The Christian Imagination

Great post over at InternetMonk.

I’ll quote what he quotes, cause it’s an awesome quote that resonates with my heart.

“Now - here is my secret:
I tell it to you with an openness of heart
that I doubt I shall ever achieve again,
so I pray that you are in a quiet room as you hear these words.
My secret is that I need God –
that I am sick and can no longer make it alone.
I need God to help me give, because I no longer seem to be capable of giving;
to help me be kind, as I no longer seem capable of kindness;
to help me love, as I seem beyond being able to love”

- Life After God, Douglas Coupland, (p. 359)

The post itself looks at Mark 3 and focuses on Jesus choosing the disciples.
“It’s plain to me that Jesus chose the apostles because they were teachable. As stubborn, ignorant, parochial, tribal, petty, selfish and slow to learn as they were, they were still more teachable than the religious establishment.”

Ouch. You know, we Christians try so hard to get it right at times. We forget that the Pharisees were very devout and were doing all they could to help Israel continue to survive and to avoid the syncretic religion (mixing Baalism and early Judaism) that was a key factor in why God ceased to protect and bless Israel. The thing is, they were the leaders. They had the influence. It would have been perfectly logical for Jesus to align himself with them. Instead, he aligned himself with people who were largely poor, illiterate, powerless, and without influence. He spent time with people who were untrustworthy (such as tax collectors) and sinful (such as whores), who the society had already passed judgment on, who the CHURCH had already passed judgment on. Yet, it was these same people who recognized their need. It was these people who were willing to follow. The Pharisees…they already had all the answers…what use did they have for the Son of God? Or for that matter, God?

On April 13, 2008, the Compassion Forum was held at Messiah College, my alma mater. The three major candidates were invited, with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama accepting. Hillary was asked the following question:

Meachem: Senator, we’ve heard about HIV/AIDS. Many people here are concerned about Darfur and a number of other humanitarian issues. Why do you think it is that a loving God allows innocent people to suffer?

The following was her answer:

Clinton: You know, that is the subject of generations of commentary and debate. And I don’t know. I can’t wait to ask him. Because I have…I have just pondered it endlessly. But I do want to just add that what that means to me is that in the face of suffering, there is no doubt in my mind that God calls us to respond. You know, that’s part of what we are expected to do. For whatever reason it exists, it’s very existence is a call to action.
You know, in my Judeo-Christian faith tradition, in both the Old and the New Testament, the incredible demands that God places on us and that the prophets ask of us, and that Christ called us to respond to on behalf of the poor are unavoidable. And it’s always been curious to me how our debate about religion in America too often misses that…So maybe, you know, the lord is just waiting for us to respond to his call, because this despair, this impoverishment of body and soul is what we are expected to be spending our time responding to, and so few of us do.
Even those who are doing wonderful work with organizations represented in this audience, we are just not doing enough. And it’s a personal call; it’s a family community, religious call; and it’s a governmental call. And we’ve got to do more to respond to that call.

To that I say: Amen. She’s not the first to say something like this, but very well said.

Now, I don’t even like Hillary. I don’t trust her. But you know, some of the things she said at the Compassion Forum were very well thought out, and, well, challenged and inspired my Christian faith.

In this case, there is evil in the world, and we sometimes feel so insignificant and helpless that we don’t do anything about it or simply don’t care (not that we’ll readily admit this). I’ll admit it though. As much as I’d like to, I often get caught up in the world I live in and forget that I can actually respond to the suffering in the world beyond. It’s so easy to get caught up in the enormity of the task too, and forget that I have to start with the neighbor I pass on the street…

One of the recent stories heard throughout the blogosphere is how Willow Creek Community Church, the church started by Bill Hybels that essentially started the seeker-sensitive church movement, is, um, going deeper and focusing more on mature believers. From this article:

He spoke about the high levels of dissatisfaction mature believer have with churches. Drawing from the 200 churches and the 57,000 people that have taken the survey, he said that most people are leaving the church because they’re not being challenged enough.

“Anonymity is not the driving value for seeker services anymore,” says Hawkins. “We’ve taken anonymity and shot it in the head. It’s dead. Gone.” In the past Willow believed that seekers didn’t want large doses of the Bible or deep worship music. They didn’t want to be challenged. Now their seeker-sensitive services are loaded with worship music, prayer, Scripture readings, and more challenging teaching from the Bible.

In the larger REVEAL survey taken by 200 churches, people were asked what they want most from their church. Three of the top four responses were:
1. Help me understand the Bible in greater depth
2. Help me develop a closer personal relationship with Christ
3. Challenge me to grow and take the next step in my faith

Some point out that Willow Creek is still being market-driven in it’s approach. In this case, though, it’s interesting to see what the market is asking for: depth of understanding, depth of relationship with God, and to be challenged.

