More on the Church and Race

In keeping with the theme of my last post, I found this quote from Anthony Smith, someone who has more authority to talk about racial issues in the church than I do:

For instance, many Christians are influenced by a particular form of individualism that makes it extremely difficult to see how we are complicit with the "principalities and powers" in how they continue to divide the body of Christ racially. Many Christians think that this is simply a matter of cultural taste and expressions that divide us racially in Christ’s body. Individualism along with consumerism hinder discernment in seeing how the divisions are due in part to the dis-ordering work of the Powers. When going to a black church as opposed to a white church is a matter of personal/cultural choice and taste, we are in trouble.

The whole paper can be downloaded here: Practicing Pentecost: Discovering the Kingdom of God Amidst Racial Fragmentation (pdf)

Tags: ecclesiology, race, racism, church

A White Male's Perspective on Katrina and Racism

It’s a good thing no one actually reads my blog, because I might get in trouble with this next post.

It’s not as timely as it could be, but I’ll write it nonetheless. It has to do with hurricane Katrina. I had been thinking about the racial implications of what was happening those first few days and trying to decide if there was some weight to the argument that the slow response to aid the victims was due to racism. This CNN article on September 13 made me think about it again and I have come to a conclusion. Here’s my take:

From the perspective of the majority (typically white people, of whom I am a part), the slow response we saw to hurricane Katrina was not based on racism. However, the problem with the perspective of the majority is that racism is (usually) simply discrimination based on the color of someone’s skin. And of course, we in America are not so ignorant, so uneducated, so barbaric as to deny someone proper treatment simply because that person has a certain color of skin. No, we have come far past the trespasses of our ancestors and have put this kind of racism behind us.

However, what about discriminating on some other grounds? What about denying someone proper dignity and respect based upon his or her level of education? Based upon his or her economic status? Based upon the way he or she talks? Based upon the quality of housing he or she lives in? Based upon the area in which he or she lives? Based upon the structure of his or her family? What if we are discriminating against people because they live in a culture so different from our own that we do not even have the ability to perceive our own discrimination?

I have heard so many people say, “Why did they stay?… How stupid can you be not to leave?... If they would have just gotten out of there, we wouldn’t have to go save them…. If they would have followed orders and left, they wouldn’t have had to go stay in the horrid living conditions of the Superdome…” and the list goes on. You know what I’m talking about. The problem is that the people who are saying these things are putting themselves in the situation of those stranded in New Orleans rather than putting themselves in the situation as well as the status of those in New Orleans. Of course, if I lived in New Orleans in the life I am now living, I would have left, no questions asked.

But, if I lived in New Orleans for my whole life, if I was born there, if I had no father, if I had to watch friends die growing up, if I had to literally fight for my life to survive in my neighborhood instead of worrying about petty things like homework, if I couldn’t afford to go to college, if I didn’t know anything other than waking up in the morning hoping I would find a way to make a few dollars, if I didn’t have a car, if I didn’t have a credit card, if I didn’t have a bank account, if I didn’t know anyone outside of my neighborhood, if I had only one hundred dollars to my name, if that was me, then I would stay. Left to my own, I would have no choice but to stay.

And therein lies the problem. From the perspective of the majority, we aren’t racist because we don’t discriminate on the basis of the color of someone’s skin. How dare you call us racist. We only discriminate on the basis of someone being different than we are economically, culturally, educationally, socially, but not racially. Just because most of the people who we discriminate against in these ways happen to be black (in the case of New Orleans) isn’t our fault. All we know is that we aren’t discriminating based on the color of someone’s skin.

It’s time we wake up as a nation, and especially as a church, and see that racism goes deeper than the color of a person’s skin. Racism is still alive in this country because we are unwilling to do what it takes to take the perspective of the other, unwilling to see the world from their eyes, unwilling to understand what it is like to live as a minority that is stuck in a cycle of poverty, violence, and neglect.

I’ve often heard people say “I have no problem with black people. However, I don’t like when they wear those big saggy jeans down below their butts. I don’t like it when they talk the way they do. I don’t like the music they listen to. I don’t like the way they ‘pimp out’ their cars. I don’t like the way they act. If they just wouldn’t do all those things, I’d be fine. But I’m sure not racist.” The problem is that these people don’t see the fact that in saying these things they are rejecting the entire black culture rather than just an individual. The culture that those people grow up in tells them no different. They don’t know any other way to live. By asking black people to stop doing the above things, you are asking them to stop being black. This, my friends, is a tragedy. We need to realize that there is a whole culture out there that is completely different from anything we know, yet that is all some people know. That is their world. Our definition of racism needs to be expanded from only discrimination based on the color of someone’s skin to include discrimination based upon one’s culture being different from our own.

I would venture to say that the slow response to hurricane Katrina was in fact a problem of racism. It was racist because no one anticipated that that many people would still be left and have no where to go and no way to get themselves the help they need. It was racist because we thought that people were economically able to follow the orders they were given. It was racist because it was only the poor who were left.

