worldspeak

Post-Christendom: "I Used to Rule the World..."

2008-07-20T12:56:00.003-07:00

I can't get these lyrics out of my head, from Coldplay's new album - so poignant to a fallen empire...

Viva La Vida
I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own
I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemies eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing:
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"
One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt, and pillars of sand
I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can not explain
Once you know there was never, never an honest word
That was when I ruled the world

* * *
please read more about my thoughts on the evolution of Christianity at www.EmergingChristian.com

"World-Thumping" vs. "Bible Thumping"...

2008-07-14T21:57:00.003-07:00

So in high school, I got called a "Bible Thumper" a couple of times. It bugged me. And no, I wasn't one of those constantly-Jesus-spouting-goody-two-shoes Bible Club kids. In fact, I wanted to be liked so much (most of the time) that I made fun of the Bible Club. And threw parties and drank beer.

But for a brief, 6-month "sin-hiatus" during my senior year, I did my share of "thumping." After an all-too-common youth group road trip to some homeless shelters in Los Angeles, I thought I'd finally discovered what Christianity was supposed to feel like. It was a constant, exhilerating high, every day. For six months. And I didn't want to sin. I wanted to quote Bible verses in class and tell everyone how "easy" Christianity had become. And it was. For six months.

Then the new car smell started to fade. The Skid Row L.A. honeymoon became a distant memory. Drinking and swearing and masturbation became really attractive again, and I learned that my relationship with God could be a lot like relationships with girls: big initial high, lots of butterflies, a little poetry... eventually followed by boredom, disillusion, and "greener grass" spotted across the fence.

I don't want to be a Bible-Thumper any more, as much as I love and cherish Scripture. I want to be a "World-Thumper." I want to point to the people around me - around all of us - living next door - whose lives are singing the truth: the truth of who they are; the truth of what they need; the truth of what the church is not; the truth of how short we come up. World-Thumping is Christianity looking in the gigantic, truth-telling mirror the world is holding up in front of us, and being brave enough to admit: "that's me? Then it's time to change."

* * *
please read more about my thoughts on the evolution of Christianity at http://www.emergingchristian.com/

Not Offended, Just Annoyed...

2008-07-12T14:41:00.004-07:00

I don't get offended by "Christian-bashing" anymore. Probably because I'm guilty of it myself, too often.

Last night I was hanging out with a group of people - one of whom I had not met before. Sometime during dinner at a Mexican joint, she made some disparaging comment about Christians. Eh, no biggie. They piss me off too, I thought.

Then a little later someone was talking about taking a religion class at school, and the requirement to read the Gospel of Luke.

The same young woman said, "Yeah, it's a nice story..." and that didn't seem too malicious either. But both comments, coupled with a third later in the evening, all carried an arrogant, mocking militance I had not heard in awhile. It reminded me of... hmmm... a miltant fundamentalist Christian, I guess. The other side of the flipped coin. And so it goes.

Fundamentalists come in all shapes and sizes, and usually someone burned on one extreme will jump to the other: burning to freezing.

I have a lot of compassion for the "burned" and the "frozen," and I get it. It's what this worldspeak concept is all about. Compassion, listening, loving, healing. But the arrogance of absolute beliefism, whether religious or atheist, isn't just uncomfortable to be around: it's sickening. God help me if my disillusion leads me to a New Kind of Fundamentalism (NKOF) - becoming a fundamentalist of any kind makes one just like any other.

Some might still accuse me of fundamentalism because I'm very ENTHUSIASTIC... but I have changed a lot... and here's the big difference: I'm not angry anymore.

* * *
please read more about my thoughts on the evolution of Christianity at www.EmergingChristian.com

Dobson: Political Puppet...

2008-07-02T19:06:00.004-07:00

I'm not blind enough to pretend the Democrats don't have their own religious puppets (they just have far fewer than the Republicans) but here is another gross example of religio-political attack dogs imposing a narrow (and uninformed) fundamentalist biblical view - not for the sake of Christ, but for the edification of the GOP.

I'm reminded of Len Sweet saying, "Focus on the Family? Jesus wouldn't 'Focus on the Family.' He told his disciples to die. To leave everything behind. He said, 'If anyone wants to follow me he must hate his father and mother'!"

But what really gets me is that Dr. James Dobson is not a theologian (admitedly, neither am I... only a student and an amateur), he's a family counselor. Focus on the Family ministries has rapidly deteriorated in the last decade, from a merely conservative counseling and family resource ministry, to a hyper-political, pseudo-theological military arm of the Religious Right.

So here's the scoop...

(CNN)— Sen. Barack Obama said Tuesday night evangelical leader James Dobson was “making stuff up,” when he accused the Illinois senator of distorting the Bible and taking a "fruitcake interpretation" of the U.S. Constitution.

“Any notion that I was distorting the Bible in that speech, I think anyone would be hard pressed to make that argument,” Obama told reporters on board his press plane Tuesday night.
Obama's past comments came front and center Tuesday when Dobson criticized the presumptive Democratic nominee’s June 2006 speech on his Focus on the Family radio show.

In the speech, Obama suggested that it would be impractical to govern based solely on the word of the Bible, noting that some passages suggest slavery is permissible and eating shellfish is disgraceful.

