Monday
Nov122007
rebuilding the walls
Monday, November 12, 2007 at 06:35PM
Yesterday at church our pastor talked about Nehemiah, how in the 5th chapter of his book he stands up against unethical taxation and interest. Taxes and interest. How stunningly timeless those issues are, eh?
I've been thinking, as you know, a ton about our government (in America) and where a follower of Jesus fits in with it. Reading this about Nehemiah, how he stood up and got the government to change its policies to treat people better, has really solidified some things for me.
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Last week I ran across an article in the New York Times called "The Evangelical Crackup" which absolutely fascinated me (CLICK HERE to read it). It talks about how the Church in America has really changed over the last twenty years, and specifically how this affects the relationship between the Church and the Republican party.
I was almost breathless to read the following two paragraphs, as I felt it could have come out of my own autobiography...
For the conservative Christian leadership, what is most worrisome about the evangelical disappointment with President Bush is that it coincides with a widening philosophical rift. Ever since they broke with the mainline Protestant churches nearly 100 years ago, the hallmark of evangelicals' theology has been a vision of modern society as a sinking ship, sliding toward depravity and sin. For evangelicals, the altar call was the only life raft — a chance to accept Jesus Christ, rebirth and salvation. Falwell, Dobson and their generation saw their political activism as essentially defensive, fighting to keep traditional moral codes in place so their children could have a chance at the raft.
But many younger evangelicals — and some old-timers — take a less fatalistic view. For them, the born-again experience of accepting Jesus is just the beginning. What follows is a long-term process of “spiritual formation� that involves applying his teachings in the here and now. They do not see society as a moribund vessel. They talk more about a biblical imperative to fix up the ship by contributing to the betterment of their communities and the world. They support traditional charities but also public policies that address health care, race, poverty and the environment.
Besides being slightly offended that my own discoveries and decisions weren't quite as unique as I thought, I was able to really see where I fit in a bigger way.
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After church Sunday we came home, put the girls to bed and then I headed out to a Starbucks to sign some petitions to get Ron Paul on the ballot in the Tennessee State Primary. If I really think that obedience to God means calling my government to be responsible and just then I have to be involved, and for my money, nobody better represents what I think is responsible and just than Dr. Paul.
But I'm not writing to evangelize for a Presidential candidate. (Though you can CLICK HERE if you want to read about him.) What really came to mind as I was listening to our pastor and reading about Nehemiah was just how far from that example we've come.
Our President and his associates talk often about our enemies. We were attacked by some citizens of a country six years ago. So now we're in a second country and about to invade a third, Iran, because they might have a Nuclear bomb in five years and they might want to use it on us. Nevermind that we never found evidence of the weapons that caused our invasion of Iran, we're now talking about invading our third country in six years. Because they're our enemies.
Matthew 5:44 : But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
Now I've heard people say that the government isn't expected to play by those rules, and in some sense I agree. But, our President is a Christian. This command is expected of him. I don't want to cast stones, I don't want to beat up on him or anything, but I say this : I have not seen any amount of love for our enemies from our current administration. And this makes me very sad.
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The reason that NY Times article spoke to me is the same reason I believe our President is wrong. Just like Pat Robertson is wrong. For so long, the Church has tried to take over, or else. But that's the opposite of love.
It's not our call as Christians to make the world just like us, and to hate and try to destroy the things that aren't. It's to show the world what Christ has done for us. And we do that by turning the other cheek and by seeking forgiveness for the wrongs we've done. In the grand sense, this is how we change the world. It's the ONLY way we change the world.
-----
I'm not the President. I don't want to be. I can't imagine the pressure and the criticisms you'd have to face. But it's my duty as a Christian, I believe, to fight injustice, to make a stand for peace. And so I'm signing petitions for a Presidential candidate who disapproves of this war, among other things. And I'm risking you not coming back here and I'm talking about it on my blog, hoping somebody reads this and decides to do something as well.
I am so tired of complainy Americans and complainy Christians. As DC Talk put it, and this is incredibly true: love is a verb. It is action. It is not passive. To love doesn't mean hoping things get better. It means trying to make things better. That may mean you find out who's running and you find somebody you can vote FOR, or you move to Africa or you join the Mocha Club or you get involved with Big Brothers/Big Sisters. It may mean you and your wife go to counseling, or you call your Dad and apologize. It means you do something.