So, it is our duty as Americans, and especially our duty for those of us who call ourselves Christians to first of all help these people who are completely and utterly different than us. Secondly, we are called to implement strategies to break the cycle of poverty, violence, and oppression, and truly give our minority brother and sisters an equal opportunity at this life. Hurricane Katrina was a sad reminder of how far we have to go, but hopefully it will be a catalyst for future positive change.

***Note: For anyone who does happen to stumble across this post, I am a white male trying to understand what it is I need to do to help my brothers and sisters across this world, regardless of culture or skin color. I may have made some inaccurate generalizations about those who were left in New Orleans as a result of hurricane Katrina, but I am using it to make a point. I do not want to lump all black people into one easily definable group. I know you are a much richer, more complex people than that. I am using specific, extreme examples in order to make a point that will hopefully result in a positive outcome for all minorities. I hope no offense is taken in my above post; if there is any, I apologize. Feel free to leave feedback if you disagree with me and can help me form a more accurate perspective of those who are discriminated against.***

Tags: Katrina, racism, classism, equality, New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina

Responding to My Pragmatism Post....

I've been thinking about my pragmatism post lately. In it, I said that maybe the event wasn't as successful as I thought, even though it had good "results." I had read a post on pragmatism saying that we shouldn't be happy with results and should instead focus on obedience, which I agreed.

The problem I have been wrestling with however, is that, as heretical as this may sound, "obedience" is exceedingly difficult to define. Can any church service, any event, any ministry be 100% obedient? If it isn't completely obedient, how obedient does it have to be? What aspects have to be obedient? The preaching? The worship style? The worship lyrics? The worshippers? How "disobedient" do things have to get before you can say that an event wasn't faithful to God?

Tim Challies' post seemed to say that it will be obvious when an event is obedient or not. I don't think that simple, clear delineations like that exist though. Instead, it seems to me that obedience, especially in terms of ministies or events can be judged on a sliding scale. So the question is, how obedient do we have to be, or is there some other criteria that we should be using?

Tags: church, ministry, pragmatism, obedience

Modern Mission of the Church

Steve Bush over at Generous Orthodoxy thinks "Resisting consumerism is surely one of the primary ecclesial tasks in the 21st century world." Although his primary concern in the article isn't with consumerism, but with the mis-labeling of all liturgical creativity as consumer-driven, this sentence nevertheless struck me. And I wholeheartedly agree. Way to go Steve.

If I had more time, I'd think up some of the other "primary ecclesial tasks," but I don't.

Tags: Generous Orthodoxy, Church, Consumerism, Mission

God working in Spite of Me... Or was He?

This past Saturday, an event took place at our church (where I am the youth pastor). It was an event that I really wasn't excited about and didn't want to be a part of. But, being the youth pastor, I was sort of forced into it. Let me explain.

A few months ago, a lady in the church came up to me telling me that she really wanted to get Jami Smith to come to our church and do an event for the youth. Jami leads a worship band that goes around the country leading worship at youth camps, retreats, conferences, etc. She's quite talented and I love her songs and have no problem with her and the career that she has. My problem aat first was twofold: 1.) I had been at the church for about a month and didn't know if this was a good idea because I didn't know the students yet, and 2.) I am highly against putting on an event just because someone plays the guitar well, sings great, and writes good songs. I have some theological misgivings about building an event around a person, no matter who they are. So, I told the lady that I'd think about it, but there's no way we could do it in the very near future. I didn't hear from her for a while and thought she had forgotten about it.

Then a few months later, she came and talked to the pastor about it and told him how much it would cost. He said there was no way that the church would be able to cover close to the cost of the event. If it was going to happen, she was going to need to find individual donors to cover the cost. I didn't think anything of it. But apparently this lady took that as a green light to go out and get donations and book the event.

I found out around the very end of July that this lady had booked Jami Smith, paid the deposit, and that she was going to be here on August 27th. Less than a month away. And we had no reason for any event to take place and other than this lady liked Jami Smith. We got together and had a meeting and I was expected to do pretty much the rest of the planning for the actual event. I was not happy about this. If an event like this was going to take place, I would have wanted at least a few months notice so that I could try and get other youth groups on board and make this a multi-church, interdenominational event. But with less than a month to go from absolutely no idea this event was going to happen to Jami Smith being here on the 27th, I was skeptical. So, I called up a speaker to come and speak at the event, came up with a theme, etc. The event was only going to be 2 hours long, which I also didn't like because I feel like you can't do much with only 2 hours with a group of total strangers.

Anyways, to make a long story short, the event went off pretty well, there were 190 people here, and it seemed like there were some "decisions" made. So, I got the feeling that maybe God used this event in spite of my skepticism and lack of enthusiasm for this event.

And then I read Tim Challies post on pragmatism this morning. Now, I don't agree with Tim on a lot of things, but pragmatism is one area where I feel like Christians are missing the point (However, I am a little stumped about the whole "bearing fruit" thing that scripture talks about. Sounds at times like pragmatism to me). Just to do things because they "work" has in my opinion taken then church to the sorry state that it finds itself in today. We cannot be happy just because things were a "success."

And I realized that I did become happy with the event Saturday night because it seemed "sucessful." Even though I didn't like the reason behind the event. Even though I had some theological problems with what I knew was going to happen and how people were going to be asked to make a decision.