I’ve been a part of different types of churches with different types of church services. I’ve been in Pentecostal services that would scare almost any visitor off. I’ve been churches where I’ve felt the presence of God during the service. I’ve been in churches that are very much seeker sensitive. For the seeker sensitive approach to work, there has to be another layer where real relationships and commitment can happen, and I’ve seen churches do this effectively. However, I’ve also seen people grow disillusioned when the church system and philosophy becomes the end all, be all.

In pondering the whole church service thing, I sometimes wonder if experiencing God in a service, and really feeling the power of God, is a good way to go. I mean, if we believe in a supernatural God, can’t He work in people’s hearts as we worship him? And I’m using worship in a broad sense here. I wonder if we discount what God can do in our midst. Probably.

My current church meets in a large coffee house. We are surrounded by brick walls and art. The music portion of our service is different each week. It isn’t showy, is contemporary, is often stripped down. The sermons are not theatric, if anything they are subdued, authentic, honest. And there is depth, lots of depth, hard questions, and some hard answers. Several years ago, sermons were mostly topical. Now our sermons are from books of the Bible. And when you don’t skip over the hard passages, it makes for some very interesting sermons. The Bible is full of uncomfortable topics, not just to non-Christians, but to Christians. Our church has grown once we stopped trying to make it grow and just preached the Bible. There are still things that can be better, but I’m thinking there’s something to survey results. I think people are tired of simple answers, shows, and plastic. They want depth. Or maybe it’s just that they need it.

I’ve written about my disdain for chain emails before, mostly because they are spreading misinformation, and it’s all the more disturbing when Christians spread information. The words of politicians are hard to discern, partly because they are in the business of telling people what they want to hear. And it’s always easier to talk about what someone else did wrong and then throw up potentially empty promises.

Obama is an excellent speaker, which is a good quality for the leader of the largest superpower. Bush, whether you love him or hate him, is not a great speaker and has not exactly helped the United States’ image in the eyes of the world. I can say that from experience, as I lived in New Zealand for 8 months. I have not researched Obama yet, but I have had plenty of misinformation thrown at me about him. As some have expressed, he’s almost a messianic figure, with words of hopes given to a disillusioned populace. Yet, there are questions of how much substance lies beneath those words. For me, if he gets the nomination, I think it may come down to how many genuine convictions he has, whether those are worthwhile convictions, and the staff he surrounds himself with. I mean, I’m not sure George W. Bush really had that much substance either. His foreign policy is largely based on Rumsfeld and Cheney, after all.

It’s interesting though, how we as a people, often reject Jesus the Messiah and yet follow presidential candidates with almost a messianic fervor. That, in itself, says a lot, doesn’t it?

Here’s the email I received today, and my response follows

——————————————————————————–
Subject: Fwd: Fw: Obama Explains National Anthem Stance
As Received today
First paragraph was written by the orginal sender who is a patriot and much dismayed at the people in this nation.

WOW, ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS WOW!!!!!! HOW THE HELL HAS HE MADE IT THIS FAR IN THE RACE?????? WHEN WILL THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WAKE UP????

Obama Explains National Anthem Stance
>
> Hot on the heels of his explanation for why he no longer wears a flag pin, presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama was forced to explain why he doesn’t follow protocol when the National Anthem is played.
>
> According to the United States Code, Title 36, Chapter 10, Sec. 171, During rendition of the national anthem when the flag is displayed, all present except those in uniform are expected to stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart.
>
> ‘As I’ve said about the flag pin, I don’t want to be perceived as taking sides,’ Obama said. ‘There are a lot of people in the world to whom the American flag is a symbol of oppression. And the anthem itself conveys a war-like message. You know, the bombs bursting in air and all. It should be swapped for something less parochial and less bellicose. I like the song ‘I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing.’ If that were our anthem, then I might salute it.’
>
> WHAAAAAAAT!!!!!!!!!!
>
> Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this could possibly be our next president. I, for once, am speechless . . .

——————————————————————————

Obama never said that: http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/stance.asp

Also, there is visual evidence that Obama does sometimes put his hand over his heart during the national anthem: http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/anthem.asp

Other chain emails about Obama are debunked here: http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/obama.asp

Whether Obama is a good candidate could be debated, but there is a lot of misinformation circulating that doesn’t have credible sources.

It’s worth noting that at the Compassion Forum recently held at my Alma Mater, Messiah College, to discuss issues important to the faith community with the candidates. Clinton and Obama accepted the invitation, McCain did not.

Now George W. Bush, on the other hand, is quoted from credible sources as saying that Muslims and Christians pray to the same God and go to the same heaven: http://www.getreligion.org/?p=2748

And that’s our current President…

Seth