Let's Hope Things Get Better

Last year our Pepperdine trip got off to a rough start-- we were bumped off our Delta flight and given a very scary taxi ride through a driving rain storm by a taxi driver who talked on her cell the entire trip... and who got lost on the way to the Norfolk airport. Once we got there, our new flight left late and got to LA even later... only to have Delta lose our luggage in the process. This year we are beginning (with Air Tran this time) canceling our original flight. Hopefully it will get better from here.

Those Crazy Cell Phones

My countdown Google-Gadget timer now says "1." As in one more day after today before we leave on our annual Pepperdine trip. We'll spend 3 days before the lectures in sunny Palm Springs where the projected temp for Saturday is 99 degrees! So that will be different. After 3 straight days of cold drizzle here, I need to start praying that God will give me one warm dry day so I can cut our foot-tall grass. Otherwise I'll have to rent a hay-machine after we get back from the trip.

My cell phone went off just as we were saying the closing prayer to our elders-minister meeting Sunday afternoon. I got a little flustered trying to find the mute switch, so we got almost a whole chorus of "Your are God Alone" by Phillips, Craig and Dean as part of our prayer. "You are God alone. From before time began, you are on your throne; you are God alone." Not a bad prayer theme when you think about it. What was really funny was listening to the elders trying hard not to laugh as I fumbled with the phone. And what was really funny is that while I finally muted the phone, I didn't hang it up. So Tressa (who had called me) listened to the rest of our closing prayer. I guess she thought she'd accidentally called "Dial-a-Prayer!" I'll probably check to make sure the thing is on mute next time.

I remember Rubel Shelly telling about his cell phone going off while he was preaching a funeral... twice. That is embarrassing, but the funeral director assured him that it was nothing compared to a funeral that they did sometime before. The deceased had left instructions for the song from the Wizard of Oz "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" (her favorite song) to be played while people filed by the casket during the viewing. Whoever was in charge of hitting the play button forgot to the check the track info on the CD. Instead of Judy Garland, the song that played was the Munchkins singing, "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead."

Come to think of it, Rubel told that at Pepperdine one year. Did I mention that we're leaving Thursday?

The Virtue of Virtue

Yesterday, the foster father of one of Lynn’s students came by to visit for a few minutes… and stayed for two hours. Eric McCaskill was a local sports hero back in the mid 1960’s. He gave his life to God and Christian ministry, and now works with a parachurch group he founded called Alpha-Omega Ministry. Duke and his wife (Duchess, of course) work with inner city children, especially those whose parents are incarcerated. The main tool the McCaskill’s use is “virtues training,” Which seek to instill character traits that sound a lot like an expanded list of “fruit of the spirit” and the “Christian graces.” The virtues include things like Caring, Commitment, Compassion, Confidence, Courtesy… and those are just the C’s.

Unfortunately, his ministry is not self-supporting. His wife has recently returned to work, and he is paid (as I understand it) to work with and counsel at risk kids by the state. Because he is paid for by tax-payer funds, there is a limit to what he can say and do. In fact, they have made him stop using the word “virtues.” That word “sounds too religious” and using it is too close to “proselytizing.” The term “Character Qualities” is OK, but “virtue” is definitely out. The reason that Duke came by to visit is that he is trying to raise funds so he can afford to refuse state money with its constraints.

What a shame that the concept of “virtue” is considered too partisan or parochial to be used in a secular context. May God bless people like Duke and Duchess who are making a difference in the lives of those who need God so desperately.

More Than Noses and Nickels

Wade Hodges recently wrote about knowing what to count not to count when evaluating a church. He suggests that the two most common things that churches count are nickels and noses-- number of people that come and how much money they give. We don't count these two things because they are the most important things about a church-- they are simply the easiest things to count. Hodges suggests that more important that the number of people present is the number of guests who come each week. If new people don't visit, then your church will die, slowly and eventually, "for lack of new blood, fresh ideas, and beginners energy." But it is not just guests; it is the type of guests that visit.