Nehemiah is an example for us. We are not to accept this world around us. It is broken. We won't succeed in fixing it, at large, but God allows millions of victories within it, and we should seek to be swimming in them.
I don't really know all that I'm saying, just sort of putting my thoughts out there, but I'm telling you now that I want to be different. Different than I am and different from the world around me. I don't want to hate my enemies and I don't want to be a part of a country that does. I want people to see me and see joy and truth, not shame or indignation.
I believe that God calls us to good things. To think on them and to do them. And that we're to try our hardest to right the wrongs around us, as God rights the wrongs within us.
I've been thinking, as you know, a ton about our government (in America) and where a follower of Jesus fits in with it. Reading this about Nehemiah, how he stood up and got the government to change its policies to treat people better, has really solidified some things for me.
-----
Last week I ran across an article in the New York Times called "The Evangelical Crackup" which absolutely fascinated me (CLICK HERE to read it). It talks about how the Church in America has really changed over the last twenty years, and specifically how this affects the relationship between the Church and the Republican party.
I was almost breathless to read the following two paragraphs, as I felt it could have come out of my own autobiography...
For the conservative Christian leadership, what is most worrisome about the evangelical disappointment with President Bush is that it coincides with a widening philosophical rift. Ever since they broke with the mainline Protestant churches nearly 100 years ago, the hallmark of evangelicals' theology has been a vision of modern society as a sinking ship, sliding toward depravity and sin. For evangelicals, the altar call was the only life raft — a chance to accept Jesus Christ, rebirth and salvation. Falwell, Dobson and their generation saw their political activism as essentially defensive, fighting to keep traditional moral codes in place so their children could have a chance at the raft.
But many younger evangelicals — and some old-timers — take a less fatalistic view. For them, the born-again experience of accepting Jesus is just the beginning. What follows is a long-term process of “spiritual formation� that involves applying his teachings in the here and now. They do not see society as a moribund vessel. They talk more about a biblical imperative to fix up the ship by contributing to the betterment of their communities and the world. They support traditional charities but also public policies that address health care, race, poverty and the environment.
Besides being slightly offended that my own discoveries and decisions weren't quite as unique as I thought, I was able to really see where I fit in a bigger way.
-----
After church Sunday we came home, put the girls to bed and then I headed out to a Starbucks to sign some petitions to get Ron Paul on the ballot in the Tennessee State Primary. If I really think that obedience to God means calling my government to be responsible and just then I have to be involved, and for my money, nobody better represents what I think is responsible and just than Dr. Paul.
But I'm not writing to evangelize for a Presidential candidate. (Though you can CLICK HERE if you want to read about him.) What really came to mind as I was listening to our pastor and reading about Nehemiah was just how far from that example we've come.
Our President and his associates talk often about our enemies. We were attacked by some citizens of a country six years ago. So now we're in a second country and about to invade a third, Iran, because they might have a Nuclear bomb in five years and they might want to use it on us. Nevermind that we never found evidence of the weapons that caused our invasion of Iran, we're now talking about invading our third country in six years. Because they're our enemies.
Matthew 5:44 : But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
Now I've heard people say that the government isn't expected to play by those rules, and in some sense I agree. But, our President is a Christian. This command is expected of him. I don't want to cast stones, I don't want to beat up on him or anything, but I say this : I have not seen any amount of love for our enemies from our current administration. And this makes me very sad.
-----
The reason that NY Times article spoke to me is the same reason I believe our President is wrong. Just like Pat Robertson is wrong. For so long, the Church has tried to take over, or else. But that's the opposite of love.
It's not our call as Christians to make the world just like us, and to hate and try to destroy the things that aren't. It's to show the world what Christ has done for us. And we do that by turning the other cheek and by seeking forgiveness for the wrongs we've done. In the grand sense, this is how we change the world. It's the ONLY way we change the world.
-----
I'm not the President. I don't want to be. I can't imagine the pressure and the criticisms you'd have to face. But it's my duty as a Christian, I believe, to fight injustice, to make a stand for peace. And so I'm signing petitions for a Presidential candidate who disapproves of this war, among other things. And I'm risking you not coming back here and I'm talking about it on my blog, hoping somebody reads this and decides to do something as well.
I am so tired of complainy Americans and complainy Christians. As DC Talk put it, and this is incredibly true: love is a verb. It is action. It is not passive. To love doesn't mean hoping things get better. It means trying to make things better. That may mean you find out who's running and you find somebody you can vote FOR, or you move to Africa or you join the Mocha Club or you get involved with Big Brothers/Big Sisters. It may mean you and your wife go to counseling, or you call your Dad and apologize. It means you do something.
