Moving Day Part 1 “Packing Up”

Photo by Kadarius Seegars on Unsplash

As I get ready to move on to a new focus in my cultural engagement blogging, I thought I might pack up some things to share, and perhaps stir my readers up by way of reminder.

Over the summer, in a loose-knit series of blog posts, I explored the concept of unity and disunity in our society and how we as the church should be committed to tearing down the walls that we allow to divide us so that we can better represent as the body of Christ on earth. Some of this disunity is tied to the literal building and tearing down of walls and the movements of ethnic peoples from one land to another, and some of the disunity is because of our own pride and sense of entitlement.

Starting with Some Elbow Room? (7/15/14) I asked questions like, “Why do we always seem to push others out when we move in (whoever the “we” may be)? Why do we spend so much energy "clearing the land" to build our own kingdoms?” and encouraged Christian congregations to stop competing with each other as well as trying to be self-sufficient and start working together. I concluded that post with the challenge,

If we need to be moving someone, let it be moving ourselves closer to each other relationally, linking arms and hearts, keeping in step with the Spirit rather than the flesh (Gal. 5). Listen to one another, pray with one another, and be friends with one another. Then we may see God move in gentle power in our midst... and have to move out into the yard because the house isn't big enough for everyone.

I followed that with Dust in the Wind: The Ever-Changing Dance (7/22/14) in which I talked about the fascinating way that ethnic populations have always been moving and shifting, not as a way to excuse the gentrification of traditionally non-white urban communities, but as an encouragement for us to consider how our policies and actions affect others. Though this shift is unavoidable we should not force it on others.

“Sudden heavy-handed shifts in demographics can either bury the existing community under the weight of new arrivals (think our current crisis on the Southern Border) or scatter that community to the wind (think N & NE Portland)…  

The question facing us is how to respond. Will we embrace the shift and adapt to the new ministry opportunities that the wind has delivered to our doorstep (or to whose doorstep we are delivered)? Will we flee to new lands (California or Bust!) to begin again? Or like some die-hard Dust-Bowlers will we simply live in the basement of what remains and slowly watch our family die of dust pneumonia?

More recently I looked at how we view the “property lines” in our own lives in Psalm 16:5-8 "Pleasant Places" (8/5/14). This passage alludes to the tribal inheritances allocated in the Book of Joshua, but then applies the idea of inheritance not to a place but to a person—the Lord himself. But out of this story, we see our collective responsibility to help every “tribe” to gain its inheritance.

“Who has yet to receive a piece of the pie? Who has not been given a place at the table? For such as these those of us who have access to economic and educational resources should look for ways to leverage them not for our own benefit, but for the benefit of those who don’t have the same options available to them.”

So how do we do this? Trust God and do what he is doing. Our natural response is to take the easy way rather than the hard one. The mission of God is greater than the appearance of “the neighborhood”. Everything God does has a purpose and though it might not be what we want, it is for the good. So do we lament what we see and complain our days away or do lean in and listen more closely to the voice of the Spirit? Do we run from the sound of suffering or do we run towards the battle for the good of the oppressed?

Yesterday I wrote to my son that some of the imagery in Isaiah 62 seemed a little like the rebuilding that must happen after a terrorist attack.  

Go through, go through the gates,
Clear the way for the people;
Build up, build up the highway,
Remove the stones, lift up a standard over the peoples.
Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth,
Say to the daughter of Zion, “Lo, your salvation comes;
Behold His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.” (Isaiah 62:10-11)

There was an attack, a disaster, a tragedy. I wonder if we are willing to move, coming alongside to help our new neighbors overwhelmed with the debris of a violently fallen world. Or would we rather use the remote control to change over to the Cartoon Network?

In the incarnation, Jesus chose the hard way of becoming human to rescue us in accordance with the redemptive plan of God. The least we can do is follow his lead going out from comfort, convenience, and status quo, to take up the missional calling he has given to us.