"Which passages of scripture should guide our public policy?" Obama asked in the speech. "Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is OK and that eating shellfish is an abomination? Or we could go with Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith? Or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount — a passage that is so radical that it's doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application?"
Obama responded Tuesday saying the speech underscored the notion he is a man of faith and highlighted the importance that people like him who find faith important “try to translate our concerns in a universal language so that we can have open and vigorous debate.”

Responding to the comments, Tom Minnery, senior vice president of Focus Action, said "There is no need to 'make stuff up' as it relates to Sen. Obama's interpretation of Scripture and the role of religion in the public square."

"His statements and record make clear his questionable perception of both. To argue that the Sermon on the Mount invalidates the Defense Department — as if Jesus Himself didn't have anything to say about the existence of good and evil and the need to combat evil — is about as deep as anyone needs to go to understand where the senator is coming from," Minnery also said. "He is editing God's word to fit his liberal worldview, and the more exposure his views on these matters get, the more obvious this will become to American Christians."

* * *
please read more about my thoughts on the evolution of Christianity at www.EmergingChristian.com

Suicide? Surrender? Or just lazy?

2008-04-28T20:40:00.001-07:00

Question: does following Jesus mean surrendering not only to Jesus, but surrendering to our enemies? Is that the surrendered life? Does loving our enemies mean surrendering to them? Does that surrender mean we allow them to be victorious? Does dying to ourselves mean laying down and dying? Do we stop trying to win?

I think maybe it means all those things, but I'm curious if it sounds like heresy. Or evangelistic laziness. Or suicide...

* * *
please read more about my thoughts on the evolution of Christianity at www.EmergingChristian.com

Obama...

2008-03-26T17:10:00.002-07:00

Here's my confession - last Friday my wife and I cut in front of 7,000 expectant voters and Barack Obama fans to get into Eugene, Oregon's MacArthur Court!

We knew it was wrong. We knew it was a sin. But we can't repent. The truth is, if we had to go through it all again, we would. It was worth it...

When we arrived on the University of Oregon Campus at 6:00pm on Friday, there were already over 10,000 people waiting in two endless lines. We parked several miles away and rushed back to the stadium, undaunted (and not knowing whether we'd make it in or not).

As we approached the building, we noticed the line was just beginning to move. "Quick, start walking alongside it," Jen said. Like Eve with the apple... we did, and casually talked to each other, doing our best to appear intent on a purpose, and unaware of our transgression.

Pretty soon we had sneakily been absorbed in the midst of several groups of people who were naturally unaware of who belonged to each other's party. And in 2o minutes we were inside. In fact, after passing through the metal detectors, we were among the first few thousand to enter. We got great seats on the 2nd floor directly opposite Senator Obama's stage.

The evening was electric. Obama is even more captivating in person than on television - his presence is at once commanding and warm. Yes, I have a little man-crush. Few personalities are able to excite the imagination of millions, especially among jaded and overstimulated Generations X and Y!

We felt a little guilty when we later learned that 3,000 individuals weren't able to get inside. Yes, the blood was on our hands - and it smelled like change I could believe in!

On a side note, I was reading Brian McLaren's blog on Sunday. He has several posts about Senator Obama, celebrating his campaign, leadership and vision. In truth, I'm right there with McLaren, but a little part of my gut remains clenched, wondering if we've sold ourselves too easily - so starved for an attractive alternative to the Christian Right.

I can't answer that yet.

* * *
please read more about my thoughts on the evolution of Christianity at www.EmergingChristian.com

"I'd Rather Not Be Golfing..."

2008-03-19T13:55:00.004-07:00

"If Jesus didn't raise himself from the dead on the third day, I'm off to the golf course."

I've heard the nuts and bolts of that view shared by three different evangelical pastors in the last couple of months. At the heart of it, it sounds pretty faithful and pious, doesn't it?

"Jesus' resurrection is so central to my faith, that if he didn't raise from the dead the way Scripture says he did, then nothing else matters..."

But there are troublesome streams of thought that go along with that. Foremost, it says if my Christianity is historically invalidated, then the life I've lived in faith is a lie, the service I've done for my neighbors is worthless, and I'm off to serve myself [go golf].

Really? Your relationship with Christ is so one-dimensional that a piece of historic evidence would completely crush all of it? Faith in God? Call to service? If Jesus didn't rise from the grave, you'd be at strip clubs and smoking reefer? [my words, here]

I only asked these questions of the first pastor who shared his convictions. He was so upset that I would ask - and suggest a personal relationship with Christ might not be totally shattered [wounded, yes] upon proof of a dead-and-buried Jesus - that I not only lost credibility in the discussion, I lost credibity in his eyes as a Christian.

Now don't get me wrong here: I believe in a resurrected Christ. I believe that resurrection is central to my salvation. It is central to my faith.

But I also believe that the wisdom of God is foolishness to mankind. I believe my wisdom is foolishness to God.

More importantly, I believe I experience, daily, an undeniable relationship with the creator of the universe.

If I live to 126, married to my wife for 100 years, and on our 100th anniversary she looks me in the eye and says, "Peter, I have to confess something. My name isn't Jennifer. But I've loved you my whole life, and everything we've experienced together has been true." I won't suddenly believe my marriage was a lie. Because I know the one I love.

And I know the God I love, and that God knows me.

