This week, Donald Sterling, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team, was banned for life from participating in the NBA. A recorded phone conversation between him and his mistress was made public, which revealed blatantly racist comments. Public reaction was swift and strong, overwhelmingly critical of his comments. His own team silently protested in a recent playoff game by wearing their shirts inside out during the introductions.
The comments he made were undeniably racist and are indefensible. I'm not going to argue whether or not a lifelong ban is appropriate for ugly racism. But I am struck by the severity of the reaction. Banned for life, not for racist actions but for racist thoughts. Yes, once public, those words inflict damage to the league, and if the reaction were just for that, there's a good argument that the severity is justified. My impression, however, is that they are not reacting to the actual damage done, but for how much they don't like those thoughts.
I don't like those thoughts, either. Not one bit. They are entirely repugnant. And the league has every right to ban someone for public comments that directly damage their organization. But I'm still brewing on the possibility of a lifelong ban because of what someone thinks.
Other examples are becoming more common. Scientists denied work if they believe the universe originates with God, restaurant owners being denied business licenses if they hold a personal belief about the boundaries of marriage (or shaggy men losing their TV show), CEOs ousted by popular demand for personally supporting a particular bill, and so on. Because of what they think, ugly or not, even if they never treat people unequally, they are banned from engaging in commerce.
I'm not writing a piece on American free speech rights. I'm not writing an alarmist article to incite people to hunker down for a fight. Rather, in the face of increasing, severe, and potentially expensive consequences for holding a view deemed unacceptable by a vocal crowd, Christians have a decision to make now.
We must decide in this moment that we're willing to be banned for life for what we believe - banned from a league, from a job, from an industry, from a community. Before the heat comes, before the crowd gets vocal, we must have already established that we would rather be banned than abandon our beliefs. After the heat comes, the temptation to falter is stronger, and for anyone unprepared, resisting will be all the harder. The "heat" may be mild or sizzling hot, but it seems clear that the temperature is rising. We must settle this while it's still relatively cool.
A word of warning: It's crucial that we're sure which beliefs are core and which ones aren't. Put a gun to my head, and I won't deny that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, but I'm not going to insist on a mid-tribulation, pre-millennial eschatology! Burn me at the stake over the Trinity, but it's not even worth breaking a sweat over determining which political party has the most avarice. Fire me for believing God made everything, but it's not important to me that we agree on how long He took to do it.
Be willing to be banned for life over the Gospel. Because others will be banned for eternal life without it.
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Matter
What’s the matter? What’s the matter? What is the matter?Matter has weight, matter tips the scales, matter is heavy … what.is.the.matter?Is what is heavy here heavy There?Does what breaks my back here break my back There?Does a high price tag here convert to a high price tag There?There … There … There in the Kingdom of God?
Is the statue here in the center of the Kingdom of Me the same statue There in the Kingdom of God?
Does the Kingdom of my Calendar here have any appointments There?
Does the Kingdom of Career here have any job openings There?
Does the Kingdom of GPA here have any scholarships There?
Does the Kingdom of Skin here sell any toothpaste There?
Does the Kingdom of Substances here have any substance There?
But Jesus says that There is now Here.
“The Kingdom of God is near,” Jesus says.
“The Kingdom of God has come upon you,” Jesus says.
Jesus tells the Kingdom of Sin, “An hour is coming and now is…”
The Apostle declares that our citizenship is not here but There … if you are in the King of the Kingdom.
Switch your perspective - Once we are There, There is now Here and here is now there.
“In Christ” doesn’t take us There … “In Christ” brings There Here.
Is what is heavy Here in the Kingdom of God heavy there in Kingdom of Man?
Does what breaks my back Here in the Kingdom of God break my back there in Kingdom of Ego?
Does what breaks the King’s heart Here in the Kingdom of God break my heart there in the Kingdom of Self Righteousness?
Is the “ooh” and “ahh” of the angels Here in the Kingdom of God the “ooh” and “ahh” of the Church there in the Kingdom of Couches?
Is the Treasure Here in the Kingdom of God worth selling everything there in Kingdom of Brand Names?
What’s the matter? What is the matter on earth as it is in heaven?
With my feet planted firmly Here in Your Kingdom, give me this day my daily bread.
With my feet planted firmly Here in Your Kingdom, lead me not into temptation.
With my feet planted firmly Here in Your Kingdom, forgive me my sins … as I forgive those who have sinned against me there ... in the Kingdom of Me.
What’s the matter? What’s the matter? What is the matter?
(Slideshow here)
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
The Danger of No Danger
For those who are very observant, you might have noticed that there was someone in the pulpit other than me this last Sunday. Pastor Luther from Bridge of Hope and I will do a "pulpit swap" once or twice a year, which usually brings a whole slew of good things for both churches, and frankly, for both Luther and me.