So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. (Hebrews 13:12-16)

Just because we “have no lasting city” here doesn’t mean we can’t leave a lasting mark!

The Gates of... Shall not Prevail!

[This post is an assigned response to Dr. Paul Metzger’s article, Gated Communities and the Visible/Invisible Church. It may, or may not be, helpful to read his post first.]

Brickell Key from north.
Photo by Marc Averette

Dr. Metzger uses the metaphor of “gated communities” two ways. First he uses it for the divisions and “Keep out” signs we put up in our lives and especially in our churches. There was a church growth principle popular in the 1980s-90s call the Homogeneous Unit Principle. This taught that the fastest way to grow a church was with people of the same race, class, education, interests, etc. The problem with this principle is that it works because it makes use of our natural worldly responses and has led many to keep using it. It is comfortable. It is safe. It keeps those without the gate code out. Who knows what might happen if we let everybody in… it might lead to the zombie apocalypse! OK so that last part was hyperbole.

The real problem with this gated community approach is that it is not Jesus’ way. His approach in the incarnation—God coming to the world in the flesh—was what we would call “downwardly mobile”. He came to minister to, spend time with, and suffered a brutal death to save everyone who would come. How willing are our churches to follow his example?

The second way he uses gated community metaphor for the invisible church that doesn’t engage the world around it. This happens two ways. Some people think that they can be Christians without functioning in community as the church. And some churches think they can be Christian inside their safe little spiritual compound without being a part of the larger culture and community. This may seem safe considering the things that go on “out there” but it is also an act of disobedience to Jesus’ command to go, preach, and disciple the whole world.

Don't Back Up!

We are not called to back up, circle the wagons, and hold the fort just because we are no longer in charge of the cultural forces around us. Instead of going all Elijah (1 Kings 19:14,18) and thinking we are the last true Jesus-followers on earth. If we take time to look and listen we will see God at work in some pretty amazing ways. This is not a call to compromise for as Dr. Metzger repeatedly states, “When engaging our culture, we must always go through our convictions, never around them, and never stopping short at them.” It seems to me that by not engaging we are stopping short of being truly biblical, fully orthodox, and faithful followers of Jesus.

So what gates have we placed in the way of those who God is calling to himself? What prevents us from gathering in unity as the visible Church?  Metzger suggests that,

"Perhaps some churches exclude people of other ethnicities, economic brackets, those with “disabilities,” the elderly or young or singles, the vibrant or dying, or those with different worship styles,  personality types, hobbies, IQ’s, and political perspectives."

But Jesus came to make us one, where all our gifts serve the unity of the congregation and all the “giftedness’s” of the local expressions of the Church contribute to the one Church, the visible body of Christ on earth. And I hate to break it to the gate-keepers and the spiritual HOA people, but the Church can’t be contained within your walls. Come out and join it in the great mission of God. It is risky and sometimes messy, but it smells like heaven.

Not only do we need to come out and collaborate with the wider church to engage the world but we also need to open the gates to welcome others inside to share life with us. It is wonderful to hear that many churches today are working towards a more multi-ethnic ministry model that better represents the church as it will be when Christ returns.

And they sang a new song, saying,

“Worthy are you to take the scroll
    and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
    from every tribe and language and people and nation,
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
    and they shall reign on the earth.” (Rev. 5:9-10)

But there is a barrier that is still up in many areas and it is primarily socio-economic, as I wrote in my last post Poor Praise Indeed. Honestly, how welcome do the poor of our community feel to come not just to get help but to fully participate in our gatherings? I am disturbed afresh by Jesus' parable in Luke 16:19-31 of the rich man who let a poor sick man named Lazarus die un-served and un-welcomed at his gate. I don’t want to minimize the efforts we make to go to minister to the poor—both foreign and domestic—but do we let the poor minister to us… and worship with us in our churches? Or have we settled for something less in a gated community?

