Thursday, October 16, 2008

Empathy

I was building a radio station over at Pandora today and yesterday, and I came across a song I hadn't heard in awhile. I found the music video, and I felt like it spoke volumes about how Christians should relate to the world, though it is a secular song. I don't think this should matter, but in case your virgin ears might be offended, the singer uses the f-word.

The song is What It's Like by Everlast, and you can find the lyrics here.



Christians spend way too much time judging people. With all that time analyzing everyone else, you would think we would try to understand people a little better, but that's usually not the case. I think that if we took more time to understand the circumstances in people's lives, we might realize that if we had gone through what they had, and didn't have the benefits and blessings that we do, we might act they same way.

That doesn't make sin okay, but maybe that would help us be a little more graceful and loving towards people we see as 'sinners.' Although really, we are all sinners, and are all equally disgusting towards God.

"All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away." Isaiah 64:6

Also, if we would take the time to understand how people get into sin and self destructive patterns, we might be a lot better at helping them get out of that behavior. I was talking to a Christian friend of mine, and I told him I was teaching a class on teen sexuality. I was specifically talking about the reasons that teens have sex.

He told me that the problem is the same as it always was, teens have a 'stubborn heart and want to sin.' While i would agree that may be true on some level, it's not nearly close to the whole truth. I told him that I thought that if he were exposed to the same pressures and problems that many teens are, and weren't taught the Bible in a loving, stable Christian family, he would probably have had sex in high school too.

I hear a lot about calling sin what it is: evil, and I'm all for that. But I don't hear much about calling sinners what they are, the beloved of God.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Light Along the Path: A Narrative

This is a short story I wrote. I hope you like it.


Daniel was in a hurry to get through the woods. It was pitch black - no moon rose to illuminate the sky tonight. Sweat dripped of his skin and soaked into his clothing. the air all around him was thick and close, like the air in old closet or an attic. Fog rolled all around him, making phantom shapes in the darkness.

Daniel liked the dark. It was warm and close and vague. He didn't pay attention to his immediate surrounding, but headed in the direction he knew was East. Every so often, he ran into a bush or tripped over a root, but this did not concern him greatly. He often caught himself in bushes, and bugs dove on him in swarms, biting at every bit of exposed flesh. This, Daniel felt, was all part of the experience.

Daniel walked briskly through the forest, hands out in front of him, feeling blindly for upcoming trees or thorn bushes. As he walked, the grass under his feet became more and more slippery. Soon Daniel could feel the soft ear squishing under his feet. He knew there was a large bog to the North, but he would have to be miles and miles of track to be close to the bog.

"It must have rain pretty hard here," Daniel said to himself.

the ground became increasingly moist as Daniel plowed on. Suddenly, as Daniel took a step forward, his foot sunk about a foot deep into a puddle. Daniel shivered as freezing water rushed into his boot. Undeterred, Daniel stepped over the puddle and attempted to move on. Unfortunately, Daniel's boat stuck in the mud at the bottom of the puddle, and he fell face down in the mud. Daniel got up, gave an enormous tug on his left leg.

With a loud sucking sound, his leg came free, and he hurried on. At this point, Daniel was not sure that he was on any particular path, but he reasoned that if he simply continued East he would eventually emerge of the other side of the forest. From there, he could get his bearings.

Daniel had just decided he must be almost through the forest when a patch of leaves under his foot gave way. Within seconds, he slid waist deep in a pool of quicksand. For the first time, Daniel stopped and looked around, unsure of what to do.

For a little while he tried to get himself free, but he soon stopped when he realized this made him sink even faster. The quicksand had now risen to his rib cage.

Daniel started to worry. I'm miles off the path. I must have been going North instead of East. I must be in the bog. I can't get out of this by myself. But who will help me? It's the middle of the night, and no one travels this far North, even in the day time. Well, it couldn't hurt to try...

Daniel was about to cry out for help, but then another voice in his head said, Hold on, think about this. If you cry out now, and someone comes, you're going to look like an idiot when they find you.

Daniel hesitated. He did look awfully foolish standing helpless in a pool of liquid earth. However, he continued to sink, and when the quicksand reached his armpits, he grew desperate.

"Help," Daniel cried, "Help! I've fallen in a pool of quicksand!" There was no answer.

"Help! Please, I can't out. I walked into a pool of quicksand. Please, help me, or I'm going to die."

If it had not been pitch black, he could not have seen it, but as it was, Daniel thought he saw a faint light through the trees. Suddenly, he felt hopeful. He continued to yell, and the light came closer. Soon, Daniel could hear branches snapping under foot. A minute later, and the bushes in the distance began to shake.