It’s even better if the majority of the guests aren’t church hopping and shopping. If all your guests are from other churches then it may be a sign that your church is judged to be safe by disgruntled Christians who are fleeing churches that are trying new things. Not exactly the kind of people with whom I want to fill a room. It could also mean that your church is doing some really great things and the word has gotten
out among the consumer Christians and they’ve come to check out your church just like they plan on checking out the new Bottomless Buffet restaurant that has just opened up in the shopping center across town. Again, not ideal, but it is a sign of vitality.

Even more important than the number of guests each is week is the number of guests who are there because someone from your church invited them come. This indicates a number of things. People from your church feel good enough about what’s going on there to talk about it with others and extend an invitation. It also means they’re spending time with people outside the church, hopefully with people who are chasing down the answers to some big questions.

I think he makes some great points. We don't invite people to visit with us unless we really enjoy what is going on and want to share it. If we enjoy what is going on in church and think it is important, then the only reason we would not want to invite people to come with us is because we don't really care. Or haven't thought about it. So think about it. And care.

Downward Spiral

Coleman Crocker told us in his History of Israel class at Freed that the most prominent character in all the Bible (besides the Lord) to never be accused of sinning was Joshua. (That title may rightly belong to Joseph, but then I’m writing about Joshua today). Most other Bible characters display feet of clay, but Joshua was "careful to obey all the law" without turning from it "to the right or to the left" (Joshua 1:7). Today’s reading from Judges 2 confirms the godly leadership of Joshua, "The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him..." (Judges 2:7). The faithfulness of Joshua serves to highlight the failure of Judges--

They forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the Lord to anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. In his anger against Israel the Lord handed them over to raiders who plundered them. He sold them to their enemies all around, whom they
were no longer able to resist. (Judges 2:12-14)

This sets up a cycle in Judges of prosperity, rebellion, captivity, repentance and liberation that repeats itself over and over again in the book. Israel allowed their freedom to lead and success to lead them into sin. They never learned from this downward spiral of pride and rebellion and captivity. The statement that defines the book of Judges is "In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit" (Judges 17:6, 21:25).

Have we not all proven this same downward spiral true in our own lives? Oh, we’ve never worshiped Baal, and we wouldn't know Ashtoreth if we bumped into her in the check-out line at Wal-Mart! But have there not been times in our lives when we have insisted on going our own way, directing our own steps and doing as we see fit? Maybe our spiritual failures have not been as dramatic or as public as those of Israel during the time of the Judges... but the result is always the same. Whenwe leave God to direct our own steps, we fall. The downward spiral is inescapable. So are we going to to learn from Israel's mistake here?

How's this for coincidence-- the Greek form of the Hebrew name "Joshua" is "Jesus." If we will keep looking to our Joshua and be careful not to turn to the left or the right, then we'll do better in our trek to the Promised Land.

A Christian Bartender?

Matt Whitlock suggests that what we really need is more Christian bartenders. Actually, he was talking about his friend Mike who is an intercity high school teacher who sees his job as a calling and platform from which to serve Jesus. He is so into his kids that he has learned their culture and finds creative, off-the-wall ways to reach and teach them. He is so respected by the kids that they listen to what he says, and he has become the school's unofficial campus pastor... perhaps finding more direct routes into the hearts and lives of kids than if he would have as an official youth pastor. He is salt and light in the lives of young people who probably never would have seen it in any other way. Whitlock wonders what would happen if all of us sought to redeem our work and workplace for God? He says we need more Christian teachers, editors, factory workers... and even bartenders--

Think about it. The bar is a place where people from all walks of life gather. Some come right from work, loosen their tie, and have a drink to relax. Others come to celebrate an event or watch a game with friends. Then there are those who come in deep despair. Whatever drives people to a bar, the bartender is the only person who interacts with all of them. The bartender is often the promise of acceptance and the hope of forgetfulness. What if the bartender were a Christian? How many times a day could he share his life with another person? How many open conversations would he have every day? How bight would his light shine in the darkness?

What if a new family placed membership at our church and wrote on their family information sheet under employment, "Christian bartender?" Would Jesus spend time in a bar? Well, Jesus did have a negative reputation for hanging around the wrong places with the wrong people. His negative rep came from church folks (the Pharisees) who defined righteousness based on outward appearances and associations. Jesus went to parties with publicans in order to bring them into the kingdom of God. Maybe some who follow Jesus will indeed be led to do behind a bar?