In next week’s post, entitled Moving Day, I will bring this section on unity to a conclusion before taking up the next topic—Diplomacy.

"Poor Praise" Indeed

When we hear the rather old-fashioned term “poor praise” what does it bring to mind?

I don’t think it speaks of a less-than-polished and professional worship team, or a congregation that has members that tend to sing a bit off-key. When I think of the rather rustic term “poor praise” I think of “worship” that may or may not sound pleasing to the ear but is sung without the sincerity of a humble heart and a lifestyle of obedience. “Poor praise” in that sense is the person who can sing songs to God while in church, but then lives a life that treats others poorly. It is the hypocrisy of pride and a lack of the love of God that makes for poor praise.

But, to turn the phase a little, have we ever stopped to consider the relationship between our attitude towards the poor and the quality of our worship? I was considering this recently as I was reading through Proverbs 14 and a couple of verses captured my attention.

Proverbs 14:20-21, 31 

The poor is disliked even by his neighbor,
    but the rich has many friends.

Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner,
    but blessed is he who is generous to the poor…

Verse 20 declares the normal inequity of our selfish disposition to favor those who have something of value for us while we tend to despise the poor because not only is there nothing in it for us, but acknowledging them can actually cost us something. The rich have many so-called friends who seek to benefit from their wealth—wine, cheese, oil, etc. This phrase has always reminded me of famous boxers and their entourage or posse—the group of “friends” and financial parasites that often drain the athlete/celebrity’s resources. Such friends are of the kind who helped devour the prodigal son’s inheritance, but when he had nothing left all despised him…except his father (Luke 15).

Verse 21 goes beyond stating the status quo in our attraction to the well-resourced and our avoidance of the poor to call out the moral and spiritual implications of such behavior. In this parallel construction our neighbor is the poor. When we despise our poor neighbor the text labels us as “sinners.” So perhaps we don’t fall prey to what would be considered great moral failure, our very pride in that fact can cause us to look down on the poor around us and in so doing we fall into sin. I don’t know about you but I would rather err on the side of generosity shown and grace given…for in so emptying ourselves in love there is found the blessing of God.

A few verses further along this idea is further articulated as we read in verse 31,

Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker,
    but he who is generous to the needy honors him.

It is from this verse that I draw the idea of “poor praise.” If I am oppressing a poor man by my actions or attitudes then I am insulting “his Maker” the Lord himself! If my praise of God is to be truly honoring and representative of his character, then I should make sure that I operate generously with the needy.

Photo by Colin Michel on Unsplash

This same error was addressed by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Corinthians when he confronted their selfish attitude at the celebration of the Eucharist. The wealthy had been arriving early and stuffing their face without any concern for the working poor who would arrive late and hungry only to find there was not enough left for them. Such behavior disqualified their corporate praise.

What? Don't you have your own homes for eating and drinking? Or do you really want to disgrace God's church and shame the poor? What am I supposed to say? Do you want me to praise you? Well, I certainly will not praise you for this! (1 Cor. 11:22—NLT)

So how do we, as the church, either oppress or show generosity to the poor? Do the poor feel welcomed into our table fellowship as our true brothers and sisters in the grace of God? Is there room at our table for them? I think that such questions are more accurate in evaluating our community worship than how well the band played or how inspiring the sermon was. 

If we despise the poor, then our praise is meager at best. 

Center of Gravity

This blog is in response to an interesting post by Paul Louis Metzger entitled The Religious Right, Left and Wrong View of the Christian’s Political Life where he discusses the church as a political community…but not as we might think.

 

What is the center of gravity on our lives? Around what do we find our lives revolving...or does all of life simply revolve around us? I recently re-watched what I consider a very insightful movie filled with layers of metaphors, Rise of the Guardians (2012). In it the Russian accented Nicholas St. North (Santa) says to an ambiguous Jack Frost, “Let’s get down to tacks of brass... What is your center?” He used a Russian stacking doll to show Jack all the different layers of who he was, with his own center being wide-eyed wonder. Jack Frost had yet to find his own center which proves to be crucial in the plot of the movie. What is the very core descriptor or quality of your identity? It was a great question to ask. It is a question we all should think about answering.