Suddenly, there was a resounding crack, and a thorn bush directly in front of Daniel bent over double. There was another crack, and Daniel saw that behind the bush, there was a man with a walking stick beating the bush out of his way. Daniel gasped with relief. He looked towards the other man, but the man was shining his light at him, and he Daniel was blinded.

Carefully feeling the ground with his walking stick, the man moved forward. On the edge of the quicksand, he held the stick out towards Daniel. Daniel held on tight, and the man began to pull him out.

The was small and skinny, but he demonstrated incredible strength. After only a few moments, the man had pulled Daniel out of the pool.

"Thank you," Daniel gasped.

"Don't thank me, I didn't hear you calling. I was walking through the woods with my teacher, and he heard your voice. He sent me to rescue you."

"Well, thank him then."

"Are you trying to get to the East?"

"Yes."

"So was I. I was caught in one of these pools just a few weeks ago, and my teacher sent someone to save me. Now I come out here with him every night to find people who are lost."

"How do you navigate this wilderness."

"I'll show you. First of, you're really being a moron because you're trying to get through the forest without a lamp." The strange man lit a lamp, and handed it to Daniel. "Secondly, you don't have a stick to check the ground or fight the thorn bushes." As he said this, Daniel looked at his body in the light. With shock, he realized his clothes, brand new and high quality have been shredded by the thorns. Threads trailed all around him, and in many places the thorns had cut into his skin and drawn blood. Daniel began to suspect that many pricks he had assumed were bug bites were actually thorns.

Looking at his exposed flesh, Daniel realized that there were dozen of ticks burrowing into his skin. "That's the other problem. You need some protective clothing. We'll have to wait until morning and go to my teacher's house. You can get some there. As far as a walking stick, just pick of a good sized branch. It will get hardened and worn down as to use it."

Daniel nodded.

"You can head off east again, it's that way, but if you don't know this area you're liable to get stuck again. I can't promise I'll be around to help next time. Or if you want, you can come with me. I'm going to save a girl to the west. She's fallen in a pit and broken her leg. If you want to follow along, I can teach you a little bit about getting around. After we pick her up, we can go to my teacher's house and rest."

Daniel thought for a moment. "Okay."

The man smiled. "Great. I could sure use the help carrying her in this thicket."

The man helped Daniel to his feet, and together they started off through the woods. Daniel shown his light long next to the strange man's and stuck close to his side. Several time, the man held him back from plunging into a pit or another pool of quicksand. Daniel began to feel increasingly happy to be traveling with someone else in the light, even though he was no longer making good time to the East.

But then again,
Daniel thought, I never really was going East after all.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Jesus, Party Animal?

Some of you may know I work with an inner city youth group called ICI. Recently, they asked me to teach the kids the story about how Jesus at the wedding in Cana. While I was studying it, the Jesus I encountered was radically different from the Jesus I have often seen presented by the Church. For those of you who don't know the story, it goes like this:

Jesus and his family got to a wedding. At the time, Jesus only has five followers, so he brings them along too. While they are at the wedding, the host runs out of wine, and Mary asks Jesus to help out. Surprisingly, Jesus tries to dissuade her, but she persists, and Jesus turns 150 gallons of water into wine for the wedding party. It's also worth noting that this is the first miracle Jesus ever does. He makes wine so a party can go on.

That's my summary, here is the whole version:

"On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples.When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him." (John 2.)

From the way the Church presents Jesus, this is a really strange first miracle. No one is sick or dying, only Jesus' closest friends realized that a miracle happened, and we are forced to consider the idea that Jesus might not be anti-fun.

Firstly, a little historical background: Wedding parties were a big deal in Jewish culture. They lasted about 7 days and you were expected to invited your entire extended family, neighbors, friends, friends' families, and friends' families' friends. This explains why Jesus brought his disciples. It also explains how the party might actually need 150 gallons of wine.

The second thing is, wine was critical to a party or any social gathering because the drinking water at that time was not always safe. While the water was not polluted like it is in Africa of Latin America today, it contained bacteria in enough quantity to cause stomach problems. Paul references this in 1 Timothy 5:23. Wine, on the other hand, had enough alcohol to kill this bacteria.

It's worth pointing out that Jesus and the other Jews weren't getting drunk. The Jews (as well as modern day Christians) considered it a sin to get drunk, although they allowed drinking some alcohol. For guests to get drunk at a wedding was considered disgraceful. They may have been what we would call 'buzzed.'

Therefore, the Jews mixed water with wine to have a safe drinking beverage that was slightly alcoholic. If the host ran out of wine to mix with the water, that was a big social no-no. Doing so could lead to family feuds or even lawsuits.


Understanding that gives Mary's request a little more urgency. Even so, at first, Jesus resists her.

