'Tis been awhile since I've written anything here. I've missed you all terribly. Especially you. (You know who you are.) Let me give you all a brief summary of what my life has been like since we were last together. I was in Oregon for about ten days and had a fantastic time getting to visit with friends and spend some time in my favorite part of the country. I spoke at a high school retreat while I was there, and it too was a great experience. It was certainly a challenge due to the fact that I had never before preached so much in such a small window of time, but I enjoyed it a great deal. I believe that God did some incredible things in the lives of the students who were there, and it will be exciting to see how he continues to use them all in the future. After the retreat, I flew back to Missouri and have been getting into the swing of things for my last semester at Ozark. I think this semester will be very good. I only have four classes (13 hours), which is the least I've ever had, and I think my Romans and Revelation classes will be awesome. Also, the Steelers made it into the Super Bowl. Time for all of you to pull out your Terrible Towels.
Now that we're on the same page, I thought that I would take a few minutes to share some of the things we talked about at the retreat in Oregon. The theme for the weekend was "Adoration," and we talked about what it means to live a life of adoration and worship of God. All of this was as much of a challenge for me as it was for the students, and I was blessed to be able to research and think on this topic, trying to look at the idea of worship in a new way. I hope it's an encouragement and a blessing to you as well. Each of the paragraphs below is a summary of one of the messages I gave at the retreat.
Why do we worship? That's an important question, I think, but it's not one that we often stop and ask ourselves. Different people would likely give different answers to this question. A popular answer might be, "Well, because it's Sunday." And, as we all know, Sunday is the day that we dress nice and go to church and worship, while we got about all of our "non-worship" activities the rest of the week. This is a lame reason for worship, however. It's like a married person saying, "I adore my wife because it's Thursday, so I'll do a lot of things for her today but not the rest of the week." Another reason that some might give for worship is "Because the music moves me to it." In our modern vernacular, worship has become equated with singing at church, so if they play a song we like (and play it well), then we are enabled to worship. But again, this is a weak reason for worship. Music can't create worship and adoration any more than playing love songs on a boombox can make two people fall in love. It doesn't work. Believe me; I've tried. So why do we worship? I think the answer is this: We worship God because of who he is and what he has done. First, when we get a glimpse of God in his holy, sovereign character, we have no choice but to worship. Just look at how the Israelites respond to God in Exodus 19, or Isaiah in Isaiah 6. Second, we worship by remembering how God has acted in salvation history. After crossing the Red Sea, Moses and the Israelites sing a giant song because of how God had saved them. Likewise, when we celebrate the Lord's Supper, we are worshipping Christ by remembering how he has saved us. Maybe the reason so many of us have a hard time getting into worship is that we have taken out of the context of God's character and actions.
There are several significant obstacles to worship, however, and possibly the greatest one is pride. In Luke 18, Jesus tells a story about two men who went up to the temple to pray--a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee makes his prayer all about himself, boasting to God how he does good deeds and abstains from the vices that characterize those around him. The tax collector, on the other hand, prays simply, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner." Jesus says that the tax collector is the one who went home justified before God. Why? Because he exhibited humility, while the Pharisee was characterized by pride. You can't worship God when you're worshipping yourself. If we're going to truly worship and adore God, we need to come to the realization (as my former youth minister would say) that it's not about you. Worship is about God and him alone. It's not about what we get out of it, but about what we bring to him. Charlie wrote a blog post a while back about pride and humility that helped me a lot in this message. You can check it out here.
One of my favorite images of adoration in the Bible is in Luke 10:38-42. Jesus and his disciples are going to Jerusalem, and the go to the home of Mary and Martha for dinner. These two sister takes very different approaches to Jesus' visit. Martha is going nuts, running around the house trying to make sure everything is perfect. Mary, conversely, just sits at Jesus' feet, listening to what he's saying. Jesus says that Mary, not Martha, is doing what's best. Not that Martha isn't doing good things. She just isn't doing the best thing. The good things we do aren't always the best things, and we need to learn to adore God through our priorities. The truth is that most of us have crazy schedules, and we spend our time in a number of varied and beneficial activities. But what Mary shows is that our highest priority needs to be to be with Jesus. To abide in him, one could say. God doesn't just want our activity or our busyness (even those of us in vocational ministry). He wants us.
Our adoration should play a part in every part of our lives. It's not something that exists only in our hearts without any outward expression. That's not how we think of things today, though. People will say things like, "God isn't all that concerned with how I live. All God really wants is relationship. He just wants me to really love him." And those people look at the Jews in the Bible and think, "Those silly people. They just didn't get it. They didn't understand that God is all about the heart. They're just legalists." But here's what I think those Jews would say to my generation: "How can you love God without obeying him? Do you really think all he wants is for you to feel warm fuzzies and to sing praise songs and then go on living however you want? Do you really think God just wants your heart, as if it can be separated from your lifestyle?" And so, what we find is that adoration is shown in our obedience. 1 John 2:4 says that anyone who says "I know God" but doesn't obey him is a liar, and I think it would be fair to say that anyone who says "I love him" but doesn't do what he says is in the same boat (Jn. 14:15). Again, it's a lot like a marriage. I can run around telling everyone how much I love my wife, but if I never do anything that my wife asks me to do, it has to be questioned whether I really love my wife. Adoration without obedience is really no adoration at all.