That may sound like a stretch. But I hope that if someone does see their ministry in that way, being part of our church would be for them a place of being uplifted and encouraged... and not a source of criticism and condemnation.

Does That Make Sense?

What happens on February 17, 2009? If you know, then you probably pay way too much attention to consumer electronics. (So how do I know?) That is the date that over-the-air analog television broadcasts will be a thing of the past; all TV will be digital TV. If you get your TV signal from cable, satellite or fiber, then you have to do nothing... except pony up what they will charge for the privilege. But if you get your TV over the air through rabbit ears or housetop antenna, then you will need a converter box to show the digital signal on the ol' Sony Trinitron. You can get a taxpayer-funded coupon for a converter box, but after February 17 you will need a set-top box just like everyone else.

There was a Senate Commerce Committee meeting yesterday that allowed Senators the chance to bluster about concerns for constituents. Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas was concerned that people who don't type the "exact right" Web address for the coupon program may not be able to find it (unless they've heard of Google, I guess). Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska was worried that all the "TV public service announcements" that will take place (and already are) over the next year announcing the changeover and coupon program may not not succeed in getting the word out. He worries about "those people in rural areas who rely on the (TV) system but don't pay attention to it." They rely on TV for information (so they need it) but don't really pay attention to it (so they won't get the word)? Does that make sense?

I wonder if that says something about the church and the Bible. Just think about how important the Bible is to our "official" church meetings. Sunday morning begins with 45 minutes of Bible classes, and the biggest part of the worship service is a sermon from the Bible. Small groups on Sunday (and other) nights center around Bible discussion. While the kids are doing their WOW Bible classes on Wednesday night, the adults are studying through the Old Testament as a support to our daily Bible reading program. So that is a lot of emphasis on the Bible, right? We really do rely on it.

But do we pay attention to it? Do we change our behavior based on all the "public service announcements" that we come across each week in the Bible? Are our lives continually changed and challenged by all the time we spend studying the Bible? Or is the Bible something we rely on but just don't pay any attention to? Does that make sense?

About Last Night

I meant to say something in my last post about NCAA championship game last night. So I'll say it here-- WOW! What a great back-n-forth game! I did want Memphis to win (I still call them "Memphis State," but then I still say "Hampton Institute"). We lived in Memphis for awhile and I saw them play a couple of times in person (once LOSING to Oklahoma Christian). The hype of the first ever meeting of all-number-one seeds produced two Final Four blow-outs, so last night's OT nail-bitter was more like it. I still can't believe Kansas somehow forced overtime, but you just knew they would win it once they did. Actually I predicted that Memphis would loose the final three weeks ago... to North Carolina. O well, so begins my dark months of sports exile. Having no interest at all in the NBA or baseball, there is nothing on my sports radar until NFL pre-season except Wimbledon. Well, so there are re-runs on the NFL Network.

Do I Have to Go to Church?

I am currently reading a book entitled Frequently Avoided Questions by Chuck Smith and Matt Whitlock. The book re-envisions some pretty old questions (which they admit may sound pretty simplistic) like "Why the Bible," "Is Forgiveness Real," and "Will Good People Go to Hell?") through the eyes of a world that no longer presupposes the Biblical world view. So far, it has been a challenging (and uncomfortable) reminder that our world has changed. Our job is never simply information transmission; our task is to communicate the gospel to the world. So when the world changes, our ways of relating to it must change.

One of the questions they ask is "Do I Have to Go to Church?" Their answer surprised me. They didn't exactly answer "No," but they did suggest that "going to church" for many today not a very effective way to do whatever it was that going to church was to do for people in the first century. They suggest that church should "motivate me on my spiritual journey, to give me an opportunity to worship God, to serve the world, to develop strong relationships with other Christians, to be able to ask questions that really bother me, to greet others with the same love with which Jesus greeted the crowd that came to him." Going to church was never supposed to be about an organized institution, slickly produced worship program or comfortable all-occasion building.

Personally, I think the authors do a pretty good job pointing to some of our assumptions that need to be rethought. But they also never really get around to answering, "Do I really need to go to church?" I thought it was interesting that they use the mystery and liturgy of Orthodox worship as an example of recapturing an emphasis on awe in the presence of God. But Orthodox worship doesn't really emphasize interaction and sharing with other worshipers... which the authors stress earlier in the chapter. But that being said, I think we do need to understand that sometimes our ways of doing church may not be as helpful as they could be.

