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.
-----
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.
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.