And finally, adoration is shown in our sacrifice. Romans 12:1 famously exhorts us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices as this is our spiritual act of worship. Such a sacrifice cannot be halfhearted. This adoration requires everything we are. When a lamb was sacrificed on an altar, it couldn't be a sacrifice and continue hopping around on the grassy hills. It had to be all in. So what does it look like for us to be living sacrifices? I think a good place to start is with what Jesus says in Mark 8:34-38, when he tells the crowds that following him means that they deny themselves, take up their crosses, and follow him. First, we must deny ourselves. Being a sacrifice means that we are no longer our own bosses, but that we truly make Jesus our Savior and our Lord. We are a sacrifice when we remember that our goal is not to have "your best life now," but that, as I said before, it's not about us. Second, we carry our crosses. Jesus used the most offensive symbol of his day to show that following him is not a call to discomfort or inconvenience. It's a call to death (Gal. 2:20). Third, we follow Jesus. This typically means that we leave something else behind, just as Simon, Andrew, James, and John left their fishing gear on the beach and Matthew left his tax booth empty. Then we follow Jesus wherever he leads us, which is a pretty scary proposition because he could lead us all sorts of places. And yet, in the middle of it all, we are comforted by the truth that God is good and that he has already gone ahead of us with his cross because of his love for us. He's truly worth being adored.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Class Struggles
I think it would be fun to count up all of the different places in the world I have written blog posts from. I mean, there have got to be at least four or five. It's absolutely nuts. Right now I'm back in Oregon for the next week and change. You avid readers may (or you friends of mine) may remember that I spent last summer working with a church in Corvallis, Oregon. Next weekend, that church's high school group is having their winter retreat, and they invited me to come back and preach at it. I'm really excited to be here and to get to spend time with some good friends from last summer, and I'm also pretty stoked about preaching next weekend. I do value your prayers for me this week, both for my own preparation, but more importantly that God would be working in the students this week even before we leave. I'm really excited to see the awesome things God will do next weekend.
I enjoy living in the United States. I don't mind criticizing our nation from time to time, but for the most part, I realize that I am very fortunate to live where I do. Not everyone in the world has all of the resources and privileges that I do because of my national status. Of course, one of the best thing about life in America is that I am a citizen of a democracy, and we function under the principle that all people are created equal. Yesterday, however, I experienced a case in which this principle is not applied very well. I flew from Kansas City to Portland, and I believe that there may not be anything that makes me feel less valued as a human than commercial airlines. After I had gone through security and had been waiting at the gate for a while, one of the airline employees came on the intercom and said something like this:
"In just a moment we will begin boarding United flight 293 for Portland. We will begin by boarding all of our first-class passengers, as well as members of our Premium Gold Star Good-Looking Club, who may walk on this red carpet while we shower them with rose petals. Once these passengers are on board, all of you bed-wetters may take your seats in coach."
Once I got on the plane, I had to walk past all of these first-class passengers, looking smug in their recliners and sipping their drinks from their real glasses instead of the disposable plastic cups. They think they're so high and mighty. After all of us lower-class passengers get seated, they pull a curtain to separate first-class from coach so that all of those in the front of the plane don't have to look at our pimply faces. It's humiliating. As I sat uncomfortable with my arms crossed across my chest because the person next to me was using the armrest, I came to the sad realization that I am just another worthless member of the proletariat, fated to spend my days shining the shoes of "The Man."
The flight was not all bad, though, because I spent the time learning practical dating tips from J.R.R. Tolkein's The Return of the King, which is the third and final book of The Lord of the Rings. Here's what I learned: first, everyone in Middle-Earth talks with such class. They use the word "shall", and they give each other all sorts of names and titles, and they don't sound like a bumbling idiot like me. For example, I just opened up the book to this gem: "But Imrahil said: ' So victory is shorn of gladness, and it is bitter bought, if both Gondor and Rohan are in one day bereft of their lords. Eomer rules the Rohirrim. Who shall rule the City meanwhile? Shall we not send now for the Lord Aragorn?'" I've never said such a fine sentence in my entire life. If I start using the word "bereft" more often, I know the ladies will be lining up to listen to what might come out of my mouth next.
Second, at the end of the book, the hobbits return to their homes in the Shire. Sam has his eye on this she-hobbit Rosie, and while Rosie is near, Sam's gaffer asks Frodo how Sam did on their journey. Then it says this:
Ain't no thang.
I enjoy living in the United States. I don't mind criticizing our nation from time to time, but for the most part, I realize that I am very fortunate to live where I do. Not everyone in the world has all of the resources and privileges that I do because of my national status. Of course, one of the best thing about life in America is that I am a citizen of a democracy, and we function under the principle that all people are created equal. Yesterday, however, I experienced a case in which this principle is not applied very well. I flew from Kansas City to Portland, and I believe that there may not be anything that makes me feel less valued as a human than commercial airlines. After I had gone through security and had been waiting at the gate for a while, one of the airline employees came on the intercom and said something like this:
"In just a moment we will begin boarding United flight 293 for Portland. We will begin by boarding all of our first-class passengers, as well as members of our Premium Gold Star Good-Looking Club, who may walk on this red carpet while we shower them with rose petals. Once these passengers are on board, all of you bed-wetters may take your seats in coach."