So, do I have to go to church? Phil Ware has an excellent article in Heartlight that does a good job answering that question. Spend some time reading it. Are there better ways the church can address the needs of people to connect with God and one another in worship, fellowship and service? I suspect that there are! I also suspect that no one way of doing church will ever meet those needs for everyone in all places at all times.

It's April 1, No Fooling

I thought for awhile about coming up with some totally bizarre and unbelievable story for the blog today, like “Elder’s meeting lasts 15 minutes.” Then I would end it by saying, “April fools!” Sadly, I am cursed with a total lack of creativity this morning. So I’ll opt with one of those “truth is stranger than fiction” posts. I was 10 minutes late getting to work this morning because I had to take a slight detour by the post office. Last night I loaded TurboTax onto the computer so that it would be ready for me to do Tressa’s taxes tonight. Well, one thing led to another, and before I knew it—our taxes were done and mailed them off this morning! Usually, I don’t load the software until April 15, just in time to print out an extension. Dan Hawley and I joke about which of us puts it off the longest. I don’t know what came over me last night! Sorry Dan, I let you down this year.

Something else comes April 1-- It is now THIS month! According to the countdown timer on my Google Gadgets sidebar, there are 22 days, 14 hours and 52 minutes until we leave for our annual trip to the Pepperdine Lectures (we’re spending the 3 days before the lectures in Palm Springs this year instead of our usual Pismo Beach). Another indication that it is getting close to time for the trip is the increasing difficulty I have getting on my computer at home. The closer we get to Pepperdine, the longer Lynn is on the computer reading the lecture schedule, researching the trip, and trying to decide what the weather is going to be so that she’ll know what to pack. Of course, she usually ends up taking everything regardless of the weather. It’s not that we look forward to the trip. Well, OK, maybe just a little.

Quote for the day. This comes from Al Maxey, who has come to be one of my heroes. We writes a weakly email treatise called “Reflections.” Al has a great way of exploring and explaining issues in great detail. So here’s the quote—

I doubt there are many disciples of Christ who can truthfully say they are in 100% agreement with every other disciple in their congregation. I'm not sure there are even any two disciples who are in total agreement on everything taught in Scripture. Yet, we are ready to fight and/or flee over just about anything. This is truly a great tragedy. Our unity in Christ ought to be more enduring than that; it shouldn't crumble whenever two people/groups differ. But, it does ... and when it does, Satan wins yet another battle, and the Body of Christ is weakened just that much more.

On Reverence and Revelry

In Deuteronomy 14 (today's OT reading), God instructs each Israelite family to set aside a tithe of their harvest. The purpose of this tithe is different from the one described in Numbers 18-- "You and your household shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice" (Deut 14:26). They were to carry their tithe to the place where the tabernacle was set up to have a festival (party) where they are to "rejoice" or "celebrate" (NLT) before the Lord. If they lived too far away to carry their tithe with them, then they were to sell it and use the money to buy cattle and sheep and wine (we’ll just skip over the “or other fermented drink” part) and whatever else they wanted when they got there. But whether they took their tithe with them or converted it to money to buy goods when they arrived, the tithe was to be used for the same thing. They were to have a festival, a celebration, a party before the Lord.

And it was a party with a purpose-- to teach them to “revere” (NIV) or “fear” (NASB) or “respect” (NCV) the Lord. Through gathering together with the people of God for this festival with eating and drinking and laughter, Israel was being taught to reverence God. Reverence was not seen as something that was incompatible with revelry; rather it was through the right revelry that Israel was taught reverence. It was through celebration and community that they learned something about the kingdom of God. In fact, one of the most consistent metaphors in scripture for the kingdom of God is the feast, festival or party--

• Matthew 8:11-12: Gentiles coming into the kingdom (and the rejection of the Jews) is seen in imagery of a party.
  
  
• Matthew 22:1-12: The kingdom is a wedding feast where those invited to come don't, and so the master sends his servants to find other guests.
  
  
• Matthew 25:1-13: Watching for the Lord's return is explained in terms of a wedding and a wedding party.
  