So now I am rethinking about how I feel about Saturday night's event. Maybe it wasn't as successful as I thought. Maybe it doesn't matter. Or maybe God did use it in spite of me. I don't know.

The problem is, if I'm not pragmatic, I'll probably lose my job. So what do I do?

On Being Post-________

The next book I hope to read for my own personal pleasure and edification (read: not for class) is Stan Grenz' Primer on Postmodernism. I was flipping through the pages today and noticed that in chapter 7, "The Gospel and the Postmodern Context,"Grenz has subtitles describing post-individualism, post-rationalism, post-dualism, and post-noeticentricism (is that a word?) as they pertain to the gospel.

As I read through many emergent-type blogs I see the phrase post-_____ (fill in the black) quite often. Post-liberal, post-conservative, post-evangelical, etc. Seldom do I see the four "posts-" that Grenz has listed in his book, which I find mildly surprising considering Grenz was always considered one of the theological friends of the emerging church.

I don't know why I am writing this. I guess I am wondering if Grenz started the "post-" trend or if it can be found elsewhere. And why are we no longer claiming to be "post-" as Grenz lays out in his book? Was he wrong? Are we going somewhere else with ourselves? Is postmodernism different that Grenz understood it?

When I read the book I'll find out more.

Tags: postmodern, postmodernism, emergent, emerging church

Oh Miroslav

So, it seems like I’ve been reading a lot about people’s praise for Miroslav Volf’s Exclusion and Embrace, so I decided to check it out for myself. I’m only about 65 pages into it, but so far it is, as Tony Jones calls it, “mind-bendingly good theology.” A few quotes that struck me:

His explanation of Paul’s reconciliation of the universality of God's being with the cultural particularity of his revelation (to specifically the Jewish people):

Paul’s solution to the tension between universality and particularity is ingenious. Its logic is simple: the oneness of God requires God’s universality; God’s universality entails human equality; human equality implies equal access by all to the blessings of the one God; equal access is incompatible with ascription of religious significance to genealogy; Christ, the seed of Abraham, is both the fulfillment of the genealogical promise of Abraham and the end of genealogy as a privileged locus of access to God; faith in Christ replaces birth into a people.(Exclusion and Embrace, 45)

Volf’s addition to the Barmen Declaration:

“You were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God saints from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9). “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer males and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).

All the churches of Jesus Christ, scattered in diverse cultures, have been redeemed for God by the blood of the Lamb to form one multicultural community of faith. The “blood” that binds them as brothers and sisters is more precious than the “blood,” the language, the customs, political allegiances, or economic interests that may separate them.

We reject the false doctrine, as though a church should place allegiance to the culture it inhabits and the nation to which it belongs above the commitment to brothers and sisters from other cultures and nations, servants of the one Jesus Christ, their common Lord, and members of God’s new community. (Exclusion and Embrace, 54)

It seems that Volf's book has vast implications for missions, American Christians (or any Christian for that matter), and hopefully will offer some practical insights into how to deal with the "ethnic cleansing" going on around the world that he speaks about so often in the book. I'm looking forward to the rest.


Tags: Exclusion and Embrace, Miroslav Volf, Barmen Declaration

Blue Like Jazz

I just finished reading Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. It was a refreshing read. I didn't know what to expect and read it on a recommendation from Rusty, who said it was a good, and easy, read. He was right about it being an easy read. It's one of those books where you read it and you look down and say, "wow, I've read 30 pages already" when you think it's been like 10. I guess that's a good thing.

It was essentially a spiritual autobiography that was surprisingly orthodox. After seeing it was highly endorsed by Brian McLaren, I thought it might be a little more "cutting-edge" or Emergent theologically, but it didn't seem to be. It was very orthodox when it came to theology, just unorthodox in his mode of presentation, which is what made it a fun and refreshing read. I seemed to identify a lot with Miller as I read it as well, which made it all the more enjoyable. I guess you could call it a sort of modern-day Confessions. Just a lot lighter.

Anyhow, I took some things away form it and liked a lot of his insight into the human condition and the fact that when it comes down to it, we're all just flat-out selfish. I also enjoyed his epiphanies about things like thinking we are better than close-minded fundamentalists because we are willing to think liberally and intellectually, when actually we are no better off than the fundamentalist by thinking ourselves better than them (wow, does that make sense?). He wrote with a very high degree of humility and authenticity. I recommend it.

Up next: Exclusion and Embrace by Miroslav Volf

Tags: emergent, Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller

It's a good day...

I get to see Noah today. I'm in Siloam on "business" and so we're meeting up for a bit. Should be exciting.

Honeymoon Pics are up

Honeymoon pictures and other week-of-wedding pictures are here.

Bad Blogging

So, I've been a little busy lately and haven't blogged much as a result. I got married, went on the honeymoon, then came back to work with VBS only a few days away. So, blogging has been put on the back burner. I was doing good there for a while. Oh well.

Brian McLaren Reflects

Brian Mclaren has a good post at the Emergent-US blog. Check it out.