Once I got on the plane, I had to walk past all of these first-class passengers, looking smug in their recliners and sipping their drinks from their real glasses instead of the disposable plastic cups. They think they're so high and mighty. After all of us lower-class passengers get seated, they pull a curtain to separate first-class from coach so that all of those in the front of the plane don't have to look at our pimply faces. It's humiliating. As I sat uncomfortable with my arms crossed across my chest because the person next to me was using the armrest, I came to the sad realization that I am just another worthless member of the proletariat, fated to spend my days shining the shoes of "The Man."
The flight was not all bad, though, because I spent the time learning practical dating tips from J.R.R. Tolkein's The Return of the King, which is the third and final book of The Lord of the Rings. Here's what I learned: first, everyone in Middle-Earth talks with such class. They use the word "shall", and they give each other all sorts of names and titles, and they don't sound like a bumbling idiot like me. For example, I just opened up the book to this gem: "But Imrahil said: ' So victory is shorn of gladness, and it is bitter bought, if both Gondor and Rohan are in one day bereft of their lords. Eomer rules the Rohirrim. Who shall rule the City meanwhile? Shall we not send now for the Lord Aragorn?'" I've never said such a fine sentence in my entire life. If I start using the word "bereft" more often, I know the ladies will be lining up to listen to what might come out of my mouth next.
Second, at the end of the book, the hobbits return to their homes in the Shire. Sam has his eye on this she-hobbit Rosie, and while Rosie is near, Sam's gaffer asks Frodo how Sam did on their journey. Then it says this:
"Perfrect satisfaction, Mr. Gamgee," said Frodo. "Indeed, if you will believe it, he's now one of the most famous people in all the lands, and they are making songs about his deeds from here to the Sea and beyond the Great River." Sam blushed, but he looked gratefuly at Frodo, for Rosie's eyes were shining and she was smiling at him.The lesson? If you want girls to like you, all you have to do is return successfully from a death-defying quest to save the world.
Ain't no thang.
Friday, December 31, 2010
State of the Heffren Address
I would like to begin this post with a quotation from a blog post that my good friend Charlie wrote in May:
Right now I'm in Boise, Idaho because my friend Ryan (and my roommate last semester) is getting married tomorrow afternoon. When I first met Ryan, I never would have thought he would have gotten married before me. Actually, that's a lie. This guy was just too fashionable. You can only hold him down for so long. So far, Idaho is a pretty killer place. When we landed, we could see a mountain from snow all over it, which was a nice change from just looking at dead trees and the Jehovah's Witness church out my back door. Plus, we had some delicious Red Robin for the rehearsal dinner last night. Not a bad way to end the year.
At the end of each year, I like to write a blog post to review the previous twelve months in my life, picking out the most notable events. So as I look back on 2010, the first thing that comes to mind is when I went to New York City in January for a class. I had never really been to NYC before, and it was a great time. I met Mike Ditka, which is a story that I'll never get tired of telling. I ate lots of pizza. I tried on $6000 jackets. I talked with a crazy guy at Starbucks that told us how he passed out for PCP. I ate free dessert from the Italian restaurant manager that somehow remembered Ray. All in all, a successful trip.
2010 was a year of transition. Not so much because of things changing a lot in my own life, but more because of so many of my good friends graduating and going of to bring real life. April and May were kind of weird months, because of the the upcoming graduates would want to get in all of the time they could with their friends, so it felt like people were wanting to hang out all the time. This was a shift because I'm used to people not wanting to hang out with me at all. Graduation was a pretty sad time, but it was still exciting to see all of the incredible things that my friends are doing in ministry, and I truly consider myself fortunate to have spent a few years rubbing shoulders with them.
I secretly have a "Blog War" with David Heffren. He doesn't know about it(well, he might not if he reads this post like a good friend would). I saw that before tonight, we both have posted 11 blog posts so far this year, and as I walked into our dorm room, I saw him writing a new post. I can't let him write more blog posts than me, so I decided to write one. I know that people usually write when they have something of importance or meaningful on their minds, but I am competitive by nature. So I guess you could say this post was born out of spite for David Heffren. So take that four-eyes.This is now my 43rd blog post of 2010, whereas Charlie has only written 40 of them. He made a good showing, but he just couldn't handle me down the homestretch.
Right now I'm in Boise, Idaho because my friend Ryan (and my roommate last semester) is getting married tomorrow afternoon. When I first met Ryan, I never would have thought he would have gotten married before me. Actually, that's a lie. This guy was just too fashionable. You can only hold him down for so long. So far, Idaho is a pretty killer place. When we landed, we could see a mountain from snow all over it, which was a nice change from just looking at dead trees and the Jehovah's Witness church out my back door. Plus, we had some delicious Red Robin for the rehearsal dinner last night. Not a bad way to end the year.
At the end of each year, I like to write a blog post to review the previous twelve months in my life, picking out the most notable events. So as I look back on 2010, the first thing that comes to mind is when I went to New York City in January for a class. I had never really been to NYC before, and it was a great time. I met Mike Ditka, which is a story that I'll never get tired of telling. I ate lots of pizza. I tried on $6000 jackets. I talked with a crazy guy at Starbucks that told us how he passed out for PCP. I ate free dessert from the Italian restaurant manager that somehow remembered Ray. All in all, a successful trip.