  
• Luke 15:22-24: The loving father celebrates the return of his prodigal son by throwing a huge party, complete with music and, uh... choreography.
  
  
• In Revelation 19:9: The celebration to which all are invited and by which all who come are blessed is the wedding feast or party of the Lamb.
  

We can view the Christian life as one of deprivation if we choose. And we can look with envy at the world and the fun things we giving up to follow Christ if we like. But if we do, then we miss the point of the abundant part of the abundant life that Jesus is seeking to give us. Yes, there is sacrifice and denial in our call to walk withGod. But there is also a celebration and joy that those who don't knowGod and are not part of the family of God can never know. Tony Campolo nailed it with the title of a book that he wrote several years ago-- The Kingdom of God is a Party!

Maggie the Wonder Dog

My lunch break yesterday reads a little like an old episode of Lassie. I was home on my lunch hour minding my own business and eating my peanut butter and (no sugar added) jelly sandwich when our dog Maggie started barking. Now usually that means that the mailman has just delivered our mail. There was no mail when I went to the front door, but there was smoke, and lots of it, coming out from behind our across-the-street neighbor's backyard. I got my cell phone and went over to investigate, wanting to make sure someone wasn't barbecuing on a really big grill before I called the fire department. Sure enough, the back yard was on fire. I'm not talking just a little bit on fire; the grass, shrubs, pine needle mulch, split rail fence and several trees were burning and the flames had jumped to the other side of the fence. The smoke was so thick by that time that I couldn't tell how far back it went.

So I called 911, and 5 minutes later a fire truck pulled up and fireman jumped out and started doing their fireman thing. Fifteen minutes later, a second fire truck pulled up to add its crew to the mix. Firemen were running around grabbing hoses, axes and shovels just like on TV. I watched the show for awhile chatting with another neighbor before going back to work. I went over after supper to chat with the guy across the street and see the damage. It came fairly close to the house, but nothing was really hurt except a fence that he said he has been meaning to replace. If the fire had burned much longer, that could have been very different.

So Maggie the Wonder Dog saved the day. I still have no idea if she was really barking at the fire or not. She may have glimpsed a squirrel running for its life across the street... which is exactly what any squirrel in the vicinity would have been doing. But there is a good chance I would've have noticed what was going on had she not been barking. So we'll credit Maggie the Wonder Dog with saving our neighbor's house. And then she went out and found Timmy who had fallen down a well.

Great Inversion

Sunday was a great day! It is certainly not unusual for us to have a few more folks on Easter Sunday than we do during the rest of the year. But it is VERY unusual for us to have 100 extra folks! That is a lot more if your membership is 500, but when your membership is 200, that is a while lot more. We kept the ushers busy! I'm glad all those people were there and the Fire Marshal wasn't!

I think several things combined to create the overflow crowd. There were some still in town visiting after Antoine and Ivy's wedding on Saturday. And we had more folks visiting from out of town than we had visiting out of town (maybe because the kids weren't out of school since spring break doesn't follow Easter this year). But mostly I think we had members who invited people to come to church with them and stay for the egg hunt and potluck afterward. And many did! Cathy is still busy typing up all the "glad you were there" letters.

Since we're talking about Easter, check out this article by Anne Rice reflecting on Easter. You may recognize Anne Rice as the author of the dozens of books, including Interview with a Vampire (made into the movie with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt). Several years ago, Rice returned to her faith and rededicated her writing career to Christ. Her current series is entitled Christ the Lord, and she just released the second volume, Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana. She concludes her article talking about the Gospel as "the great inversion."

As we experience Easter week, we celebrate the crucifixion that changed the world. We celebrate the Resurrection that sent Christ’s apostles throughout the Roman Empire to declare the Good News. We celebrate one of the greatest love stories the world has ever known: that of a God who would come down here to live and breathe with us in a human body, who would experience human death for us, and then rise to remind us that He was, and is, both Human and Divine. We celebrate the greatest inversion the world has ever recorded: that of the Maker dying on a Roman cross.

Let us celebrate as well that throughout this troubled world in which we live, billions believe in this 2,000-year-old love story and in this great inversion -- and billions seek to trust the Maker to bring us to one another in love as He brings us to Himself.