Tag: emergent

"The Devil Took Jesus"

I was reading through Matthew 4 as part of my daily Bible reading this evening and I got hung up on a phrase that I have read over and over. In verses 5 and 8, the phrase "the devil to him (Jesus) to [5-the holy city; 8-a very high mountain]." The devil took Jesus? Can the devil lead us in a way that is not sinful? Is obedience to Satan always sin? It's been a while since I've looked closely at Bible passages concerning the power and effects of Satan or researched popular theological teaching about Satan. Maybe I should.

It always seemed to me like Satan was oftentimes portrayed as one who essentially causes someone to sin or perhaps one whose influence was always detrimental to our well-being. But, Jesus apparently had no qualms about letting Satan lead him, to a point. This is a little bit troubling to me at first glance.

Hopefully there is more to come.

Tags: theology, bible, temptation, Satan

"Ctrl + S"

Apparently the good folks at Blogger thought it would be a good idea to make a quick and easy way to publish your post without having to go into that huge hassle of having to actually click on the "publish post" button and thought, "Oh, we'll just make it so you can publish by pushing Ctrl + S" (wow, long sentence). Not a bad idea.

Unless you are a college student with Microsoft Word. Those of us who are used to writing papers and who have ever experienced the searing loss of data in the wee hours of the morning know that Ctrl + S is the savior to everything typed. It's a quick and easy way to save your work in Word. And since I am so proud of my work and don't want to lose any precious thought that I have penned for an assignment, I have gotten into the habit of pressing the Ctrl + S keys after literally every sentence I type. It's to the point that I don't even think about it. It's just second nature. It's served me well, because I can't tell you the last time I lost any of my work for school because of a power failure or computer freeze. I'm a saving madman.

However, this habit gets me in trouble when I am blogging, because I am constantly pressing Ctrl + S as I blog out of habit, which publishes a post on blogger. As I have attempted to write this post, I have pressed Ctrl + S inadvertently at least twice. Maybe thrice. I'm not even joking. It's a lil' frustrating sometimes. Many times I'll compose my blog post in Word to avoid this problem, but other times I don't feel like messing with it. Like now.

What this just accomplished, I don't know. Maybe others out there share my frustration.

Tag: blogger

I took the "Which theologian are you?" Quiz

Not surprisingly, I scored as Karl Barth. When we were studying Karl Barth in Church History last semester, I had to write the reading summary on him for the class (Which meant that was the only chapter in the book I read all semester. Unless Dr. Johnson is reading this blog. In which case, I meant to say, "I loved Olson. I read it cover to cover."). It worked out really well because as I read about him, I was like, "Hey, this is me!" Well, mostly. I liked Barth a lot. I didn't know I was neo-orthodox until I had to write that reading summary on him.

It's a little disconcerting knowing that I am more of a Schleiermacher than an Augustine. I liked Augustine a lot. Thankfully, Finney was on the bottom of my list. But heck, what do those quizzes know?

Here's the results from my quiz:

You scored as Karl Barth. The daddy of 20th Century theology. You perceive liberal theology to be a disaster and so you insist that the revelation of Christ, not human experience, should be the starting point for all theology. Karl Barth 87% Anselm 73% John Calvin 73% Friedrich Schleiermacher 67% Paul Tillich 60% J?Moltmann 53% Jonathan Edwards 47% Augustine 47% Martin Luther 40% Charles Finney 20% Which theologian are you? created with QuizFarm.com

So, for some reason the picture isn't showing up any more. But it was earlier. Drats to Blogger. I'm gonna leave it in its totally depraved state in hope that it will one day be redeemed. Until then, it can only hope for perfection.

Tags: theology, theologian, quizfarm.com, quiz

New Blog Name

I decided that I needed to change my blog's name to something that was shorter and more broad. Before, the title was like a hundred letters long. And it didn't even roll off of your tounge nicely. "Oh, you want the url to my blog? Well, do you have a few sheets of paper to write it down?... Oh, ok. Sorry about that. Maybe some other time."

Also, it was fairly narrow in scope. It centered around youth ministry, theology, and emerging church type stuff, because that tends to be what I write about. Then I realized that if my interests change or if I want to go a different direction with my blog, I needed something that would fit regardless of content.

When I was thinking about it, noticed that a lot of the things I write about on here are pretty much how I want the world to be in an idealized state. I tend to write in terms of ideals and forget about the practicality of things at times. So, this blog is basically by own little utopia. Matt's utopia. Put the two together and... BAM! Mattopia.

Tags: blog, blogger, blogging

Emergent Gathering in New Mexico

I’ve pretty much decided that I am going to attend the Emergent Gathering this October in New Mexico. My ex-roommate Rusty is doing his youth ministry internship in Roswell, NM and told me that he could probably get us some free lodging for the event, which would be baller. I’m really looking forward to it and I hope that this deal doesn’t fall through. Ever since I heard of emergent, I have resonated with their mission. When I came into John Brown University as a freshman, my faith was shattered and challenged quite a bit and I began rethinking first of all about how to “do church.” Later, I realized that my desire to “do church” differently was a result of a shift in my theological focus and understanding. However, this shift in my theology, especially my ecclesiology, was quite frustrating. I felt like there was nothing that I could do to make the widespread changes that I thought obviously needed to be made to conventional methods of church.