This is all hypothetical, because I don't believe a historian, archaeologist or geneticist will ever prove that Christ is not risen. I don't think it would even be possible. But if it were possible, then my faith falls back, not to the arguments I've heard or the theologies I've learned and believed, but to the experience I have known and the relationship I have engaged in... to the One I have loved.

If the wisdom of mankind makes Jesus Christ seem a fool, I will follow the fool.

But by all means, the disillusioned faithful can enjoy those 18 holes. Better make them last, and lookout for the sandtrap on number 9.

* * *
please read more about my thoughts on the evolution of Christianity at www.EmergingChristian.com

The Economy of Hotness...

2008-02-06T14:54:00.000-08:00

***be careful with links in this post if***
****you struggle with sexualized images****

This post is only partially thought-out at this point, but I'll probably be following up.

The more I look at sites like Facebook, MySpace and Youtube, and the more I see general advertising and reality TV behavior (trust me, I don't intentionally watch reality TV) the more I'm coming to believe that the ultimate goal in our society is HOTNESS. Attaining HOTNESS is the highest achievement in Gens X/Y/Z America.

And we're not talking about beauty. This is dirty-grinding-on-the-frat-floor HOTNESS.

Go log into MySpace or check out your Facebook friend list. You're probably already aware of this reality, but are you aware of how quickly it's happened? This is barely as old as online social networking - barely older than 2003 as MySpace climbed in popularity.

I remember hearing Dr. Drew Pinsky on Loveline talk with a 13 year-old-girl who was sexually active. He asked her, "what do you dream of doing?" trying to get her to think beyond the unhealthy behavior she was engaged in.

She giggled, "Honestly, I really want to be on Girls Gone Wild." So much for more women presidential candidates. And that's not me woman-bashing. These girls are trying to survive in an absentee-parent, predatorial society that has hypersexualized the bodies of pre-adolescent girls.

On the Superbowl Half Time show, the cameras kept cutting from Tom Petty to 18 year-old girls who didn't know the words to his songs. Every one of their movements was either seductive, erotic or just overtly, crassly sexual. As excited as they were to be on national television (one of the largest televised events in the world) their first thought wasn't, "Hi Mom and Dad!" It was to imitate the movements and motions of a late night Girls Gone Wild TV commericial. Seduce the camera. LOOK HOT.

Man, I sound old and lame.

And it's not just the girls. Facebook and Myspace are filled with suburban high school guys and college frat boys with their shirts pulled up, or off, flexing their abs, yanking down their beltlines... desperate for HOTNESS.

I'm really not a prude. Really. My wife and my close friends consider my humor to be vulgar by their standards. But this quest for HOTNESS is nothing less than web prostitution - not just of one's body through images and attached innuendo in comments boxes - but prostitution of identity. We're selling our humanity in exchange for a numeric rank, evaluating - not our beauty - but our HOTNESS...

www.HOTorNOT.com
(tacky, dangerous proof)

please read more about my thoughts on the evolution of Christianity at www.emergingchristianity.blogspot.com/

Some Folks Who Have Already Been Let Down...

2008-01-31T15:56:00.000-08:00

My last post was filled with optimism (yes, even naive political optimism, by golly) but it's important - for better and for worse - to remember that we live in a time of extreme angst, sorrow, cynicism and darkness. People are lonely. The gap between the very poor and the very wealthy widens, and those in the middle are fewer and fewer.

I've been listening to a lot of Rufus Wainwright in the last few months, and his song Going to a Town off the Release the Stars (2007) album is beautiful, heartbreaking and fills me with the loneliness and frustration I see all around me.

I'm going to a town that has already been burned down
I'm going to a place that is already been disgraced
I'm gonna see some folks who have already been let down.
I'm so tired of America

I'm gonna make it up for all of the Sunday Times
I'm gonna make it up for all of the nursery rhymes
They never really seem to want to tell the truth
I'm so tired of you America

Making my own way home
Ain't gonna be alone
I got a life to lead America
I got a life to lead

Tell me do you really think you go to hell for having loved?
Tell me and not for thinking every thing that you've done is good
(I really need to know)
After soaking the body of Jesus Christ in blood I'm so tired of America
(I really need to know)
I may just never see you again or might as well
You took advantage of a world that loved you well
I'm going to a town that has already been burned down

Today's generations are starving for hope. I guess, so am I... yes, yes, yes: I have Jesus. I have hope. But I want to feel hope. I want to see reasons why I should. I want hope to grow, blossom and pollenate the places in me that are let down and disgraced.

Come, Holy Spirit...

please read more about my thoughts on the evolution of Christianity at http://www.emergingchristianity.blogspot.com/

A New Landscape...

2008-01-09T12:27:00.000-08:00

Today Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News wrote a beautiful essay on the Clinton and Obama campaigns, on New Hampshire and the expectations and surprises there. This year I've found myself excited about America - for the first time since leaving the Republican Party six years ago (at age 23, a burned out, disillusioned ex-Alex P. Keaton).

The soaring speeches we're hearing in 2008's Democratic Primaries are moving me from cautious cynicism to genuine hope about our future, our freedom and the potential of the American people to do something good and redemptive in the world.

Williams' article is worth reading: HERE

Williams Writes, On Clinton...
Hillary Clinton was bloodied in New Hampshire. The people of New Hampshire saw it and didn't like it. They saw assumptions forming and didn't like them. Some felt they were being told what to think: the race was decided, Hillary was desperate and inauthentic. Worst of all — and this was made very clear to me by more than one person — when some in the media quietly doubted that Hillary Clinton's emotions at that roundtable were real (there was quiet snickering about an "acting job" born of an urgent need to seem normal) it was proof to them that cynicism had taken hold of the politics/media realm, and they simply refused to believe that.