Easter Sunday

A couple of years ago, I heard Garner Ted Armstrong preaching on TV about the Easter holiday. Armstrong has to be one of the most resilient of the televangelists. He was still on the air despite two highly publicized sex scandals that resulted in him being defrocked and removed from his own church. Oh, and there was also the fact that he had been dead for several years! Someone was still rebroadcasting his sermons years after his death, and he was preaching against “The Evils of Easter.” I just found that kinda funny. If you are going to continue to have a career after death, then you kinda need Easter!

Why preach against Easter? Well, Easter was originally a pagan festival. It's name comes from the Germanic goddess “Eostre,” and many of our Easter customs, like Easter bunnies and colored eggs and wearing suits and ties to church were pagan in origin! (OK, I’m kidding about that last one). Armstrong's point was that because Easter was once connected to paganism and then brought into Christianity through Catholicism, then it was something that we must avoid today. Actually, I pretty much heard the same thing when I was growing up. If I had a mind to look through my files, which I don't, I probably preached something very similar at some point.

One of the reasons that we generally choose not to make Easter a special festival of the resurrection is that we see each Sunday that way. Each and every Sunday, we eat the bread and drink the cup which symbolizes Jesus’ body and blood. Some disciples choose not to have communion every Sunday, and my point is not to criticize them. My point is simply this—we have committed to be people of the cross. We want to emphasize the meaning of the cross. We want to be God’s family under the cross. And the way Jesus told us to point to the cross and remember the cross is through this solemn ritual we call communion. And so each Sunday we gather at the foot of the cross to remember.

But there is a danger in eating communion every week, isn’t there? It is so very easy to allow tradition to become traditional and ritual to become rote. Familiarity breeds contempt… or at least complacency. And that is the one thing we must never allow to happen in communion. This simple act doesn’t just tell a story; it tells the story. And it allows us to become participants in the story. We cannot allow the death and resurrection of Jesus to become a once a year festival... or a once a week rite. For disciples, the cross is something we must carry and the resurrections is something we must live every day.

What Are They Thinking?

One of the distinctive characteristics of Churches of Christ has been a cappella (non-instrumental) singing in worship. For many of our members, this was not simply a choice or preference-- it was a matter of heaven and hell. We wanted to be Biblical, and that means that our every practice must be authorized by scripture. We develop a 3-step hermeneutic that raught that the Bible authorizes by command, example and necessary inference. Because the Bible authorizes the church to sing praises, then adding music is a non-Biblical and unauthorized addition to God's desires and therefore sinful and wrong. OK, sure this is an over-simplified explanation, but you get the idea.

Well, no issue is ever settled when you are a part of a church that denies the authority of tradition and encourages everyone to re-think and re-study everything. Many of our churches have rethought both the practice of instrumental music and our arguments against it. Some still believe it is a matter of sin. Many others see it is a matter of good vs better rather than right vs wrong. Still others see a cappella singing as our tradition and choice; while it is not the only tradition or choice, it is our story and we are sticking to it! But if it is a mater of choice... There are growing numbers of our churches that offer praise services using instruments as a choice in addition to their a cappella services. I heard one respected scholar 15 years ago say that once a generation sees a cappella singing as a matter of tradition or choice (and not truth), then the next generation will choose to use instruments. It seems that he was right.

I have mused over this issue before, so I won't reharsh all that. I am perfectly content with my a cappella heritage and have no plans to change that. However, on those few occasions when we can visit another on vacation, our choice of a church has nothing to do with the presence or absence of instruments. I have known many people who attended churches that use instruments though that was not their worship preference because the church fed them and gave them a place to serve. We have members here at Denbigh that prefer instrumental praise, but they continue to come here for other reasons (like the superior preaching!). If our churches are autonomous, led by their own elders who are committed to following God and leading His people, then if should not surprise us that different churches make different choices as well.

Who are we to judge the servant of another? Well. recently, one of our churches began offering an contemporary instrumental praise service as a worship choice. Some folks in other churches that were so upset about this that they raised $11,000 to public an ad in the newspaper attacking that church and its preacher. They weren't satisfied, so they raised $11,000 again and published a second full-page add that ran in the local paper. What were they thinking? Paul told the litigious-minded in Corinth, "If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints?" (1 Cor 6:1).