When I arrived at BoH Sunday morning, I stepped into the men's Sunday school. They were talking about keeping praise vibrant in our lives, talking through all the things that God has done for us - especially good things that we don't deserve. One of the points that was discussed, one that seemingly everyone in the room except me identified with, is the miracle of waking up alive, considering all the drugs, violence, and crime that went on the night before.
Most, or likely all, of these men have extraordinarily checkered pasts. Bridge of Hope exists primarily to reach those society has written off - drug abusers, drug dealers, prostitutes, gang members, petty thieves, and even violent criminals. Waking up alive beat the odds on many mornings for many of these men, and they keep praise alive by remembering that several times over, they shouldn't even be breathing.
If I stretch my imagination to the limit, I can remember maybe four times when I felt like a beat the odds to still be alive or stay out of jail: as a child with severe asthma, two perilous encounters with drivers driving toward me in my lane of the highway, and goofing around driving as a teenager and almost hitting an elderly man. Even then, I don't think the odds were stacked high against me. I just don't have the context to feel like I'm lucky just to be alive, let alone several times over.
Nor can I identify with a family of dear friends in Kenya who thanked God at least five times in one evening that they finally have electricity to light the one light bulb they have in their house. We have well over 40 bulbs in our house, and I grumble when one of them goes out and I have to walk all the way down into the basement to get its replacement.
Perhaps most of you are similar - very little real sense that being alive is beating the odds, or that a single lit bulb deserves a choir of angels. Some of you could count on one hand the number of times you've had a close brush. A few of you could list dozens of times. But our response should not be that we feel guilty for not having the same dilemma as others. We're not worse, and we're certainly not better, because we've "cheated" death fewer times than they have. Having more light bulbs doesn't make us closer to God.
Rather, we also have something to be grateful for ... that we haven't had repeated brushes with death or jail, that we do have lit rooms. That in itself is a blessing. It is a different form of rescue. God has rescued me, and many of you, from a life that frequently tests our mortality. Those of us in that group have been "saved" from a life of real, frequent casualties.
But we also, then, face a greater danger than darkness, jail, or death - a danger that requires no less of a rescue. We face the danger of complacency, of taking God for granted, of feeling like this relatively safer life isn't a gift of grace, but rather the just rewards of a birthright. Lord, save me from the jaws of temerity!
God has not promised you that you will always be safe from all harm. We will scrape our knees. Some of us will die young. Some of us will suffer disease for years. What he does promise us is that we will always be as safe as he needs us to be for his purposes. God has a purpose for all who call on him, and he will accomplish that purpose. That means that we will always keep us safe enough for him to complete that work. For some great followers past and present around the world, that means that God kept them perfectly safe enough to make it all the way to the stake or firing squad ... in order to accomplish his purpose.
And that's plenty to be thankful for.
It's not just that I'm alive when shouldn't be, but that I don't normally even have to worry about it (when what I deserve is to be constantly running for my life). The more I pursue God's purpose, the more I can rest assured that I will always be exactly as safe as I need to be for him to accomplish his purpose with my life. Or death. He owns both.
When I arrived at BoH Sunday morning, I stepped into the men's Sunday school. They were talking about keeping praise vibrant in our lives, talking through all the things that God has done for us - especially good things that we don't deserve. One of the points that was discussed, one that seemingly everyone in the room except me identified with, is the miracle of waking up alive, considering all the drugs, violence, and crime that went on the night before.
Most, or likely all, of these men have extraordinarily checkered pasts. Bridge of Hope exists primarily to reach those society has written off - drug abusers, drug dealers, prostitutes, gang members, petty thieves, and even violent criminals. Waking up alive beat the odds on many mornings for many of these men, and they keep praise alive by remembering that several times over, they shouldn't even be breathing.
If I stretch my imagination to the limit, I can remember maybe four times when I felt like a beat the odds to still be alive or stay out of jail: as a child with severe asthma, two perilous encounters with drivers driving toward me in my lane of the highway, and goofing around driving as a teenager and almost hitting an elderly man. Even then, I don't think the odds were stacked high against me. I just don't have the context to feel like I'm lucky just to be alive, let alone several times over.
Nor can I identify with a family of dear friends in Kenya who thanked God at least five times in one evening that they finally have electricity to light the one light bulb they have in their house. We have well over 40 bulbs in our house, and I grumble when one of them goes out and I have to walk all the way down into the basement to get its replacement.
Perhaps most of you are similar - very little real sense that being alive is beating the odds, or that a single lit bulb deserves a choir of angels. Some of you could count on one hand the number of times you've had a close brush. A few of you could list dozens of times. But our response should not be that we feel guilty for not having the same dilemma as others. We're not worse, and we're certainly not better, because we've "cheated" death fewer times than they have. Having more light bulbs doesn't make us closer to God.