And On Obama...
That day, I saw people embrace Obama the way people embrace loved ones returning from foreign battlefields. I saw people with small children, brought along simply so their parents could years later tell them, to the point of predictable annoyance, "You were there." Losing in New Hampshire may well make Obama a better candidate. While it's the kind of thing that is always said at times like these by those of us whose names have never appeared on a ballot, I think it might just be true in this case.

please read more about my thoughts on the evolution of Christianity at http://www.emergingchristianity.blogspot.com/

Nascent Radical Extremism?

2007-12-19T22:09:00.000-08:00

I had a disturbing conversation with an old friend last night.

Carl and I sat at McMennamin’s brewpub sipping ruby ale, reconnecting after little recent contact. He had a sort of glow about him, and looked healthier (and happier) than I remembered.

“My life is so good right now,” he said. “I have everything I could ever want, I only work four to six hours a day, I don’t own a car or have any expenses. I’m free, and I'm blessed!”

I genuinely envied the satisfied simplicity he was describing.

He continued, “But I’m almost thirty, you know? And I’ve already lived a more blessed life than most of the people in this world. And I’ve been thinking a lot about God lately…” Carl had never been overtly religious.

“… and I realize I have to do something that matters with my life. I can’t just get old and fat, enjoying what I’ve been given…”

He then proceeded to lament the world’s evils – particularly “evil men,” and the violence they commit against women and children in the world. He said he was going to do something about it. That he was ready to die if he had to, “to do something that matters.” He would personally give his life to “stop evil men.”

It occurred to me that he’d been hinting at something that had snuck up without my initial notice. I asked, “Bro, you’re not saying you’re willing to kill, are you?”

Without hesitating he smiled and nodded, then, “Here’s my plan: in the next couple of years I’m going to save up enough money to go somewhere – like South America or Africa, Darfur, you know – and just look for people who need protection. Maybe I’ll go to a well and watch as women come for water. And if anyone messes with them or tries to hurt them, I’ll stop it. And people will see, and they’ll tell other people, and they’ll come after me…” it was like listening to a Hollywood movie synopsis. He wanted to be a vigilante. No – he kept talking about dying. Carl wanted to be a martyr.

“All right. I understand the desire to fight for good. But tell me, what makes your plans different from those of an Islamic Terrorist?” I asked.

“They kill civilians. And they have an agenda. I just want to stop evil people, and hopefully protect good people.”

I pressed, “But how can you judge who is evil and who deserves to die?”

“Well,” he answered, “I’ll watch and wait till they attempt an evil act. Then I’ll stop them. And you know, if you’ve got God on your side, you’re going to be covered. Because God is good, and if you're doing good, you're with God. You know, righteousness.” Again, his newfound spirituality was surprising, and disconcerting in this context.

We went back and forth: me pressing him for justification and context, Carl self-assuredly responding with talk of holiness, justice and clear-cut language about good and evil men.

I never overtly condemned his plans. There was no point. He would have turned off the dialogue. I only hoped to dent his worldview and raise enough questions to erode some of his "moral" foundations.

Is this what a militant Christian zealot looks like here in suburban America? Can it come from such benign surroundings and sheltered lives (I’ve known Carl since high school)?

In The Lion’s Pride, Leonard Sweet writes:
“Men and women of faith have mindlessly bought into a system in which it is morally right to threaten to do something immoral.” (pg. 27)

17th Century Theologian Jeremy Taylor wrote:
“But when a man does evil that good may come of it, or good to an evil purpose, that man does like him that rolls himself in thorns that he may sleep easily; he roasts himself in the fire…”

I don’t know if Carl is really capable of doing the things he says. He’s always been a philosophical eccentric. But he’s serious enough to say these things seriously.

We ended the evening with a hug. I told him, "I love you," and I meant it.

please read more about my thoughts on the evolution of Christianity at www.emergingchristianity.blogspot.com

Out of the Ooze!

2007-11-01T20:43:00.001-07:00

Well, it took a few years, but my writing has finally made it past magazine confines, into a genuine book!

Conceptualized, organized and edited by Spencer Burke, Out of the OOZE is a collection of writings, rants and parables about being Christian and wrestling with "the church" amidst new paradigms - from new vantages.

From Amazon.com:
"TheOoze.com is an online collective of believers who feel disconnected from the mainstream church. Through articles and message boards, the site offers a public forum to honestly discuss faith, culture, and ministry. Site founder Spencer Burke hosts a journey through compelling stories that highlight the hopes and struggles of a new generation. Readers will encounter fresh perspectives and inspiration to pursue an authentic walk with Christ."

If you spend much time reading my blogs, you'll recognize much of the chapter I wrote from an old post here: "Cultural Refugees in Gay Nightclubs." The chapter is basically just that - a blog post converted into an article for theOOZE - then converted into a chapter for the book. It makes me feel awkward, because the writing is far more casual (even a little sloppy) than I would have hoped for my first publication. I pray NavPress doesn't hold it against me as they evaluate my worldspeak manuscript.