2010 was a year of transition. Not so much because of things changing a lot in my own life, but more because of so many of my good friends graduating and going of to bring real life. April and May were kind of weird months, because of the the upcoming graduates would want to get in all of the time they could with their friends, so it felt like people were wanting to hang out all the time. This was a shift because I'm used to people not wanting to hang out with me at all. Graduation was a pretty sad time, but it was still exciting to see all of the incredible things that my friends are doing in ministry, and I truly consider myself fortunate to have spent a few years rubbing shoulders with them.
Probably the most noteworthy part of my year was my summer spent in Corvallis, Oregon where I did a student ministry internship with Suburban Christian Church. If you've been an avid reader of my blog from the beginning, you may know that I spent a month in the Northwest while I was on camp teams, and I was anxious to go back. The people at Suburban were great, and I couldn't have asked for much of a better summer. Granted, I had to struggle with driving a stick shift for three months, but once I stopped being bothered by all the other drivers flipping me off, I could settle in and really enjoy myself. Oregon really is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. I always say that you can get to every biome of the world in a two-hour drive. I'll be heading back to Corvallis a week from today, and I'm pretty stoked for that. I just hope the people there remember me.
I think I have written this before, but my time since getting back from Oregon has been a bit of a blur, so I'll just summarize it all here in a few sentences. I'm still at Ozark. I preach now at a little church in Commerce, Oklahoma. It's challenging at times, but still going great. Connor and I went to Indiana to visit our lost friend Charlie, and it was a great trip, except when Charlie's car broke down at a gas station in Louisville. My intramural volleyball team got second place, thanks to our average height of about 6'2". I went to a lot of weddings (Ryan's tomorrow will be the fifth one in the past four months). And....that's about it.
As far as looking forward to 2011, I guess the only thing I know for sure is that I'll go to a wedding tomorrow. I'm pretty sure I'm going to graduate this year, but I don't want to count my chickens too much. After that, the year is pretty wide open, which is exciting in a way but a little scary in many more. Have a great New Year's Eve. I'm going to spend my time stealing some kisses from Charlie (Hershey's, that is).
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
100 Posts and We Haven't Broken a Hip Yet!
Do you ever feel like you're always just waiting for the next thing? I do, and I think that the same is true of many people. For example, Christmas is over now. I remember how, when I was a little kid, the day after Christmas I would think, "Holy cow. Now I have to wait an entire year for Christmas to get here again. I would feel so down about the prospect of having to endure another 12 months of days not getting presents. Normal life is so drab when you compare it with Christmas, after all. We look forward to and wait for other moments in life, too. I wanted to go to Ozark for college since I was a freshman in high school, and I was often frustrated by the fact that I had to graduate high school before they would take me. Other people just can't wait for their wedding day once they get engaged. A good friend of mine is getting married this Saturday, and I think his fiance has probably been counting down the days since April.
These sorts of things happen all the time. Personally, I feel like I am always unsatisfied with where I am and what I'm doing at the moment because I am constantly looking forward to the next thing. There is a danger in this. We can spend so much energy focusing on some point in the future that we miss where we are now. I had lunch with my sister today, and we talked briefly about how dang old we are getting. I'm going to be 23 in a few weeks! I have no business being 23. People that age are supposed to have some sort of handle on life. I didn't really even own any long-sleeved shirts until yesterday. I'm obviously not prepared. The thing about getting older is that it doesn't wait for you to be ready. In school, you have to pass one grade to move up to the next one, but with age, you get older every year no matter what. They're no tests. You're just expected to keep up. Time is one cruel master. And yet, as I continue to age, I worry about what kinds of good things I have missed in my life so far because I was so concentrated on what's next. Conversations I could have had, laughs I could have shared, weddings I could have crashed.
It's all a pretty tricky practice. It's like we need three eyes. One to reflect on and learn from the past, one to be paying attention to what's going on in the present, and one to be planning for and looking forward to the future. We run into problems when one of these eyes starts doing all of the work. When we focus too much on the past, we get stuck in regrets and are unable to move forward in life. When we focus solely on the present, we make foolish mistakes and are ill-prepared for what might meet us in the future. And when we are too focused on the future, we miss out on what good things are happening in our lives now. It's not an easy thing to do, especially with people who as poor vision as me. So in this, my 100th post, my encouragement to you is this: Find out which of these eyes you need to give some special attention to, and try to work some balance into your life. Learn from the past. Live in the moment. Plan for the future.
And now here's your chance to join in the celebration. For those of you who have been reading my blog for a while, I'm curious if there is a specific post that you've especially liked. I want to know this for a couple reasons. First, I'm proud and arrogant and like to be patted on the back. But also, if I know what good things I have written, maybe I can do a better job of emulating those posts in the future. Plus, I have to know which ones to include in my book. If you leave a comment, I'll pay you with 100 high-fives (or "knucks", if you prefer), or I will give your greatest enemy 100 punches in the face. Your choice.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Tradition
It's Christmas Eve. It's funny how different Christmas feels compared to when I was a kid. Christmas used to be the highlight of my entire year, and I would could down the days till Christmas beginning in November. And then, the day after, I would think, "Dang, now I have to wait an entire year for Christmas! I can't do it!" Nowadays, the holiday just sort of sneaks up on me until one morning I wake up at the break of noon and realize it's here. This year, I don't even have a blizzard or power outage to signal that it is indeed Christmas. If it weren't for everyone putting Christmasy statuses on their facebook profiles, I would probably miss the whole thing.