Fortunately, I found out about emergent. I don’t even remember how. I read The Emerging Church by Dan Kimball my freshman year, but I don’t think that I really knew about the whole emergent “conversation” until some time later. I think it was through the web somehow. Maybe a blog? I guess it doesn’t matter. And now that I seem to be a little more acquainted with emergent, Kimball’s book was a decent intro, but it focused a lot on the practical ways of doing church (if I remember right; it’s been too long since I’ve read it), and emergent is much bigger than that. While different worship styles are part of emergent, I am more interested in the focus on theology, social justice, and diversity/unity. Needless to say, I took to the emergent conversation quite quickly. I keep up to date mostly through blogs and websites, but I feel like I’ve got a decent handle on many of the influential people behind it and what they stand for. I’m still undoubtedly a neophyte and wish to eventually become a significant contributor to the conversation, but for the past year or two now I have simply been lurking behind the scenes, trying to educate myself and make sure I don’t look like too much of an amateur once I attempt to get involved.

So, I guess it’s time to come from out of the woodwork and really see what this emergent thing is all about at the Emergent Gathering. Before I go, I’m trying to read a few of the books they suggest to read to get a handle on the sorts of people that have been influential in emergent’s thinking. I’m reading Practicing Passion by Kenda Dean right now and hope to read some Leonard Sweet and Brian McLaren before the actual event. I figure that although I’ve been keeping up with blogs lately, it’d be a good idea to read some of the more “polished” texts (aka books) associated with emergent thinking.

Whatever happens, I’m sure it will be a good experience and Rusty and I will probably have some interesting conversations about who knows what.

One thing I haven’t figured out in all this is when to capitalize emergent. Maybe that should be my goal when I go to NM.

Tag: emergent

Pictures anyone?

So blogger will now allow you to add a picture. But, my dial-up connection is so slow that it is taking an hour. Nuts.

Tag: blogger

No blogging for who knows how long

For some reason, my dial-up internet connection doesn't seem to want to publish new blog posts. So, I guess I won't for a while.

Books as Community

In light of my last post about my amazon.com wishlist, it might be good to explain a little bit about my apparent obession with books. First of all, people who write books are a heck-of-a-lot smarter and wiser than I am. So, as someone with a future in the ministry, getting some sound theological exposure is always a good things. But, and maybe more more importantly, I see books as a way to have conversations with people you wouldn't otherwise get to talk to. You are able to hear a person out on certain topics. You get to wrestle with their opposing viewpoint. As you read, you are shaped by the words that are on the page. So, I consider books a way to interact with great minds. I see the names of the people sitting on my shelf as my mentors, professors, teachers, encouragers, and on and on. One day I might get to talk to some of the people who write what I read. But until then, I'll keep my friendship with them active by reading their books.

Amazon.com Wishlist Update

So, last time I said something about my Amazon.com wishlist, it was at something like 83 books. I've read a few of the books that were on my list since them and purchased many others. However, in spite of all that, my list has now grown to an unthinkable 163 books. So, if you want to do me a favor, go to my wishlist and buy me something. Go to the top of the page and sort it by "Priority" and buy me something at the top of my list that you can afford. That would be much appreciated.

The Usefulness of Blogs

For a while, I wondered why I even blogged, even though I don't do it on a regular basis. But last night, as I was writing a 10-page paper for one of my classes, I realized that I had blogged about a few things that were relevant to my paper. So, since it was my work, it was original, and fairly well-written, all I had to do was a little bit of copy-paste from my blog to my paper and--boom--I had an extra three to four pages. So, the lesson learned: make blog posts of a high enough quality that you can use them to make contributions to papers for class.

Youth Ministry as Liberal Theology Update

I think the research sited in my previous post is taken from a new book on the religious lives of American teenagers called Soul Searching. The conclusion is that most teens are "therapeutic, moralistic deists." I have to read the book for my internship this summer. It should be a good read. Anyone involved with working with youth in the church should pick it up.

Youth Ministry: thinly veiled liberal theology?

So, we were talking about liberal theology (of the Adolf Harnack variety) in Church History. It became readily apparent that, although I consider myself to be fairly generous theologically, liberal theology falls well outside the scope of Christian orthodoxy. It was quite absurd to me that these people even considered themselves Christians because their faith had virtually no resemblance to anything that came before it in terms of orthodoxy.

Dr. Johnson went on to tell of a survey (I need to get my hands on it) that evaluated student's beliefs and whatnot and found out that most Christian young people are essentially relativistic, moralistic, deists. Which, is uncomfortably similar to liberal theology. So, youth ministry as a whole is graduating liberal theologians from high school and sending them out into the world with a faith that bears no resemblance to the Christian faith of the last 2,000 years. This is quite troubling.

So what can we do? Well, we might have to be ready to accept the fact that youth groups might shrink in size. Giving the self-esteem, how-to-relate-to-your-parents, sex-is-bad, and other typical youth group lessons might need to be rethought. Essentially, students are simply being taught how to live moral, ethical lives and to deal with their problems as adolescents. But are they being allowed to experience God? Do they really think that God intervenes in this world? Do they pray? If they pray, do they feel like God hears anything that they pray? I'm starting to think that one of the best ways to combat this deism is through prayer. A deist will not pray because it will do no good. But if we believe that God is indeed the God of the Bible who enters into this world (remember that event called the INCARNATION?) and has the power to change and affect it, we must be people of prayer. Students need more than moral teaching. They need to become members of the historic Christian faith.