Jesus has two reasons for this. Firstly, he wants it to be clear that he is God incarnate, and he helps out of his free will, not because his earthly mother told him to. Secondly, Jesus is on a mission, and he will only do that which furthers his mission. We know this because he says that his "hour has not yet come."

What is Jesus' mission? Jesus did not come to earth to teach, or do miracles, or be a good example. Jesus came to earth to die and be resurrected so that those who trusted in his death for forgiveness of sins would have eternal life. Where do I get that? From the next chapter, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, [Jesus] that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." Anything that did not further that mission was not important to Jesus.

However, Jesus does help out with the wedding crisis, but he uses it to further his personal mission as well. John says, "This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him." (2:11.)

Jesus was a man on a mission, and his mission was to die as the sacrifice for sin. That's the first point. The second on is this: When we trust in Christ's death, we are united with him in an amazing new life. Let me explain:

John uses the word 'sign' instead of 'miracle.' The difference is that a miracle is merely a supernatural action, whereas a sign is a supernatural action with an underlying spiritual truth. In other words, when Jesus turned water into wine, he was trying to convey a deeper, spiritual truth.

In Revelation, (and elsewhere in Scripture) heaven is depicted as a wedding feast where believers are joyfully united with God. Jesus miracle pictures the abundance of life in the spiritual kingdom of God, both now and in heaven.

What does 'living the abundant life' mean? It means that life with Jesus is infinitely better than life without Jesus. How? Those who trust in Jesus are being perfected in love, (1 John 4) having a peace that surpasses all understanding, (Philippians 4:7) abounding joy, (Romans 14) and a divinely ordained purpose (Ephesians 4:1.) These we have in any and every circumstance, regardless of any trouble we may be in (2 Corinthians 4.) We don't have to care about the acceptance of people, performance, appearance, or anything else the world judges (1 Corinthians 4:3.) We are free from hate, fear, (1 John 4:17-21) depression, (Philippians 4:11) and helplessness (1 Corinthians 1:18.) This is the abundant life in Christ Jesus.

Was Jesus a party animal? Not in our definition, no. Was Jesus a strict, fun killing, rules master? Absolutely not. Jesus dies to give us a wonderful, better, abundant life.

Towards the end of his book, John concludes with telling us his purpose. I will conclude with it as well:

"Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."

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I don't usually like being called a Christian. It has such a negative image in today's society. People see Christians as closed-minded, anti-intellectual, bigoted, rude, judgmental, selfish and clueless. They see us as people who are determined to tell everyone else how to behave and how to think (or not to think.)

The worst part is, from a lot of the Christians I have met, that's pretty accurate.

The term 'Christian' does actually appear in the Bible, in Acts 11:26. The term actually means 'little Christ,' so basically, a Christian is someone who is like a replica of Jesus. Only, Christians seem to have a problem being like Jesus. They would have just assume Jesus is like them.

Part of it is that a lot of people who say they are Christians aren't. They don't have any trust in Christ or his teachings. They don't obey them, nor do they want to. They call themselves a Christian to blend in with people around them, or feel like they have the 'spiritual side' covered. Other people were merely indoctrinated with some political and social ideas at a young age, call it Christianity, and cling to it like a sinking ship because they have never tried to learn to swim. These are the people that protest gay rights parades or throw rocks at people going into abortion clinics. These people are like the overly flamboyant gay people that are looking for someone to discriminate against them so they can be a victim. 'Real' (what does that even mean) gay people can't stand them, and they do a violence to the gay pride movement. The same with the "it's because I'm black" black guy that sees a racist behind every white problem, they are neither representative of most civil rights activists, nor do they actually help their movement.

In reality, being a disciple of Jesus is nothing like all that. It is freeing. It is peaceful. It is loving. It is filled with contentment and yet purpose and determination. It is a better life that I have every experienced elsewhere.

It has nothing to do with hate, but with loving all people. It has nothing to do with being a conservative. It has nothing to do with telling people how to live their lives. I would like to teach some people how to live their lives at some point, but only those people who are interested in learning from me because they see the peace and happiness I have, I have no interest in coercing people to agree with me who don't want to listen.

You don't have to agree with my view on life. Really, I'm not offended. I'm secure enough in my belief that I don't need you to agree with me to feel okay about what I believe. I'm not going to yell at you or condemn you or talk bad about you because you don't agree with me.

In fact, I think people who agree with me about everything are pretty boring. I would much rather hang out with an open minded person with some different opinions and have a friendly discussion about what they believe. I think you can gain a lot of wisdom my listening to what other people think. That doesn't mean you have to accept it, just listen and entertain the idea, without trying to refute everything they say. That's what I try to do. Preferably on a couch with some coffee while listening to some live jazz in a coffee house.

Now that's a blessing, deep conversations in a jazz coffeehouse...