Nehemiah is an example for us. We are not to accept this world around us. It is broken. We won't succeed in fixing it, at large, but God allows millions of victories within it, and we should seek to be swimming in them.
I don't really know all that I'm saying, just sort of putting my thoughts out there, but I'm telling you now that I want to be different. Different than I am and different from the world around me. I don't want to hate my enemies and I don't want to be a part of a country that does. I want people to see me and see joy and truth, not shame or indignation.
I believe that God calls us to good things. To think on them and to do them. And that we're to try our hardest to right the wrongs around us, as God rights the wrongs within us.
Reader Comments (34)
First, this is a great discussion, kudos Andy for an amazing discourse
Ok, And the answer to why they hate us so much.
This one's easy.
When i was in highschool, I didn't like cheerleaders very much. I wasn't a very popular guy back than ...(or still :) and so who took the brunt of my jokes. Cheerleaders. This had nothing to do with the fact that they were humans, and some of them were amazing people, as i would find out later. In fact, God, down the line would tear down my prejudices.
But look at it. I didn't care about who they were. I didn't care about their ambitions, desires. I didn't care that they were devoted to their church. All i saw was the little cheerleading outfit, and was how unlike me they seemed to be. I despised what i did not know or understand.
Likewise. The United States, is the cheerleader of the world. We are the wealthiest, most popular nation. If you have to hate someone, who better else than the U.S. Why? Because we're big, and we represent everything that other nations do not. Who better than us. No other country comes close.
"Japan? France? Ireland? Germany (now)? South America?"
These countries are good, and some of them are our good allies. But none of them can compete with the power that we hold. So it doesn't make sense to aim hate at these contries, because they just aren't as big the U.S. (note, there have been major attacks in some of these countries as of past couple years, so we are not the only coutry to have to deal with this.) Also, as there is a cultural war, Who represents that culture? Not Japan, not, France, not, Germany. We Represent the Western Culture. And i am not ashamed either.
"It’s because of what we’ve done in their countries for the last fifty years. We are fools to ignore this."
Also, last but not least. Don't hide behind vague words. Vague words don't become you. What are you talking about? What have we done against these coutries? I know that we've represented Israel for the past fifty years, and a lot of hate towards us stems from that. In Fact Israel, is probably the biggest devisive factor in the Middle east. So, What are you talking about?
Again, yay for rational people thinking logically!!!
Hey everyone, I'd like to talk a little bit about the two paragraphs Andy quoted from the NY Times. Let me start be telling you that I am a Freshmen at Liberty University. So, I was not here when Dr. Fallwell was alive, however from my understanding things are not very different this year from last. As far as those two paragraphs are concerned, I'd like to point out that what is taught here on campus, and what is the general feelings of the student body is much more in line with the second paragraph (describing 'younger evengelicals') than the first. Which supposedly described Dr. Falwell's beliefs. Just a reminder that not everything is as it seems.
Peter, the abortion issue overshadows almost everything else for me. Bush may or may not have been a colossial failure as POTUS--I think we'll have to wait about 20 years to know, despite the nearly unanimous opinion on the issue now--but I think his two appointments to SCOTUS (Alito and Roberts) are two significant steps to ending the murder of over a million "fetuses" every year. If I'm right, then Bush will probably have been worth it. John Kerry might've been able to handle Iraq better, but he certainly wouldn't have appointed justices like Alito and Roberts.
In terms of numbers, the casualties of America's foreign policy are small compared to the more than 40 million abortions that are estimated to have been carried out since 1973. It may sound steely, but I'd still take Bush over Kerry, and even if the Republican nominee is Giuliani, I'll probably have to vote Republican simply because the Democratic nominee--whoever he/she is--definitely won't appoint pro-life justices to SCOTUS. At the end of the day, I can't vote for a Democrat for POTUS when I know that doing so is voting to extend the life of Roe v. Wade.
Andy, I couldn't agree more with you about the subversive things we have done in some of these countries over the last 50 years.
They were wrong then, and wrong now, even if the "ideal" behind them was considered to be in our best interest.