Anyway, pick up the book at Borders, your local bookstore or at Amazon.com! (please: just don't judge my writing entirely by that one little piece)

please read more about my thoughts on the evolution of Christianity at www.emergingchristianity.blogspot.com/

"Reaching Out" - or into loneliness

2007-10-24T10:49:00.001-07:00

I've been reading Henri Nouwen's Reaching Out over the last week or so and it's been impacting me deeply.

I feel like I have been lonely for as long as I can remember. There have been moments thick with the physical presence of friends & family. And there were times where I managed to gain enough attention or popularity to almost muffle the pangs of isolation in my gut. I used to think of those “distracted” periods as high points – when I’d achieved the connectedness I craved. I’m realizing more and more that the times of greatest singular loneliness in life were also the times where God’s hand pressed heaviest on my heart.

However, until Nouwen’s Reaching Out, I don’t think I have encountered any voice (pastor, friend or counselor) telling me that this aching was natural, necessary & right. I’m an American Evangelical! If something doesn’t feel good, it must be wrong! Reaching Out has really begun to play a connecting role in matching my awareness of God’s presence in the “dark” to Nouwen’s assertion that loneliness is not only obligatory, but indispensable.

Nouwen says that without “solitude of the heart,” we are not even capable of loving people in the way they deserve to be loved. After reading the first three chapters I went & told my wife that I wanted to love her because she deserves my love – because she exists.

I confessed that most of my love for her is twisted & compromised of what I think I need from her, & what I want to get out of her. She said, “I think most of us love that way.” I said, “But wouldn’t it be incredible if we could let go of all that & love each other entirely for who the other is?” I was "lucky" enough to be unlucky in love till my twenties, so growing up I didn’t have romance to hide in. Married now, I have quickly learned how to look to my wife to hide from myself, my loneliness, and God residing in the midst of that dreaded isolation.

Slowly, I'm trying to train myself to stop running from the loneliness. Inside the aching, the silence, the singular awareness of one's own disconnected (in some ways) reality, there is a voice of Truth who is whispering identity, purpose and love at the core of our being. I want to listen for that voice...

please read more about my thoughts on the evolution of Christianity at http://emergingchristianity.blogspot.com

Denying the Holy Spirit...

2007-09-26T14:57:00.000-07:00

I talked with a woman today who had visited my little "soulcafe" church once, but didn't return because it wasn't right for her.

"They were sweet people," she explained, "but I need to be in a place where they are living out the gifts of the spirit."

I said, "hold on, they are functioning in the gifts of the spirit. Those women are volunteering at the hospital, cooking dinners for their neighbors, and I've never seen a group that prays so much."

She said, "yes," but no one there could lay "annointed hands" on her if she was sick, or to pray over her in tongues when she needed strength. She needed her needs met at whatever cost.

I suggested, humbly, that I had left my last church because I felt they had turned God into a gift-dispenser. I said that I didn't speak in tongues because I had watched too many young people in the youth group admit to "faking it" simply because it was the expectation. I didn't want to be a part of that, so I spent my prayer time in quietness before the Lord.

She told me I was denying the Holy Spirit because I didn't speak in tongues.

I said I revered the Holy Spirit too much to play games with it.

It was an awkward conversation. She smiled a huge grin the entire time, but I felt her hating me from behind her eyes, somehow.

...please read more about my thoughts on the evolution of Christianity at http://www.emergingchristianity.blogspot.com/

Drunk? Or Mistaken...

2007-08-29T16:48:00.000-07:00

A man is stumbling through the woods totally drunk when he comes upon a preacher baptizing people in the river. The drunk walks into the water and subsequently bumps into the preacher.

The preacher turns around and is almost overcome by the smell of booze. He asks the drunk, "Are you ready to find Jesus?"

"Yes I am" replies the drunk, so the preacher grabs him and dunks him in the river.

He pulls him up and asks the drunk, "Brother have you found Jesus?"

The drunk replies, "No!"

Shocked at the answer, the preacher dunks him into the water again, but for a bit longer this time. He pulls him out of the water and asks again, "Have you found Jesus, my brother?"

The drunk again answers, "No, I have not found Jesus."

By this time the preacher is at his wits end so he dunks the drunk in the water again, but this time he holds him down for about 30 seconds. When the drunk begins kicking his arms and legs, the preacher pulls him up. The preacher asks the drunk again, "For the love of God, have you found Jesus?"

The drunk wipes his eyes and catches his breath and says to the preacher, "Are you sure this is where he fell in?"

We're asking the wrong questions.

We're torturing people, holding them underwater, because they don't speak our language.

...please read more about my thoughts on the evolution of Christianity at http://www.emergingchristianity.blogspot.com/

Freakonomics... is anything taboo?

2007-08-18T13:10:00.000-07:00

I've been reading Steven Levitt's Freakonomics (2006) over the last few days and have been amazed at the frankness in which the author(s) write about some very sensitive subjects. Namely, abortion.

Now I just had a conversation with my wife (who thinks I'm too harsh) in which I said Christians have no right to be easily-offended. "Wise as serpents..." Throughout my life I've seen Christians hide their eyes at PG violence or write angry letters over NBC prime-time sex jokes. I've watched Christian high schoolers stunned by a classmate's foul language and Christian college students shocked and (particularly) enraged by peer sex and drinking habits.

I say: "get over it! That's the world! Now find out how to love them!"