What do you first think of when you hear the word "tradition"? Many people associate traditions with Christmas. (Or, they might associate it with that song from Fiddler on the Roof, which is not a very good Christmas movie at all.) In fact, Christmas seems incomplete for some families without their traditions. They eat certain foods, watch certain movies, wear the same sweaters, etc. I was thinking tonight about whether or not my family has many traditions, and I came to the conclusion that we really don't. We eat dinner. I think that's about it. And every year I try to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas, but I think that's just me. Not everyone in my family appreciates it as much. If you want to hear about some Christmas traditions, you can read this.
Tradition is not only important for celebrating Christmas, but it is also important in the Christian life. The concept of tradition shows up quite a bit in the Bible. In some instances, tradition is viewed as a negative thing. Jesus condemns the religious leaders for holding to manmade traditions at the cost of obeying God (Mk. 7). In these passages, tradition is set up against God's word, and the reader is warned against placing "the way we do things" on the same level as divine command. In other instances, however, tradition is valued as the teachings that were handed down in the church. That's what tradition means--something that is handed down. In this sense, Paul tells his readers to "stand firm and hold to the teachings (tradition) we passed on to you" (2 Thess. 2:15).
That's what our faith is. It's a tradition. It's something that has been handed down for centuries. It's not something that sprang out of someone's imagination. It's root is in the historical events surrounding Jesus, and eyewitnesses passed it on to others, who in turn passed it on, all the way down to us today. The church today finds its origins in this tradition. And that is a comforting thing, I think. Traditions unite a family. They are markers of identity. That is why families value their holiday traditions so highly--those traditions remind the family of who they are. In the same way, the Christian tradition brings unity to the church. The gospel is the story that binds us. Along with this, we have other traditions and church practices that unite us. We celebrate Jesus' birth through Christmas. We take the Lord's Supper to remember Jesus' sacrifice. We baptize to join in Jesus' death and resurrection. All over the world, Christians engage in this tradition of the Christian life. It brings us together, so that I can know that I am following Christ, not by myself, but alongside Catholics in Ecuador, non-instrumentalists in Nashville, house churches in China, and Pentecostals in Africa. We are the church, formed and directed by the tradition handed down to us.
I hope you all have the merriest Christmas imaginable and that Santa gives you anything you could want. I also hope you catch someone under the mistletoe. Now there's a tradition that needs to be taken full advantage of.
What do you first think of when you hear the word "tradition"? Many people associate traditions with Christmas. (Or, they might associate it with that song from Fiddler on the Roof, which is not a very good Christmas movie at all.) In fact, Christmas seems incomplete for some families without their traditions. They eat certain foods, watch certain movies, wear the same sweaters, etc. I was thinking tonight about whether or not my family has many traditions, and I came to the conclusion that we really don't. We eat dinner. I think that's about it. And every year I try to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas, but I think that's just me. Not everyone in my family appreciates it as much. If you want to hear about some Christmas traditions, you can read this.
Tradition is not only important for celebrating Christmas, but it is also important in the Christian life. The concept of tradition shows up quite a bit in the Bible. In some instances, tradition is viewed as a negative thing. Jesus condemns the religious leaders for holding to manmade traditions at the cost of obeying God (Mk. 7). In these passages, tradition is set up against God's word, and the reader is warned against placing "the way we do things" on the same level as divine command. In other instances, however, tradition is valued as the teachings that were handed down in the church. That's what tradition means--something that is handed down. In this sense, Paul tells his readers to "stand firm and hold to the teachings (tradition) we passed on to you" (2 Thess. 2:15).
That's what our faith is. It's a tradition. It's something that has been handed down for centuries. It's not something that sprang out of someone's imagination. It's root is in the historical events surrounding Jesus, and eyewitnesses passed it on to others, who in turn passed it on, all the way down to us today. The church today finds its origins in this tradition. And that is a comforting thing, I think. Traditions unite a family. They are markers of identity. That is why families value their holiday traditions so highly--those traditions remind the family of who they are. In the same way, the Christian tradition brings unity to the church. The gospel is the story that binds us. Along with this, we have other traditions and church practices that unite us. We celebrate Jesus' birth through Christmas. We take the Lord's Supper to remember Jesus' sacrifice. We baptize to join in Jesus' death and resurrection. All over the world, Christians engage in this tradition of the Christian life. It brings us together, so that I can know that I am following Christ, not by myself, but alongside Catholics in Ecuador, non-instrumentalists in Nashville, house churches in China, and Pentecostals in Africa. We are the church, formed and directed by the tradition handed down to us.
I hope you all have the merriest Christmas imaginable and that Santa gives you anything you could want. I also hope you catch someone under the mistletoe. Now there's a tradition that needs to be taken full advantage of.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Stuff I Like
There won't be much material of substance in this post. I suppose that's a pretty terrible way to get you to continue reading. Eh. Recently I was thinking about how I tend to be a complainer. It's a lot easier for me to focus on what I don't like about a given situation than it is to focus on the positive. And so, I thought it might be good for my personal health to list some things that I truly like. It is Christmas season, after all. Isn't this the kind of thing people do for the holidays? I mean, besides overeating and watching stop-motion movies. I guess I'll just keep listing things I like until I either run out or get too distracted. Or until an attractive female calls me up and wants to go get pancakes.
