Rome was not really supreme or in control. He knew that what would happen to him would usher in the Kingdom of God and that Rome’s empire would pass away, as do all empires. The early Christians did not get in trouble with the political powers because they proclaimed that people could go to heaven when they died. They suffered persecution because they were proclaiming that the real King had come, that the kingdom of Rome was not in charge. They didn’t pledge allegiance to the empire. Their allegiance was to the King of Kings.

The kingdom we are a part of is a kingdom that grows and rules differently than an earthly kingdom. It does not operate by force, whether force of arms or force of opinion and criticism. The kingdom of Jesus operates by a love that sacrifices self for others. It is a kingdom that does not force change, whether by passing laws or ostracizing. Christ’s kingdom grows in ways we don’t always see, much like yeast spreading through a lump of dough. We can’t build for this kingdom by making America great again, or by any other plans a politician may have on the right or the left.

Can we participate in this kingdom of this world? That is up to each person’s individual conscience. You can vote, or not vote. You can work for a particular candidate, or opt out. But whatever you do, as a follower of King Jesus keep in mind that he deserves your allegiance, that all of the political movers and shakers are part of a kingdom of this world and can never build the Kingdom of God, and that other Christians are not only fellow citizens of heaven but are also brothers and sisters who we are to love as Jesus loved us.If we have to make a choice between party and a brother or sister in Christ, we should choose the latter.

The vitriol that is directed toward those who disagree with a particular stance (and I confess that I have been guilty of this) is not right. It is not what should be coming from those who follow Jesus. We can and will disagree on particular points. But we must not forget that we are called to love and serve others. We can and will call out those who are doing wrong. But we must make sure that we do the same when the one doing wrong is a member of our party. We must also remember that, while God may well use a leader we agree with, he can just as easily use someone with whom we disagree.

The early Christians turned the world upside down , not through rallies and revolution, but through the unstoppable power of the gospel of King Jesus and the love they showed for others, even their enemies. May we proclaim that same gospel in our day and time.

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On Protesting

Turn on the news today, and you are likely to see a group of people protesting at a state capitol. These protests are, at this time, against the stay at home or shelter in place rules that have been imposed during the pandemic. There are many who are in favor of the protests, and there are many who are against them. America has a long history of protesting, going all the way back to when we were still under the British throne. The freedom to assemble and to let the government know what we like or don’t like is in the Bill of Rights. Over the years, some of the protests have been very effective in bringing about needed change.

As an individual and as a citizen, I am in favor of the right to protest. I have taken part in a couple of protest actions myself. Having said that, I do have a problem with the protests that have happened recently. You may or may not have seen the pictures and video of heavily armed people dressed in combat gear crowding into the Michigan state house and even in front of the governor’s office. I would not call that a protest. I would call that an act of intimidation. Along with the weapons, there were statements made that it was too late for voting and was time for force. Another statement mused about the governor being hit by a shotgun blast.

The 1st Amendment to the Constitution provides the right to peaceably assemble. I didn’t see anything peaceable in a group of people storming into the halls of government with military type weapons, screaming in the faces of the law enforcement officers. I don’t believe that is the type of protest that the founders wanted to protect. It’s interesting that many of those folks would be the quickest to denounce the protests of blacks marching against police brutality, Latinos marching against the conditions in the camps along the border, over even NFL players taking a knee during the national anthem. In fact, I seriously doubt that a group of armed people of color would have been allowed anywhere near the capitol.

You may be saying, “Well, all of those Vietnam protests and civil rights protests weren’t all peaceful either.” You would be correct. Not everyone who protested did so in a peaceful manner. There was violence. In any large group there will be some who are trying to use the protest as a cover for harming others. The difference I see is that during the recent protests, the biggest majority of the group seems to have been the ones who were using intimidation tactics and implicitly threatening violence. There seems to be a fair number of people in this country who feel that it is their God-given right to force their way of thinking on others, with violence if necessary.

I don’t pretend to know what the answer is to all the problems that this pandemic is causing. People are getting desperately sick and many are dying. That doesn’t look like it’s going to get better any time soon. Millions of people are out of work, and know one is able to say definitively when the economy will be back to some sense of normal. Those who say that people need to be able to work are right. People need to be able to provide for themselves and their families. Those who say that we need to try and keep more from getting sick are also correct. The most vulnerable especially need to be protected.

I do believe that there needs to be something that seems to have left public life in America. There needs to be a civility in discourse that accepts what the other is saying and works to find solutions that benefit the whole. We need to respect and empathize with both those who are worried about their livelihood and those that are worried about their health or the health of loved ones. For those of us who claim to be followers of Jesus, Scripture gives us the way to approach things. Philippians 2 tells us that we are to “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

What would it look like if Christians began to think first of the good of others?

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Some Encouragement

It’s May. It may be hard for some of us to tell. Jan and I were talking the other day about the markers not being present this year. April Fool’s Day went by without all the usual antics. We celebrated Easter, but the usual feasting and fellowship was missing. Spring break was non-existent for many students because they were already at home. End of the year testing, spring sports, and graduation are other things that will not happen this year.

For many, the days fade into each other without the markers of commuting to work, going out on a weekend, or traveling to gather for worship. It’s hard. While it looks like there is light at the end of this tunnel, we really don’t know what will happen as businesses slowly reopen and folks start to go about their day-to-day outside of their homes. We are facing an uncertainty that most of us have never had to deal with. Listening to those who seem to have some expertise doesn’t always bring confidence and hope.