As far as why are we in Iraq when it was not Iraqis that attacked us, I believe we are there for 2 basic reasons, one - we thought that Saddam had WMDs, he even admitted under questionning post capture that he faked having them to deter Iran...Two, because the middle east is in danger of becoming totally controlled by the fanatic wing of Islam...we are in a delicate economic situation there...do we have any real allies in the middle east other than Israel and unfortunately, Israel does not have much to offer us as an ally since most of fundamental Islam would like to seem them wiped off the face of the earth.
If we have any chance at "winning the hearts and minds" of the peoples of the middle east we need to start with a foot hold there.
So...the potential of WMDs in Iraq (even if a smokescreen), the tipping of Iran, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, and the reality that Saudi Arabia would turn on us in a heart beat if pushed means that the west needs a place to show that we are there for the peoples of the middle east and to allow democracy to have a chance...does it happen overnight, never has before so why do we think it will now?
As far as America being the only target, the instances of other "western" countries being attacked is there if we are willing to look for it...Britain, Spain, etc....
Seeking to hide our heads in the sand hoping it will all get better sounds to me a lot like preWWII Nazi Germany, that IS scary to me.
Do I like war, absolutely not, but history has proven that if We don't stand up, no one else will.
One last comment, is George Bush the smartest man in the world, I don't know, I've never sat down and talked with him...is Hillary Clinton the "smartest woman in the world"...I don't think so, what is there to truly prove that? Are we all buying into the partisan depiction of GWB as put forth by the media and the opposing parties? He has not governed by the polls, has stuck to his guns in the face of constant criticism and ridicule...exactly what are we looking for in a leader? Someone who will give us everything we want or someone who can lead?
Should be interesting!
Sorry this again reminds me of too many debates on Derek Webb's forum. Kind of makes you sick to read the back and forth. I don't think that many of us are going to change each others minds. The thought of Ron Paul makes a lot of us sick, as does the thought of Mr. Bush to a lot of you. I like to hear about your touring and such. Please do not write any songs about Ron Paul, because chances are that I will like the song.
Lance: Thankfully I don't have to cast my vote today. I get another year. I'm from Alabama, and in our last gubernatorial election, one of the major candidates---a former governor---was under indictment. If Hillary committed a crime, by all means ... let's put her in jail. Of course, doing that with everyone in D.C. would lead to all sorts of prison overcrowding. [Not saying that it shouldn't be done.]
[My 1996 self is screaming at my 2008 self for even thinking about this. Heh.]
"Besides being slightly offended that my own discoveries and decisions weren’t quite as unique as I thought..."
I chuckled about that line because I find myself often feeling (spiritually and philosophically) like a guy who a few years ago set off on a lonely walk though the woods - only to walk into a clearing, lift his head and find 500 other people at the same place! "Hey what the heck are you guys doing here?"
Shoot, I even thought I was unique in my affection for Fat Tire!
Maybe our discoveries aren't as unique as we'd like to think... but man, most of the time I'm happy to be in good company. And maybe its a sign that bigger stuff is going on around us - like Nehemiah. Only sometimes you are the prophet... sometimes I'm the prophet... and sometimes others...
Bless you.
One of my favorite quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr., whom many are unaware turned his attention more toward total systemic change, protest of the Vietnam War and economic distribution in the last years of his life:
“A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On one hand, we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life’s roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life’s highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.
“A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa, and South America, only to take the profits with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say ‘This is not just.’ The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just.
“A true revolution of values will lay hand on the world order and say of war, ‘This way of settling differences is not just.’ This business of filling our nation’s homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of people normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice, and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.
“America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. There is nothing except a tragic death wish to prevent us from reordering our priorities so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war. There is nothing to keep us from molding a recalcitrant status quo with bruised hands until we have fashioned it into a brotherhood."
-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
i've been thinking alot about all of this....
well, first of all, without us knowing it, i believe that we had a divine role in iraq. babylon is present day iraq....and it's dictator wanted to be the next nebuchadnezzar. it was his personal goal. God will always keep Babylon in it's place. i would like to challenge all of you to go talk to someone who has fought over there. My perspective has changed radically after I had a conversation with a retired Army Sargent who spent alot of time in Iraq.
also, Ron Paul had my vote until he said that we should not get involved in protecting israel...that they could protect themselves. there are a ton of promises and covenants in God's word that is really scarey for those who oppose Israel. we should keep iran in it's place due to the threats it has placed on Israel. They are God's chosen people...we (gentiles) are the ones grafted in to those promises ( i.e. "I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you...") we need to protect Israel at all costs.
Mike Huckabee seems to be ok with me...although im still learning more about him as a candidate.