-I like seeing the people at the mall that are getting those Chinese massages in the little chairs. It seems like the most awkward place in the entire world to have that done.
-I like watching a couple Homestar Runner cartoons every day. Even though I've seen them all a hundred times, they serve as little reminders that the world is still pretty good.
-I like winter because the long nights make me feel reflective.
-I like that I'll be going back to Oregon in 21 days.
-I like observing other people's terribly awkward, uncomfortable situations. I even sort of like my own awkward situations.
-I like this commercial.
-I like to listen to my Friday playlist and hope that someday, somewhere, by some freak set of circumstances, I'll be a good dancer.
-I like to look at all the books on the shelves when I'm in someone's office or dorm room.
-I like people who comment on my blog posts. They're my best friends. Everyone else is not.
-I like the word "voluminous."
-I maybe, sort of, kind of like a few Superchick songs a little bit. Please don't think less of me.
-I like Coca-Cola, and I like when my friends' fiances keep the fridge stocked with two-liter bottles of it.
-I like being in a crowd, like in a mall during Christmas season or walking the sidewalks of a big city. Not that interact with anyone in the crowd. I just like being there.
-I like reminiscing about the "good old days" of freshman year when I played pool every afternoon, ate pizza every weekend, and took a nap every other hour.
-I like video montages, like the ones they show at the end of the Olympics or during the college football national championship.
-I like when people who write the blogs on my sidebar write a new post. Hint hint.
-I like Alumni jokes.
-I like listening to Flobots, pretending I know something about politics, and feeling like I'm sticking it to the man.
-I like intramural basketball. Especially when my teammates let me start the game when we play a team that's not very good.
-I like the Christmas gift you're going to give me.
-I like writing my sermons in coffee shops. It makes me look so cultured, I think. Now only if I used an iPad from the pulpit....
-I like the cover of the Sonic & Knuckles game for Sega Genesis.
-I like that the Cincinnati Reds finally had a winning season this year.
-I like when I make an allusion to Freaks and Geeks or Arrested Development, and someone knows what I'm referencing.
-I like going to the bank in Joplin on Tuesdays.
-I like spending the weekend at Ryan's apartment. It makes me feel like I can do whatever I want, even though we all know I'm not going to do anything I wouldn't normally do.
-I like the feeling of waking up, thinking it's time to go to class, looking at your clock, realizing it's only 2:42 a.m., and rolling back over to go to sleep.
-I like to break out into random beatbox sessions, even though I'm about the worst beatboxer I know.
-I like when girls wear glasses. I also like that glasses are becoming fashionable as a rule, and I like to think that I'm the reason.
-I like to make faces in pictures, except there are only about five that I do. I guess I should work on some new ones.
-I like lil' smokies. Actually, "like" isn't strong enough of a word. Love? Adore? Am infatuated with?
-I like bowling. Except when a girl beats me. Or Charlie.
-I like reading all the Facebook posts wishing me a happy birthday and thinking, "Gosh, that's awful nice of that person. Especially after we haven't talked in four years."
So as you can see, I like a lot of things. Feel free to comment with your own (hopefully shorter) list, and have yourself a merry little December 18th.
-I like seeing the people at the mall that are getting those Chinese massages in the little chairs. It seems like the most awkward place in the entire world to have that done.
-I like watching a couple Homestar Runner cartoons every day. Even though I've seen them all a hundred times, they serve as little reminders that the world is still pretty good.
-I like winter because the long nights make me feel reflective.
-I like that I'll be going back to Oregon in 21 days.
-I like observing other people's terribly awkward, uncomfortable situations. I even sort of like my own awkward situations.
-I like this commercial.
-I like to listen to my Friday playlist and hope that someday, somewhere, by some freak set of circumstances, I'll be a good dancer.
-I like to look at all the books on the shelves when I'm in someone's office or dorm room.
-I like people who comment on my blog posts. They're my best friends. Everyone else is not.
-I like the word "voluminous."
-I maybe, sort of, kind of like a few Superchick songs a little bit. Please don't think less of me.
-I like Coca-Cola, and I like when my friends' fiances keep the fridge stocked with two-liter bottles of it.
-I like being in a crowd, like in a mall during Christmas season or walking the sidewalks of a big city. Not that interact with anyone in the crowd. I just like being there.
-I like reminiscing about the "good old days" of freshman year when I played pool every afternoon, ate pizza every weekend, and took a nap every other hour.
-I like video montages, like the ones they show at the end of the Olympics or during the college football national championship.
-I like when people who write the blogs on my sidebar write a new post. Hint hint.
-I like Alumni jokes.
-I like listening to Flobots, pretending I know something about politics, and feeling like I'm sticking it to the man.
-I like intramural basketball. Especially when my teammates let me start the game when we play a team that's not very good.
-I like the Christmas gift you're going to give me.
-I like writing my sermons in coffee shops. It makes me look so cultured, I think. Now only if I used an iPad from the pulpit....
-I like the cover of the Sonic & Knuckles game for Sega Genesis.
-I like that the Cincinnati Reds finally had a winning season this year.
-I like when I make an allusion to Freaks and Geeks or Arrested Development, and someone knows what I'm referencing.
-I like going to the bank in Joplin on Tuesdays.