Would not the cause of truth been better served had that $22,000 been spent on helping the homeless and feeding the hungry? Wouldn't that have better could the eye and heart of the world? Could we not handle our opposition to how another church does worship by, I don't know, going and talking to the brothers privately (Matt 18:15ff)? When Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant out of wedlock, he was determined to put her away quietly rather than expose her to public scandal (Matt 1:19). When is the cause of Christ best served by stirring up a public scandal? What were they thinking?

Our Own Worst Enemy?

Dwight Whitsett writes a blog called “Whitticisms.” Not too long ago, he suggested that Christians have long been our own worst enemies. There have been real and terrible persecutions of the church, and those continue in many parts of the world today. But outside persecution often leads to the growth of the church—the Roman Empire and modern day China. But while the church can flourish despite outside oppression, it cannot seem to survive it’s on insistence of shooting itself in the foot. Wisslet offers three examples:

• History: People doing horrible things in the name of Christ. The world of observers, not knowing any better, makes uninformed assessments and forms terrible opinions of Christianity.
  
  
• Televangelists: Money-grubbing, high-living, charlatans and false teachers giving religion in general and Christianity in particular a bad rap (1 Timothy 6:3-5).
  
  
• Division and Infighting: People who should be loving each other and thus proving to be disciples (John 13:35) fighting and slinging mud in the most unloving ways. Dividing into yet another denomination over the slightest perceived doctrinal error, we assist the world in its dismissal and unbelief (John 17:20-23).

It’s hard to argue with his assessment that “We are our own worst enemy.” But what do we do about it? Maybe we need to recommit ourselves to living the quiet and peaceable lives for which Paul teaches us to pray (1 Tim 2:2). Before we can really invite people to Christianity we have to demonstrate to them that it works?

J. I. Packer

The name J. I. Packer is one known to many through his insightful book Knowing God. Dr. Packer is widely respected as one of the world’s foremost evangelical scholars. He taught for years at Regent College in Vancover, and has written many books and spoken around the world in many settings. It was surprising to hear that Packer had been suspended from ministry in the Anglican Church and that there were proceeding to revoke his ordination.

Why? The church he attends, St John's, Shaughnessy, voted overwhelmingly last month to break with the Anglican Church in Canada and seek episcopal oversight from Archbishop Gregory Venables in South America. Why? The church simply could not accept the blessings of homosexual unions and the ordination of homosexual clergy that the Anglican Church of Canada under Bishop Michael Ingham seemed hell-bent on establishing. The church wanted to remain Anglican, but they could not remain under Bishop Ingham’s leadership in something so blatantly immoral and unscriptural. So Ingham by brining ecclesiastical charges and seeking to revoke Packer’s ordination.

I have to admit to not understanding the church polity and politics here. I am very grateful my church is non-denominational and autonomous. (Of course, sometimes that only means that our church law and tradition is understood rather than written down). But you have to applaud people who are willing to take personal and professional hits because they are committed to seeking God’s holiness. The fact that a theologian and preacher would be prosecuted and persecuted by his church for seeking to uphold both scripture and 2000 years of Christian living is both surprising and depressing.

Archbishop Venables (of the diocese with which Packer’s church is now affiliated) suggests that the issue was not solely about homosexuality. He says this—

This is about two versions of Christianity which are in a strong state of difference. You've got the original biblical Christianity which the church, the Christian church throughout the world has held to over the past 2000 years and then you've got this new liberal postmodern Christianity which has evolved especially in the western world over the last 100 years or so. It's like two ships that have gradually pulled apart and can no longer really sail together and the trouble is, it's pulling the church apart as it does that.

Jesus and Atlas

Leonard Sweet once asked his theology students to compare and contrasts two these images—one of Atlas and the other of Jesus. Atlas was the character in Greek mythology that was forced by Zeus to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. The statue of Jesus is of a child who carries this world represented by a small orb. One of the students made this comparison--

I want to give an attention to the context in which the Atlas stands. The Atlas statue is in the entrance court of the New York City's Rockefeller Center, directly across the street from St. Patrick's Cathedral. It's one of the most prominent public sculptures in the New York city. In other words, hundreds of people, if not more, see this statue everyday. You don't have to seek this statue. If you pass by the Rockefeller Center, it's right there. What image or message does this public statue convey to people? The world is a burden for us to carry on our shoulder. You need to be strong, masculine, and mighty to survive this world. The more you carry, the more load is saddled on your shoulder.