My argument there is that Jesus spent his time with the people most Christians hide from. We aren't meeting the world in the non-smoking section, in Christian bookstores, or in the cafes our churches erect so we don't have to go to non-Christian coffee shops! In every way we're able, we hide ourselves from "the least of these." Or maybe, more accurately: "the REALEST of these."

That's reality. But I digress...

When I read in Freakonomics that the author was arguingn for legalized abortion as the single biggest reason for the single largest drop of violent crime in US history (in the 90s) I wasn't offended that someone would dig for good in something I generally view as [mostly] negative. But I must admit I was a little shocked by the seemingly-detached tone in which the idea was introduced (I guess that's just the way of a number crunching economist). AND I was (and still am) a little scared about what the results mean for society.

In the late 90s, violent crime - and crime in general - in America was at an all time high. And it was climbing! Experts, media and community leaders all over the country were predicting total chaos at our doorsteps - the future looked bleak! And then all of the sudden the crime rates dropped. And KEPT dropping. Plummeting, really. The same experts, politicians, law enforcement and media speculated and took credit for the reasons behind the drop - but no one suggested what Levitt suggests in his book: that by the mid-to-late-90s, the babies who would have been most likely to grow up into criminals, weren't around. Their mothers never had them. A generation of millions of "would-be-criminals" had been aborted, thanks to Roe v. Wade.

Maybe this isn't as shocking as I'm making it. Maybe it's moreso. I've heard people before making poor arguments against abortion by saying, "what if the baby grew up to be the next Adolf Hitler? Then wouldn't abortion have been valid?" These hypotheticals are pointless, and of course hindsight is 20/20.

Stepping outside of the polarized abortion debate and recognizing that most people from both sides of the fence would acknowledge abortion isn't beneficial for everyone and certainly isn't a responsible alternative to birth control: is it dangerous to look, quantitatively, at human life? Abortion. Murder. Infanticide. Manslaughter. Obviously we track these things, and greater numbers mean greater loss. But what Levitt does with this line of questions and conclusions is weigh human life against human life...

"How many fetuses equal the value of a birthed baby?"
"How many abortions are worth the value of a prevented murder?"

It's not that the questions aren't compelling. It's not even that I think they aren't worth asking. They just make me nervous... and I wonder if they lead to other questions and eventually to attitudes, and with those attitudes, ways of life that regard humans in numbers where our Creator sees individuals: heart and soul.

Maybe I'm just being sensitive or prudish. And I don't mean to sound like a picket-sign-wielder. That isn't me. But maybe the value of life wasn't meant to be quantified. Maybe it can't be quantified...

please read more about my thoughts on the evolution of Christianity at http://www.emergingchristianity.blogspot.com/

Off The Map LIVE: Coming Soon...

2007-08-01T22:26:00.000-07:00

People Are Talking
“Off The Map Live is like a refuge and a shelter. I found there a group of Jesus-followers who understand, listen, accept, and still love me with true kindness.”

“There was warmth, casualness and an acceptance that touched me deeply. I found plenty of room for me to be me and to expand on my ideas and doubts”

“As a college student I found the challenging nature of the conference the most exciting. Next year, I intend to bring ten more young women who are passionate about making church and the Christian experience relevant”

You Want to Know
Schedule
Nov 1-3 / Thursday 7:30-9:30 PM / Friday 8:30-5:00 PM / Saturday 8:30 -12:00 PM

Location
Seattle Area- Eastside Foursquare Church

Tickets
student and group prices available
Blog read interviews/leave thoughts

please read more about my thoughts on the evolution of Christianity at http://emergingchristianity.blogspot.com/

Loss and Dignity...

2007-07-24T16:25:00.000-07:00

We lost my grandfather on Sunday. It was so strange - everyone thought he was going to recover just fine after surgery on Tuesday to remove part of his stomach. Cancer.

He had been walking around, talking. But a cohort of complications snowballed and he went down fast. His parents lived to 92 and 94 but he was only 77. We never expected it.

My grandmother said, "It feels like a nightmare and I can't wake up."

Both my parents, but my father in particular, sobbed like I've never seen. My father is fiercely afraid of hell for his atheist mother and father, which made the whole process so much darker for him.

But a funny thing: when my mother kissed his head as they took him off life support, she whispered, "We'll see you again someday, sweetheart."

My friend Jim Henderson says most Christians have "secret beliefs," things "we know we know" but won't admit to in public because they may not fit our particular theologies. The issue of hell is a common one. People who have lost loved ones who lived lives of love, hope and... were perhaps weak in faith... know that the Lord is good and trust to his mercy, apart from judgment and damnation.

Usually I'm an emotional mess, but I found myself tougher than usual for my parents - something I needed to see in myself.

As I watched my grandfather's body heave up and down from the respirator, I thought of how unnatural the motions looked. I visualized him held under water, trying to float to the surface, but kept down so that only his nostrils reached the air above. A torturous, ongoing grab at life.

I never comprehended the phrase "death with dignity" till that moment. I understand the desire to avoid long, ongoing life support when it was time for a life to go, but the "dignity" aspect never resonated because I'd never seen the horrific, unearthly visual of a real man held, not in stasis, but in violent, crude, even offensive half-life-limbo.

We let him go. My grandmother had them pull the plugs. She didn't even go to see him in those final hours. She had said goodbye and would not cloud her memories with ghoulish images of the machine-bound man who was ready to go. I'm glad.