We are told in Matthew 6, to pray for God’s Kingdom to be known and his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. We who follow the King know that he has already defeated death. We know that our King does reign. He has promised us that everything that happens is worked for our good and his glory, and that our present sufferings will pale in comparison to the glory that will be revealed in us. Because we are in Christ, there is absolutely nothing that can separate us from our Father’s love.

Be encouraged. It is hard. The future is cloudy. But our Abba has got this.

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Looking Ahead

We are now roughly two months into the Covid-19 pandemic here in the United States. To say that this is a life changing thing would vastly underestimate the effect it has had on our lives. We don’t know what the future holds, whether immediate or long term. You can find a different prognosis and prediction for each day of the week. I don’t believe anyone has the complete picture. Regardless, the future will look a great deal different than what we have been used to.

There are some things I hope will be true in our lives in the days to come. I hope that we will be kinder people, more patient and understanding. That seems to be true right now, and I hope i t continues. I hope that we continue to care about others, even sacrificing out own interests to help someone. I hope that we actively look for ways to do good to our neighbors. I hope that we will cherish our families and the time we have with them.

I hope that we can put differences aside, whether political, philosophical, or social, and work to recognize and do what is good for all, rather than what benefits one group over another. I hope that we as a culture can be truly pro life, from the womb to the nursing home. I hope that we can welcome those who come here looking for a better life without blaming them for our ills. I hope that we can recognize the value of everyone in our society and pay wages that allow them to take care of themselves and their families. I hope that we can realize that it really doesn’t profit anyone to gain the whole world only to lose their soul.

I hope those of us who follow Jesus will realize that the church is not the building or the institution, but is the people. I hope that we will cherish our brothers and sisters in Christ, and seek to love them as Jesus loved us. I hope that we will be known more for what we are for than for what we are against. I hope that we show the truth, goodness, and beauty of Jesus to our neighbors and demonstrate the hope of people who know that this world will be renewed.

I hope that all of us will have a better idea of what really matters. I hope that the next crisis that comes along will find us better prepared to handle it in a way that benefits us all.

Pipe dream? Maybe, but I will not give up hope.

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Thoughts on Easter 2020

The Easter season was a bit different this year. Instead of gathering in person with our brothers and sisters to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, we gathered around our computer for a livestream service via Zoom. In stead of greeting dear friends with a hug, we waved to the images on the screen. Instead of getting together with friends or family for a feast, we had an Easter dinner for two in our dining room. It was a very good day, and I am grateful for what we were able to do, but it was different, in a strange way.

The coronavirus pandemic, which has devastated much of the world, has changed the way we do just about everything. Many people have been at home for a number of weeks, as “shelter in place” becomes the norm. The great majority of churches have closed their doors, either meeting on line, watching services on television, or not meeting at all. Businesses have been forced to close, and social distancing has forced upon us a new way of relating with each other.

Jan and I found some positive things coming out of an Easter weekend during time of quarantine. We gathered on line with friends Thursday for an altered Seder, followed by an online Maundy Thursday service. Friday evening we watched a Tenebrae service online, and Saturday found us experiencing an Anglican Easter vigil on line. Even though we didn’t do the things we normally do this time of year, we were able to experience a little of the breadth of the the Christian tradition’s celebration of the resurrection.

As the pandemic continues, many of the things we have taken for granted will have to be abandoned or revamped. The ways we work, shop, relate to others, and do church may look totally different in the days ahead. I think that will turn out to be a good thing. There are things that we need to change as individuals, families, churches, nations. As we come to grips with what is really important in our lives, we can become more understanding people, who treat each other as persons made in the image of God. As we learn to work together, we can become more unified. Maybe we can conduct our public lives with an eye toward what is best for all, rather than for our side of the aisle. As churches are forced out of the routine, maybe we can rediscover that the church is not the four walls, but is the family of God who are called to love and serve our neighbors.

Easter is all about hope. The hope that all will be made right, and we will be resurrected. In the midst of tragedy and hopelessness, we can know that Jesus defeated death. Because he walked out of that tomb, nothing will stand in the way of our Father’s plans to restore his creation. Nothing can change that. As the apostle Paul wrote, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

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Blast From the Past: More

It’s another day, so I’ll continue my story.

About three years ago (now about fifteen years), God started doing some things in me that would change the way I saw life and ministry. Through a “chance” look at a magazine, I discovered TheOoze.com and immediately began to read the articles and enter into the discussions. I became aware that there were a lot of others out there that just didn’t quite fit in the cubbyholes that “church” tried to put us in. I began to read authors outside of what I knew as mainstream Christianity, people like Brian McLaren, Leonard Sweet, Phillip Yancey, Mike Yaconelli, John Fischer, Rob Bell, N.T. Wright, and others.

God began to show me that at least part of what I had been taught and believed was not Biblical, but was simply a part of the culture of mid to late twentieth century America. So, now my rebellious spirit had a legitimate focus. Now, I saw myself as sort of a “missionary to the fundamentalists”. I began to teach some of these things to my middle school Bible classes. I tried to convey to them that Christianity is more than just mentally assenting to certain propositions and following certain rules. Hopefully some of them got it and will spread the subversiveness.

Unfortunately, this chapter in my life was to come to a rather abrupt end. The school decided to basically eliminate all the middle school teaching positions and give those classes to the high school teachers. They also decided to eliminate the athletic director position, and since I was both a middle school teacher and the athletic director, my contract was not removed.

More to come…