In contrast, this small statue of Jesus the child is located behind the altar at St. Patrick's Cathedral. It's not a public statue. Rather you would seek it out. This statue has an unassuming appearance. He seems to be at peace with himself being a child who is small and weak. And yet, he is holding an orb in his hand. For him, the world is not something you have to carry as punishment. On the contrary, it's something to embrace.

The story of Jesus is that of a God of unlimited power and holiness who came into the world of weakness and sin to rescue us from ourselves. He ultimately does carry the world on His shoulders, but he does so as part of the world of flesh and blood. He wants to carry us because he loves us so much; He wants to carry us all the way back home with Him.

On Backpacks and Burdens

I happened to be behind a school bus recently that was dropping elementary kids off after shcool. One little guy got off the buss lugging a huge backpack. He let it rest on the ground for a minute as he marshaled his strength, and then with a mighty effort he slung it onto his shoulder. The weight and momentum pushed him sideways for several steps, and he stumbled to the point where I thought he was going down. It was then all he could do to trudge toward his house. The look on his face was really funny—halfway between total concentration and total aggravation! It is a good thing he did not have to walk five miles to school uphill like his granddad likely had to do.

I don’t remember carrying home that many books when I was in third grade. In fact, I don’t remember carrying home any books when I was in third grade (which may explain a few things). If nothing else, the kid will be able to get work as a longshoreman unloading barges with all the muscles he is developing carrying all those books. Hopefully they will come up with virtual textbooks on Twitter or something before they have to have staff chiropractors in elementary schools.

That image of being overwhelmed by a load too heavy to manage should be a familiar one. David said, “My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear” (Psalm 38:4). We can allow ourselves to become weighed down with burdens of our own creation that overwhelm us. The invitation of Christ is to exchange our heavy loads for his light one. The words are familiar ones from Matthew 11:28-30—

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

The words are familiar; our success in carrying through is not. Peter invites us to “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). Why do we insist on dragging those old anxieties around? Lack of faith? Yes, often that is it. But we also have an unwillingness to give up control. To cast our burdens on God is also to make ourselves vulnerable to Him, and that can be scary. We’d rather trudge on like the little guy struggling home from the bus. We have to learn that if we’ll just lay the burden down, Jesus will carry it. He already carried his cross!

New Sins?

It seems like everyone I know is on Facebook, including just about everyone in my Tuesday night small group, so maybe I need to take the plunge. So I asked Angelynn when she was home last week on spring break to help me set up a Facebook account. She looked at me in horror and said, “No way!” It was actually funny. I was pretty much kidding about it, but it looked like it was going to annoy her so much that now I have to go ahead and set one up!

Did anyone see where the Vatican released a list of “new sins?” These behaviors that are now deemed as sinful include using drugs, pollution, genetic manipulation and social and economic injustices. The traditional list of the “seven deadly sins” (gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride) was established by Pope Gregory in the 6th century, and it was time to modify the list to fit the modern world. I guess the old list was getting too easy and it was time to add some tougher stuff? Or did they just give up on people keeping the older list? For the record, I am against using drugs, pollution, and social-economic injustice. I don’t know that I would dismiss all genetic engineering. Coming up with heartier wheat seems like a good thing, although the Dr. Frankenstein stuff is a little scary.

Actually, this "new list" of sins does illustrate the inefficiency of lists of rules that codify human behavior. When I was a kid, morality was often talked about in terms of dancing, drinking, smoking, mixed-bathing, etc. That list was incomplete then, and it is certainly out-of-date today. The list was actually confusing then— some of the deacons smoked between church and Sunday School and we saw several of our church friends at the pool on Monday after mixed-swimming was preached against on Sunday. Talk about mixed-signals on sin. On the other hand, maybe today we (I) are so hesitant to draw up lists of rules that we (I) don’t preach specially enough on certain behaviors.

So maybe Sunday I will preach against genetic manipulation.