Now, to have a chat with my father about hell... I guess I'll start by having him read McLaren's The Last Word... And the Word After That.

please read more about my thoughts on the evolution of Christianity at http://emergingchristianity.blogspot.com/

Quietness...

2007-07-05T16:48:00.001-07:00

There is a time when all of the wisdom, relevance and captivating imagery in the world has to lay down and die in patient waiting - in faith that the Holy Spirit speaks.

There are friends I can speak to again and again, months passing to years, but mine is not the voice of the Lord.

Last week I lost a friend and co-worker in a senseless car wreck. Her funeral was led by her church and family: harsh, didactic and fear driven. Her pastor and parents shared shifts, calling for converts.

"How many of you know where you'd spend eternity if you died on the freeway tonight?"

Now raise your hand and repent before the god of fear and self-preservation.

Oh that we knew how to keep our mouths shut and trust in the Lord.

please read more about my thoughts on the evolution of Christianity at http://www.emergingchristianity.blogspot.com/

Billy Graham & Oprah...

2007-06-25T13:04:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have already gotten a rather cheesy e-mail forwarded to you about Billy Graham's appearances on Oprah and 20/20. I find most e-mail forwards unconscionable, obnoxious and usually-maddening.

Still, I missed Graham's appearances on the shows, and was inspired by a few things he said and did. While I may not line up with all of Graham's theology, he has always seemed so humble and gracious, more willing to err on the side of love and forgiveness than firm judgment or blind certainty. Frankly, I prefer goodness to "correctness," so I guess I'm a pretty big fan of Mr. Graham.

Here's the account (slightly edited to minimize the silly commentary)...

Last year, evangelist Billy Graham was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey. Oprah told him that in her childhood home, she used to watch him preach on a little black & white TV while sitting on a linoleum floor. She went on to the tell viewers that in his lifetime Billy has preached to twenty-million people around the world, not to mention the countless numbers who have heard him whenever his crusades are broadcast.

When she asked if he got nervous before facing a crowd, Billy replied humbly, "No, I don't get nervous before crowds, but I did today before I was going to meet with you."

Oprah's show is broadcast to twenty-million people every day. She is comfortable with famous stars & celebrities but seemed in awe of Dr. Graham. When the interview ended, she told the audience, "You don't often see this on my show,
but we're going to pray." Then she asked Billy to close in prayer. The camera panned the studio audience as they bowed their heads & closed their eyes just like in one of his crusades. Oprah sang the first line from his favorite hymn, "Just as I am, without a plea…" misreading the line & singing off key, but her voice was full of emotion & almost cracked.

When Billy stood up after the show, instead of hugging her guest, Oprah's usual custom, she went over & nestled against him. Billy wrapped his arm around her & she stood in his fatherly embrace with a look of contentment.

Billy Graham was not the least bit condemning, distant, nor hesitant to embrace a public personality who doesn’t fit the typical evangelical mold.

In an interview with Hugh Downs on ABC’s 20/20 show, the subject turned to homosexuality. Hugh looked directly at Billy Graham & said, "If you had a homosexual child, would you love him?" Billy didn't miss a beat. He replied with sincerity & gentleness, "Why, I would love that one even more."

The title of Billy's autobiography, "Just As I Am," says it all.

Billy complimented Oprah when asked what he was most thankful for; he said, "Salvation given to us in Jesus Christ" then added, "& the way you have made people all over this country aware of the power of being grateful."

What if we took the things that set us apart, that made us different, which caused us to disagree, & make them an occasion to compliment each other & be thankful for each other? What if we were big enough to be smaller than our neighbor, spouse, friends, & strangers?

please read more about my thoughts on the evolution of Christianity at http://www.emergingchristianity.blogspot.com/...

The Suicide Machine

2007-06-22T12:09:00.001-07:00

I've got my 10-year high school reunion tonight. Strange how fast these things come up.

I ran into an old classmate yesterday when I stopped in to see my parents. Marjorie was in town from D.C. for the reunion.

I was driving my wife's "humble" '98 Cavalier and I saw her waiving at me as she walked down the street of our old neighborhood with her father. For a moment I was excited to see her, and then an instinct popped into my mind that sent me into a little panic: "She can't think this is the car I drive! What if she doesn't think I'm successful."

Success. The idea made me feel a little nauseous and self-conscious all at once. Quite glamorously [sounding] she is "just visiting from D.C." and here I am, living fifteen minutes from the city we grew up in.

Driving a '98 Cavalier.

I guiltily pushed the feelings aside. I care about the kingdom, not cars and prestige, I said to myself (knowing it was barely half-true). Marj hugged me eagerly and asked what I was up to.

The "American-Dreamon" (I just thought of that. Too cutesy? Offensive?) reared its head in me again and I answered, "I'm the branch manager at a credit union here in town." Not, "Oh, I work in finance." I had to throw a cheap title at her. I'll bet it looked pathetic.

What is this need to impress - to prove worldly success? To say, "I made it"?

The Kingdom of God shrinks us so that others might grow and be blessed. But our own nature is so backward. I want to talk about the Kingdom of God and Beatitude Life (peacemakers, meek, hungry and thirsty...) but I sure would love to be driving an Audi while I do - in case people wonder if I chose this life, or if I settled.