Rather, we also have something to be grateful for ... that we haven't had repeated brushes with death or jail, that we do have lit rooms. That in itself is a blessing. It is a different form of rescue. God has rescued me, and many of you, from a life that frequently tests our mortality. Those of us in that group have been "saved" from a life of real, frequent casualties.
But we also, then, face a greater danger than darkness, jail, or death - a danger that requires no less of a rescue. We face the danger of complacency, of taking God for granted, of feeling like this relatively safer life isn't a gift of grace, but rather the just rewards of a birthright. Lord, save me from the jaws of temerity!
God has not promised you that you will always be safe from all harm. We will scrape our knees. Some of us will die young. Some of us will suffer disease for years. What he does promise us is that we will always be as safe as he needs us to be for his purposes. God has a purpose for all who call on him, and he will accomplish that purpose. That means that we will always keep us safe enough for him to complete that work. For some great followers past and present around the world, that means that God kept them perfectly safe enough to make it all the way to the stake or firing squad ... in order to accomplish his purpose.
And that's plenty to be thankful for.
It's not just that I'm alive when shouldn't be, but that I don't normally even have to worry about it (when what I deserve is to be constantly running for my life). The more I pursue God's purpose, the more I can rest assured that I will always be exactly as safe as I need to be for him to accomplish his purpose with my life. Or death. He owns both.
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
The Insidious Consumer
Jesus, who departed the glory of heaven to add a fully human nature to his fully divine nature, the King of the Kingdom, the one in whom all things are summed up (Col 1:16), once said, "I did not come to be served, but to serve" (Mt 20:28). This just doesn't sound right. Perhaps the teleprompter skipped, because the Son of God doesn't serve the sons of men.
To comprehend this wrong-sounding truth, we have to stand on our heads. It is so upside down that we spill other theology on the floor trying to keep this idea on our plate. But there it is - the Greatest One by every measure chose to serve those who should be serving him.
This same Jesus, then, gathered a group of people called the "Church" to collectively house his Spirit and continue his mission. He trained a handful of men and women, the Twelve with more intensity, and Peter, James, and John with even greater instruction. They were to do what he had done, and to do so in the same way.
Since then, through two millennia, this Church has existed, thrived, suffered, split, healed, taught, mistaught, reformed, loved, hated, started some wars and stopped others, enslaved and broken slavery, and honored and shamed the one who's name they bear. Their constant charge has been to carry on the same mission by the power of the indwelling Spirit. This Church has done great and awful things in pursuit of that mission.
Somewhere along the way, the Church has taken what was rightly upside down and put it back on its feet, making it stand as it ought not to, even though they think it has finally been set right. One day, in some church in some town, there arose the right side up phrase "serve the Church." This phrase then spread to many churches covering the globe.
It sounds so noble, so filled with piety, so ... religious. What a great life's endeavor ... to serve the Church.
But it is right side up when it should be upside down.
We are not called to serve the Church. We, the Church, are called to serve the world. This is upside down, but exactly oriented to the King who came to give his life as a ransom for many. Church is not something to be served, but a living organism designed to do the serving. The Church is a gaggle of servants, gathered to serve. Yes, to serve one another, but also to serve the world.
A right side up Church cannot carry out the upside down mission of its founder. No, we must turn it upside down again ... to be sent into this world not to be served, but to serve.
To comprehend this wrong-sounding truth, we have to stand on our heads. It is so upside down that we spill other theology on the floor trying to keep this idea on our plate. But there it is - the Greatest One by every measure chose to serve those who should be serving him.
This same Jesus, then, gathered a group of people called the "Church" to collectively house his Spirit and continue his mission. He trained a handful of men and women, the Twelve with more intensity, and Peter, James, and John with even greater instruction. They were to do what he had done, and to do so in the same way.
Since then, through two millennia, this Church has existed, thrived, suffered, split, healed, taught, mistaught, reformed, loved, hated, started some wars and stopped others, enslaved and broken slavery, and honored and shamed the one who's name they bear. Their constant charge has been to carry on the same mission by the power of the indwelling Spirit. This Church has done great and awful things in pursuit of that mission.
Somewhere along the way, the Church has taken what was rightly upside down and put it back on its feet, making it stand as it ought not to, even though they think it has finally been set right. One day, in some church in some town, there arose the right side up phrase "serve the Church." This phrase then spread to many churches covering the globe.
It sounds so noble, so filled with piety, so ... religious. What a great life's endeavor ... to serve the Church.
But it is right side up when it should be upside down.
We are not called to serve the Church. We, the Church, are called to serve the world. This is upside down, but exactly oriented to the King who came to give his life as a ransom for many. Church is not something to be served, but a living organism designed to do the serving. The Church is a gaggle of servants, gathered to serve. Yes, to serve one another, but also to serve the world.
A right side up Church cannot carry out the upside down mission of its founder. No, we must turn it upside down again ... to be sent into this world not to be served, but to serve.
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