-I like spending the weekend at Ryan's apartment. It makes me feel like I can do whatever I want, even though we all know I'm not going to do anything I wouldn't normally do.
-I like the feeling of waking up, thinking it's time to go to class, looking at your clock, realizing it's only 2:42 a.m., and rolling back over to go to sleep.
-I like to break out into random beatbox sessions, even though I'm about the worst beatboxer I know.
-I like when girls wear glasses. I also like that glasses are becoming fashionable as a rule, and I like to think that I'm the reason.
-I like to make faces in pictures, except there are only about five that I do. I guess I should work on some new ones.
-I like lil' smokies. Actually, "like" isn't strong enough of a word. Love? Adore? Am infatuated with?
-I like bowling. Except when a girl beats me. Or Charlie.
-I like reading all the Facebook posts wishing me a happy birthday and thinking, "Gosh, that's awful nice of that person. Especially after we haven't talked in four years."
So as you can see, I like a lot of things. Feel free to comment with your own (hopefully shorter) list, and have yourself a merry little December 18th.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Potentially Christian America
I think I may have mentioned this in a previous post, but this semester I have been taking a class in the General Epistles, where we have been studying the books of James, 1 Peter, and 1 John. This has been one of the most thought-provoking, applicable classes I have had at Ozark. One of the best things about the class has been the books that we have read for it. One of them that I read about a month and half ago is Resident Aliens by Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon. I thought the book was great, as one can tell by the frequent highlighting throughout. I had been planning to write a blog post about the book when one day I noticed a book on the New Books spinner in the library. The book is called Death of a Christian Nation by Deborah J. Dewart. After scanning the synopsis on the back cover of the book, I realized that this book may be just about the complete opposite of Resident Aliens, so I thought it would be fun to compare the two.
Both Resident Aliens and Death of a Christian Nation begin with the same issue: America can no longer be considered a Christian nation, or at least is losing its status as a Christian nation. Hauerwas and Willimon use a story of how, in 1963, a movie theater began to be open on Sundays. For these writers, this is evidence of the end of Christian America. They write, "Whether we are with Pentecostals, Catholics, Lutherans, or United Methodists, we meet few young parents, college students, or auto mechanics who believe that one becomes Christian today by simply breathing the air and drinking the water in the generous, hospitable environment of Christendom America" (16). Similarly, Dewart looks at legal cases from the past several decades and concludes, "If modern liberal activists have their way, the phrase God Bless America will ring hollow because our Christian nation will be dead" (6). Both books recognize that American life has changed and that our country is becoming more and more "unchristian." However, the two books respond to this situation is vastly different ways.
But before we get to that, maybe we should ask if the United States was every really a Christian nation in the first place. Many Americans, perhaps even most Americans, would not even question this. They point to the faith of the founding fathers and to the biblical principles that undergird the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Dewart's first chapter beings, "In the beginning, God blessed America. Christianity was the bedrock of this country." She provides a number of quotations to show that America was Christian from the beginning. For example, she quotes Thomas Jefferson:
So then, how do Dewart, Hauerwas, and Willimon deal with all of this? For Dewart, the situation demands that we do everything we can to keep America from losing its Christian identity. She writes:
On the other hand, Hauerwas and Willimon paint a very different picture. They too see that "Christian America" may be eroding. However, instead of making a plea to the church to preserve that system, they see it as a good thing that will allow the church to function as it should. They write, "The demise of the Constantinian world view, the gradual decline of the notion that the church needs some sort of surrounding 'Christian' culture to prop it up and mold its young, is not a death to lament. It is an opportunity to celebrate" (18). This is due to the fact that, when the church and state become wrapped up together, it is typically the church that loses its identity. Instead of the church shaping the state, we find nationalistic ideals molding the church. Instead, the church is called to be "a social alternative that the world cannot on its own terms know" (18). The church stands separate from the state because it is its own entity. We may like to think that, at least in its original condition, American government was buddy-buddy with the church, but this may not be the case. Hauerwas and Willimon write, "The story which comprises American capitalistic, constitutional democracy and the story which elicits the church are in greater conflict than these Christian transformers of culture know" (155). The church functions by its own politic, and it certainly doesn't need the support of the government or judiciary to carry out its God-given mission.
Something we American Christians struggle with is that, our entire lives, we have been so attached to our "rights." We believe that preservation of our rights is required if we are to live the Christian life. However, that doesn't seem to be the image that Jesus gives. Instead, he predicted that all men would hate his followers (Matt. 10:22), and he knew that Christians would be beaten and killed (Mk. 13:9). Meanwhile, we Americans are terrified that our churches might lose their tax-exempt status, or we worry that out workplaces won't let us wear Christian symbols on our jewelry. And yet, in spite of the very unchristian environment of the first-century Roman empire, the church expanded, and what started out as a little mustard seed grew into a tree. For a more recent example, we might look at the church in China, which is growing like crazy even though preachers don't have the politically-sanctioned right to stand on a streetcorner and tell people about Jesus. Oftentimes, it is when the church faces its greatest hardships that it is able to most exemplify what it means to follow Christ and it carries out its mission to the greatest extent. So maybe the loss of Christian America really isn't too bad. Maybe it's just what is needed to help the church be what it was made to be.
What do you think? Is the United States a Christian nation? Is it the church's responsibility to maintain (or recapture) America's Christian identity?