But when I fight to prove myself by worldly standards, I AM settling. Settling for the world's economy: what Len Sweet calls a "Suicide Machine."

please read more about my thoughts on the evolution of Christianity at http://emergingchristianity.blogspot.com/

Finding time for the world...

2007-01-07T19:35:00.000-08:00

I think the ongoing struggle in my life is (and will be) the need and desire to keep myself "in the world" when so much pulls me out.

I work a more-than-full-time job, and while that could certainly be called "in the world," it isn't enough for me. I want more. More people, more perspective, more shared experience.

In seminary, I'm surrounded by Christians. In church: by Christians.

As passionate as I am about listening to the voices of the cultures around me, I make little time to be quiet and pay attention. Slave to the paycheck, bills, and practicality.

I wonder if I really have a clue about what the world is saying. Most of what's in me right now is personal bias, personal vendetta and my microcosmic perspectives.

This morning my wife and I visited a church we don't normally attend - just for a brief change of scenery. It's a little local "Emergent-style" plant. We showed up late, and the young man (maybe 20ish) attending the front door attacked us enthusiastically.

"Hey, hey, how are you guys doing? Have you been here before? Come on in - there's music inside. They're rocking out, but nothing hard. We save the hard stuff for later on - when we're battling demons, stuff like that. Yeah! There's a war out there!" yadda yadda...

If we didn't speak Christianese, we probably would have found him frightening. Even so, we found him frightening. I wanted to tell him so, but didn't. I'm wearied by militarism - of any bent.

Inside we saw a brief clip from "Nacho Libre" and the pastor talked about the Gospel and our need to impact the local community. Not bad, kind of nice actually, but the Spiritual-Battle-Boy had already soured my attitude.

I'm too easily frustrated, I think.

Back to the world: I'm trying to listen but I'm having a hard time finding... time.

please read more about my thoughts on the evolution of Christianity at www.emergingchristianity.blogspot.com

Retired from Rating...

2006-12-22T11:35:00.000-08:00

After six months as the online host for ChurchRater.com, I will be stepping down from this role.

It's simply been too much: balancing work, seminary, preaching, blogging and efforts on my own book (reality: no efforts lately) has been a growth experience, but too much to juggle in a healthy way. My wife thinks some of the screws are starting to come loose… I think she’s right!

I’m thankful to the Off The map Crew and to so many who regularly posted at ChurchRater.com and look forward to seeing where the site goes with the next blog host.

Now, hopefully I can spend a little time at my own blogs...

please read more about my thoughts on the evolution of Christianity at www.EmergingChristianity.blogspot.com

Hindus to Buddhists: Usurping Caste...

2006-11-14T17:17:00.000-08:00

I was in Seattle over the weekend of November 5th (my one year anniversary!). Jen and I attended The Revolution Conference through Off The Map. Truly an amazing event.

An Indian (India Indian) evangelist named Sunil Sardar came to talk about alternative ways he and his movement are trying to undermine the Caste System. One of their methods is helping members of the upper castes convert to Buddhism from Hinduism. Right now, Christianity is seen as a "lower caste religion" because the "untouchable" Dalits are swarming to Jesus by the hundreds of thousands.

Until the upper castes reject the inhumane system, they will not even consider Christ. So the first, most natural step in affecting their worldview is presenting Buddhism to them, where there is freedom to choose what to do and believe.

Christians evangelizing Hindus to Buddhism? Heresy! I love it!

please read more about my thoughts on the evolution of Christianity at http://emergingchristianity.blogspot.com

Rejection Hurts

2006-11-14T00:11:00.000-08:00

As I was Googling “Christianity” and “Church” recently, I stumbled across www.RejectionHurts.com, “an online community where people can share their personal stories of how they felt unwanted or alienated by organized religion.”

The site is produced by the United Church of Christ and includes all sorts of testimonies from the Church-Burned.

One post reads…
“…one Sunday, my mother convinced me to go to church with her. Everything was fine until the sermon. It was about the ’signs of death in the church’. According to the sermon, the worst was divorce and that those that divorce are going to hell. I was furious. I had done nothing wrong, and I was being told I was going to hell. I turned to my mother, told her I was leaving and would never again set foot in that church…”

Another says…
“…we attended a loving church for over a decade, but when the congregation discovered my homosexuality, I noticed that I had begun to become somewhat segregated from the rest of the church community, and when the clergy began distributing propaganda about the “detestable wickedness” of homosexuals, and similar literature that was blatantly homophobic and hateful to lesbians and gays, I simply quit going to church and over a year I had adopted a rage-filled, agnostic approach to God and religion…”

I love the idea of this website and the tone it takes. However, after reading quite a few of the posts, I realized that almost all of the stories resolved with a “and then I found the UCC Church!” happy ending.

Now, I can’t fault UCC for this evangelism tactic. In fact, I think it’s in pretty good taste. But what I love about my own website, www.ChurchRater.com (shameless self-promotion here!) is that we’re not run by a church and we don’t demand happy endings. We acknowledge that for many, many (too many) people, the “church experience” ends with wounding and bitterness.

Reality isn’t always rosey and I GUARANTEE there is no church or denomination that has found “The Answer” to not hurting people.

I’d encourage you to check out www.RejectionHurts.com and think about what is and is not affective or valuable for seekers and those in spiritual recovery…

please read more about my thoughts on the evolution of Christianity at www.emergingchristianity.blogspot.com