This is highly frustrating because doing this would undoubtedly cost youth pastors their job. So, we continue to make parents, pastors, and students happy. In turn, we turn out relativistic, moralistic deists. But hey, at least everyone's happy. Right?

Adventures in Missing the Point: Self-Esteem

So, I'm a fan of Tony Campolo and Brian McLaren's book Adventures in Missing the Point and I think that self-esteem should be thrown into the mix. Or maybe it is in their book and it's been so long since I've read it I've forgotten.

Regardless, I was thinking today about self-esteem for some reason. Maybe I read something about it or overheard someone talking. I don't know. What it comes down to is that, in youth ministry at least, it seems that in our attempt to respond to culture's message that we all have to have slim, fit bodies to have any worth, we have essentially told students that it is okay to be fat, lazy, and excessive in their eating habits. We feed them the line "God loves you no matter how you look, and so should any guy who is worthy of your time."

While that is true, it is equally true that God loves us despite our sin, yet we do not encourage students to be complacent about their sin (hopefully). Why is it any different when it comes to taking care our bodies, our temples of the Holy Spirit? Yes, God loves us regardless, but some of us need to do a lot better job of taking care of ourselves. I'm not saying that every girl needs to weigh under 120 pounds and that guys have to have a six-pack, but I am beginning to see that a well-rounded diet as well as a decent bit of exercise is necessary to maintain a holistic attitude towards growth as a disciple. As I try to think about ways in which to be holistic in my own discipleship and to get away from dichotomizing between the "spiritual" and other realms, I think that the church has missed the boat on self-esteem and encouraged lazy, gluttonous living.

Yes, Jesus loves you even if you're fat and lazy (or skinny and lazy - like me). But that doesn't mean that's the way it's supposed to be.

A Crisis of Faith... at a Christian University?

As I am almost done with three full years at a non-denominational Christian university, I am able to look back on my time here and reflect on what has occurred in my faith during my time here. As could be expected, my pre-college expectations were demolished. Being raised in a conservative non-denominational (which basically meant Baptist without having any sort of official affiliation) church for most of my life and committing to go into full-time ministry my junior year in high school, I thought that college was going to be a cake-walk spiritually. I was just going to go to college to learn how to be a good youth minister and organize things and plan events and manage money. I already had my faith figured out and knew what I believed. I knew that my faith would be secure at a Christian university and that I would not be in danger of losing my faith like so many of my friends who went to public, secular universities (God help their souls).

And then I got here. My favorite professors were Presbyterian (don’t they sprinkle babies or something heretical like that?). My roommate was a Calvinist (which is a dirty word, right?). One of my suitemates attended an Assembly of God church (Those are the crazy people, right?). People would dance around during worship in chapel (God wouldn’t want someone to distract other people from worshipping, of course). All of these things went against what I had grown up knowing and believing. And yet, at the same time, I discovered that all of these people loved Jesus.

And so, I was at a crisis of faith. Here I was, at a Christian college, getting a degree in youth ministry, and I felt as though my faith was being crushed. To me, attending a Christian university has been a test of faith for me. Some people think that going to a Christian school is the wussy way out, that it’s easy to be a Christian at a Christian university. For me, this wasn’t the case. My faith was put on trial here. Being exposed to so many different faith backgrounds, so many different cultures, and so many different understandings of what it means to be a Christian has forced me to rethink what it means for me to be a Christian. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, I learned that I wasn’t even close.

And so here I am, and I now know less about what I believe than when I enrolled here three years ago. Although I know less, there are other things that have increased. The grace of God is bigger in my life now; I am more aware today than ever about how much grace is needed to keep this world turning. My humility has grown out of my acknowledgement that I don’t have it all figured out. I understand better what it means to say that I can do nothing to save myself, but that it is all by God’s grace. I would rather have God’s grace and love real in my life than have my certainty in my theology, and that’s what has happened.

I still don’t have it all figured out. I think that my time here has begun a life-long quest that will never end. My theology will constantly be changing. I will rethink what it means to be a Christian. But through it all, God will remain constant. I thank God for my time here at JBU, that it is not a bubble theologically, and that it does truly challenge the faith of a believer.

Grace Unspeakable

As I observe life, the world, and the scriptures, I am increasingly becoming a believer in total depravity. It seems clear to me that we all have God, as well as the life that he has called us to, dead wrong. And I don't mean just a little bit wrong, but a lot wrong. To even reflect on the thoughts of being free in Christ as compared to how we live our lives and "do" church makes it obvious how much we are missing the mark. Is this a bad thing? I'm not so sure. All that this does is point back to the utter grace of God in the light of our utter depravity. And that's always a good place to be. For me, it is at times of such reflection, that there is no call for action, revolution, or reformation, but that of humble silence in the presence of Grace. There we find our value. Not in what we do, but in who God has declared us to be.