We have considered previously the ramifications of finding our core/name in what God says about us, naming ourselves or being named / labeled by others. But perhaps what Metzger hints at in this article is that such a question should be asked of us corporately. He issues the call to look deeper into our understanding of the church,

“The visible church is often viewed inside and outside the Christian community as a voluntary association of religious individuals. In such contexts, the church is a means to an end of a more foundational social allegiance, such as the state, market, or nuclear family.”

 

These words cut deeply into our flawed theology of the church. Is he right in his grave assessment of the Christian community—that it is seen as being “a voluntary association of religious individuals” and at its core “a means to an end”? I think my friend is correct and mourns the shallowness of relationship that results from such a flawed theology of the church. The biblical view of the church is not as an effective (albeit temporary) means to an end. It is the very center of gravity in the great plan of God. It is not designed to be political in the advocacy of individual agendas of profit, ease, and happiness—yet it does advocate.

Nor is it designed as a tool to consolidate power and establish the platforms of liberal or conservative political parties—yet it is powerful. The Church is the “core” of humanity—humanity as it is designed by God to be. The Church is not a means, but an end—one that is still just beginning!

 

Dr. Metzger’s warnings about our low me-centered consumeristic view of the church need to be heard and heeded:

Christian nuclear families must guard against the impulse to shop around for the best religious family value package available in their midst. Our allegiance to the local church as individual Christians and religious nuclear families must be based on more than voluntary decisions based on passing whims and involuntary impulses and urges…we should see our fundamental social solidarity bound up with the kingdom of God in Christ who has bought us at the price of his own life; we belong to him. Without solidarity with one another, the church will not be able to be a compelling force of love for good, but will allow other publics to co-opt individual Christians for their competing narratives and visions of the future.

 

For Christians, “church” should not be something we choose to consume, or not, but the core of who we are. The church is our truest family and our truest identity. We have been born-again into it. It is not a matter of our choice as much as it is the calling of God. If we are Christ’s people the church is simply who we are collectively. If the church is who we really are at our core then we will be far more effective as an authentic political force for the good of the world than we ever could be on our own. A three-fold cord is not easily broken. We make a positive change in the world only as we remain in unity with each other as citizens of the Kingdom of God. The church is not a temporary arrangement in God's plan.

 

What’s the “center” of the Christian? It is the Church, the place where we dwell—together—with God. What is the center of the Church? It is the light of the love of Christ poured out for us, and through us, to the nations.

 

And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there (Rev. 21:22-25)

 

 There will be no night (and no nightmares) there!

Hidden Faults & Presumptuous Sins

This week's full Cultural Engagement post can be found on my Psalms-Honest2God blog.

In this post I devotionally discuss Psalm 19:12-14 but also extend its application beyond the individual to a collective. Here is an excerpt.

• Can we as small groups, congregations, denominations, and movements discern our own errors? Disunity.
• Can leaders see their own tendency to be corrupted by the very power, privilege, and influence which they wield?  Distrust.
• Have we the insight to see how we look down on others from our position of education and economics (by what matrix do we assign value to our fellow humans)? Disrespect.

You tell me…

I tend to think that we still need the witness of the Word applied to our collective life and path to see where we have sinned against those within and without. We still need the grace of God to bring healing where we have even unintentionally caused hurt. We still need the more biblical leading of the Spirit to not fall into the same bondages that litter our collective past. We still need to follow Jesus in the way of the cross (Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23).

Even the prophet needs a prophet, or our hidden errors become presumptuous sins. 

To read the entire post click here: Hidden Faults & Presumptuous Sins