Both Resident Aliens and Death of a Christian Nation begin with the same issue: America can no longer be considered a Christian nation, or at least is losing its status as a Christian nation. Hauerwas and Willimon use a story of how, in 1963, a movie theater began to be open on Sundays. For these writers, this is evidence of the end of Christian America. They write, "Whether we are with Pentecostals, Catholics, Lutherans, or United Methodists, we meet few young parents, college students, or auto mechanics who believe that one becomes Christian today by simply breathing the air and drinking the water in the generous, hospitable environment of Christendom America" (16). Similarly, Dewart looks at legal cases from the past several decades and concludes, "If modern liberal activists have their way, the phrase God Bless America will ring hollow because our Christian nation will be dead" (6). Both books recognize that American life has changed and that our country is becoming more and more "unchristian." However, the two books respond to this situation is vastly different ways.
But before we get to that, maybe we should ask if the United States was every really a Christian nation in the first place. Many Americans, perhaps even most Americans, would not even question this. They point to the faith of the founding fathers and to the biblical principles that undergird the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Dewart's first chapter beings, "In the beginning, God blessed America. Christianity was the bedrock of this country." She provides a number of quotations to show that America was Christian from the beginning. For example, she quotes Thomas Jefferson:
And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis--a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the fit of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that His justice cannot sleep forever. (4)It all sounds very good. However, just in the case of Thomas Jefferson, we may need to examine his Christian convictions a little closer. It is not unknown that Jefferson produced his own version of the gospels, in which he removed any hints of miracles, Jesus' divinity, or the resurrection. His version ends thusly: "Now in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was man never yet laid. There they laid Jesus. And rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed." And that's it. We might be able to ask Jefferson whether the doctrines of a faith can be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis--a conviction that Jesus was God and rose from the dead. What we see in Jefferson (and, though I'm certainly no expert, I would assume we might see in several others among the founding fathers) is a deistic, antisupernatural worldview that discredits a great deal of Scripture and strikes at the heart of Christian faith. Maybe early America wasn't quite as Christian as we have been told. (We might also want to remember that the colonies started a war in large part because they didn't want to pay taxes. Doesn't seem to fit with Rom. 13 very well.)
So then, how do Dewart, Hauerwas, and Willimon deal with all of this? For Dewart, the situation demands that we do everything we can to keep America from losing its Christian identity. She writes:
American Christianity is under attack. From shore to shore, cases are legion. Believers need knowledge. They need to know how fellow Christians are suffering for their faith right here in America. They need to know how current laws impact their ability to apply biblical principles in the workplace. They need to know their Bibles. They need to know where to turn for help. Without this knowledge, our 'Christian' nation will die." (xv)To Dewart, the greatest danger threatening the contemporary church is that America will cease to be able to call itself a Christian nation. She claims that if this happens, it will severely hamper the church's ability to carry out its mission. She continues, "Moreover, our freedom to preach the gospel is rapidly diminishing, and preservation of that freedom is vital to the church and its mission" (xv, emphasis mine). And, although I have only skimmed Death of a Christian Nation, it seems like Dewart's solution to all of this is that Christian be knowledgeable about their "right" and be able to defend those rights in the public arena.
On the other hand, Hauerwas and Willimon paint a very different picture. They too see that "Christian America" may be eroding. However, instead of making a plea to the church to preserve that system, they see it as a good thing that will allow the church to function as it should. They write, "The demise of the Constantinian world view, the gradual decline of the notion that the church needs some sort of surrounding 'Christian' culture to prop it up and mold its young, is not a death to lament. It is an opportunity to celebrate" (18). This is due to the fact that, when the church and state become wrapped up together, it is typically the church that loses its identity. Instead of the church shaping the state, we find nationalistic ideals molding the church. Instead, the church is called to be "a social alternative that the world cannot on its own terms know" (18). The church stands separate from the state because it is its own entity. We may like to think that, at least in its original condition, American government was buddy-buddy with the church, but this may not be the case. Hauerwas and Willimon write, "The story which comprises American capitalistic, constitutional democracy and the story which elicits the church are in greater conflict than these Christian transformers of culture know" (155). The church functions by its own politic, and it certainly doesn't need the support of the government or judiciary to carry out its God-given mission.
Something we American Christians struggle with is that, our entire lives, we have been so attached to our "rights." We believe that preservation of our rights is required if we are to live the Christian life. However, that doesn't seem to be the image that Jesus gives. Instead, he predicted that all men would hate his followers (Matt. 10:22), and he knew that Christians would be beaten and killed (Mk. 13:9). Meanwhile, we Americans are terrified that our churches might lose their tax-exempt status, or we worry that out workplaces won't let us wear Christian symbols on our jewelry. And yet, in spite of the very unchristian environment of the first-century Roman empire, the church expanded, and what started out as a little mustard seed grew into a tree. For a more recent example, we might look at the church in China, which is growing like crazy even though preachers don't have the politically-sanctioned right to stand on a streetcorner and tell people about Jesus. Oftentimes, it is when the church faces its greatest hardships that it is able to most exemplify what it means to follow Christ and it carries out its mission to the greatest extent. So maybe the loss of Christian America really isn't too bad. Maybe it's just what is needed to help the church be what it was made to be.
What do you think? Is the United States a Christian nation? Is it the church's responsibility to maintain (or recapture) America's Christian identity?
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