Enough Already

I’m not sure what to think of this. As I was leaving Alicia’s room over in her dorm, I saw a flyer advertising a new weekly worship get-together in the lobby of the dorm. That got me thinking. How much is too much when it comes to “doing stuff.”

We’ve got chapel three days a week, we have passion groups, we have campus ministries, students are involved in churches, there are retreats for every group on campus, there are men’s groups, women’s groups, other special opportunities for worship, and the list probably goes on. Everyone seems to want to start their own spiritual niche, rather than contribute to the existing things that we have going on here. No wonder we have so many denominations in the world.

I guess my question is: is this wrong? Is it right? In one regard, people start all of these new programs/events/retreats/whatever with “good intentions,” trying to meet some “unmet” need, but do we have to have a separate ministry for every need? Do we need ministries at all if we are doing what we are called to do as Christians? I think that all of these additional ministries perpetuate the thinking we have here in America of distinguishing between the sacred and the secular. What we fail to miss out on is that there is no such thing as secular for a Christian. Christians are Christians, whether we are worshipping God or eating in the cafeteria. We take the Holy Spirit to Masterpieces of Literature as well as to Passion Group. We bear the image of God wherever we are. So then why is it that we feel obliged to create even more “spiritual” segments of time? And why is there never enough?

I don’t know what the problem is. I’m sure I’m a part of it somehow. Everyone thinks they can change the world, but they don’t want to start with themselves.

A Theology of Change

I’m pretty close (I hope I hope I hope) to getting a job as a youth pastor, which is really exciting. However, as usual, when someone new comes in to anything, there will eventually be some sort of changes taking place. Inevitably, this means that people will be uncomfortable and skeptical about changes because they aren’t used to them yet. So, I thought it would be good to think about making ministry changes in a theological sense, so that when I do decide to make changes, hopefully there will be some sort of theological foundation for doing whatever it is I want to do. Here it is:

We don't like change because we like being comfortable. As human beings, we try to avoid anything that makes us uncomfortable, because to our natural inclinations, comfort is better than discomfort. The problem with this mindset comes when we read the Gospels. We find this in Matthew 16:24, as well as other parallel passages in the other Gospels: “Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'"

Taking up one's cross isn't a comfortable place to be. One, crosses are heavy, which makes carrying one a pretty large ordeal. Two, crosses are a symbol of death. It’d be like carrying a noose or an electric chair with you. Not a very comfortable combination? Christ calls us to a state of discomfort.

But, why is comfort bad? Because when we are comfortable, we think we've got it together, we think that we're doing ok, and we come into something with expectations. If our expectations aren't met, then we are disappointed. Here's the problem: throughout history, God has broken the expectations of man in order to communicate his message. When we get comfortable, we expect (and therefore limit) God to speak within a little box of expectations that we have created. When we are uncomfortable, and don't know what to expect, we listen for God to speak in any way because we don't know what to expect. By not having a preconceived notion about what is going to happen, we listen to God better so that he is able to mold us into who he has called us to be. When we are in uncharted territory, we have to rely on God, not ourselves.

So, in a spiritual sense, discomfort is better than comfort, which means change is better than stagnation. Think of a creek, where it gets still, mold and algae develop, but where the water is flowing, it stays clean. Our spiritual lives are the same way. When we start getting comfortable, then we start missing out on what God has in store for us.

Neat Quotes

Found at http://www.theotherjournal.net/:

"I’m not mad at liberals who want to perform some procedural form of democracy. What I am upset about are Christians who think that is their primary task in the world in which we find ourselves. And I want them to remember that our first task is to be the church of Jesus Christ, that’s our politics. " - Stanley Hauerwas

"Evangelicals tend to turn the gospel in a system of belief rather than a body of people through which we are embraced through God’s salvation that makes us different." - Stanley Hauerwas

"There's a big argument right now as to whether American Flags should be in churches... I don't have any problem if you put the flag of every nation in the world in the church, but to single out one nation is to say that this Jesus that we worship calls us to loyalty to one nation above all others? Because I've got to tell you, I am committed to justice for all people, not just for Americans. And I am committed to all of humanity, not just to Americans. I think that Jesus calls us beyond our identity as nationalists and calls us to be internationalists." - Tony Campolo

"Well, I think that what he called the 'Defense of Marriage Act' is ridiculous because I've got news for you-- it's not the gays that are getting divorced, it's the heterosexuals. If you want a defense of marriage bill, you will begin to put some restrictions on who can get divorces and how they get divorces. The problem with American families right now is not that the homosexuals want to get married, it's that the heterosexuals are getting divorced." - Tony Campolo

"When somebody tells me he's a Methodist, Baptist, or Presbyterian, it doesn't mean a thing. I want to know whether this person has a personal relationship with Jesus, whether he believes in the doctrines of the Apostles' Creed, and whether he takes the scriptures seriously." - Tony Campolo

Dang it!

I just wrote a fairly lengthy entry and then it got lost. So I'm a little upset about that. Oh well.

Instead, here's some quotes from Kenda Creasy Dean in the latest round of articles from youthspecialties.com. Interesting stuff. It's worth reading the whole article.

"In other words, instead of winning teenagers' trust for the sake of presenting a Christian message (think, playing crazy games with teenagers for an hour before hitting them with a God-talk at the end, or hanging out at a skate park to gain enough street cred to invite skaters to church), we befriend teenagers for the sake of Christian friendship, because this is a time-honored way Christ chooses to reveal himself to us (Matthew 18:19)."

"Is our theology lithe enough to stretch across many different frames for ministry and many different forms of Christian life? Do young people experience God as synonymous with particular people (like their small group) or a particular practice of ministry (like singing with a praise band) or a particular context (like camp)? Or have we helped them develop a repertoire of faith practices supple enough to take Christianity beyond any single faith experience?"

No promises...

I had something that I wanted to write about, but as I logged on to do it, I totally forgot about what that was. So, in attempt to jump-start my thinking, I'm just going to write. If this goes into nowhere, I'm sorry. But, since no one reads this anyways, I'm only wasting my own time.

A great opportunity has come my way in the past week. Last Tuesday, I found out that two out of my three internship possibilities that I considered as a "good" chance at getting officially fell through. The last one might as well be over as well. The youth pastor doesn't seem to be a very personable guy (or maybe he just doesn't return phone calls or emails). Then the next day, I got an email saying that there is a church about 30 minutes from here that needs a youth pastor. I went and visited with the pastor and am going back in a little over a week to teach wednesday night as a sort of "trial" run. If all goes well, I should have a part-time job until the semester is over and then a full-time job for my internship. God is good.

Referreeing is going well. I am starting to feel really comfortable on the court and confident in my ability. It's really fun and I make some decent money doing it. I can't complain.

Noah preached a good sermon on pride the other night. Which got me thinking... pride is not saying "I'm good at X" but instead saying "Because I am good at X, I am better than person Y" or something to that effect. At least, that's what popped into my head. I need to look at it some more, but it's interesting. Pride is either a result or a cause of one demeaning the value of the grace of God, I can't decide. But someone who realizes the utter infinitude of the grace of God must understand their total human depravity and therefore cannot have pride within them. Given that we are all prideful, it just goes to show that none of us can even come close to fathoming the grace of God. Which makes it even all the more amazing.

We need to sing more hymns in church. Some hymns are terrible, just like a lot of our contemporary songs, but lots of hymns are really good. And I mean really good. The words are usually just so powerful. We sang a few in chapel Sunday, but the third verse of "It is Well with My Soul" God to me, I teared up a little bit. Here's the words:

My sin... O, the bliss of this glorious thought,
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
It is well with my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul.

If more of us would keep those words in the forefront of our minds, then we'd be living a lot less pridefully and conforming a lot more to the image of Christ. Simply amazing. It doesn't get any better than that. It's amazing how much of Christian life, Christian theology, Christian thought, Christian practice, Christian anything can be traced back to the Cross. We should find ourselves there more often.

I'm the worst blogger ever

Random thoughts:

- So, it's been 2 months now since my last blog, pretty bad if you ask me. I really need to work on that.

- I can't believe some people's blogging habits (or should I say addictions). It seems like all they do is read stuff on the internet and write stuff for their blogs. Do they get paid for this? Some people write stuff that's fit for a journal article, not a meaningless blab on a blog. Maybe one day I will be as cool as those folks.

- I'm only taking 14 hours this semester, but it seems like I've got just as much work as before, which stinks.

- In addition to being a TA for 10 hours a week, my new job involves me refereeing 5th and 6th grade basketball for the local Boys and Girls Club. I really enjoy it and look forward to every saturday when I can go and make a few bucks doing something I consider fun.

- I got a lot of books for Christmas, which made me very happy, which makes me a nerd. A rundown of what I got: 1.) A 38 volume set of the Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Series (a collection of writings that were important in the early church, from the apostolic fathers through around 400 or 500 AD I believe) 2.) Ethics by Deitrich Bonhoeffer 3.) Your First Two Years in Youth Ministry by Doug Fields 4.) Mere Christianity by CS Lewis 5.) The God-Bearing Life by Kenda Creasy Dean 6.) Practicing Passion by Dean and someone else, I forgot 7.) The Best Question Ever by Andy Stanley.

- My fiancee got me the TOP GUN collector's edition DVD for Christmas which rocks because it is the best movie ever. I've watched over 2 hours of the special footage thus far and am only affirmed in my believing in the superiority of this movie.

- I've read most of The Best Question Ever, and it's a decent book, it'll make good sermon material one day.

- I'm down to one option right now for my internship that is required for me to graduate. If this final option falls through, maybe I'll go out into the desert preaching and eating locusts.

- When Rusty and Noah and I start our church somewhere down the road, they have decided I will be designated the Pastor of Philosophy. What exactly that means, I'm not sure, but I think it has a lot to do with me reading lots of books and questioning everything the church does. Sounds like the perfect position for me.

- One of my life goals is to have a library as large as Dr. Johnson's and have actually read everything sitting on my shelf. I already am behind on my reading with the paltry library I currently have. Once I'm Pastor of Philosophy, I'll get to catch up.

- I love my fiancee. I wanna be married.