Secular Stuff, or What Could Be My Own Personal Highway to Hell (but only if I'm wrong, which I don't think I am)

I like Harry Potter. I’ve read all the books and seen all the movies. I had the last book on the day it came out. I read it in two days.

Strangely, they didn’t turn me into a warlock, I’ve never tried to cast a spell on someone or perform “the killing curse” on my next-door neighbor.

I like music that you won’t find in a store labeled “Christian” (how can a building made of lifeless stone, wood or metal be “Christian”?). I like Radiohead, Band of Horses, Stereolab, Sigur Ros, Joseph Arthur, The Shins, and I even enjoy some Ozzy Osbourne, Guns-n-Roses, and Metallica on occasion. I generally avoid music that is labeled “Christian” because I generally want to attach another label to it—“crappy” (with the exception of David Crowder Band, Waterdeep, and a couple other random artists).  

Strangely, I have not turned into a wife-beating, alcoholic, socio-path who punches random people because he is angry all the time.

I watch movies that have profanity and violence in them, mostly because I like them, and, well, because I can. Movies like The Big Lebowski, Hi Fidelity, and Office Space top my list of desert-island, all-time top five movies.

Strangely, I haven’t turned into a lazy, foul-mouthed, philandering, crazy Vietnam veteran who hangs out in bowling alleys (see those movies and you’ll get my references).

There is an attitude prevalent today that has survived mainly because of evangelical fear and ignorance (funny how those two usually end up together…) that says we should avoid all forms of “secular” entertainment. The rationale being that all of these things are bad and will lead us, to quote AC/DC (another band I listen to on occasion, as does my 5-year old), down “a highway to hell.” I only briefly bought into this attitude, but then I realized something: no matter how many times I watched, listened to, or read “secular” entertainment nothing ever really changed in who I was.

I think fundamentalism has vastly overplayed their collective hand when it comes to the influence of secular entertainment on our “spiritual” lives (by the way the word “spiritual” never appears in Scripture; all of life is “spiritual”). It’s not that these things can’t influence to some degree, but what I think you’ll find is that where there has been influence there will be a whole catalog of problems lurking underneath the surface. When two kids shot up a Colorado high school several years ago everyone started blaming violent video games. Folks, violent video games were only the tip of the iceberg. Video games don’t make people kill other people. Depression, being cast off to the side by classmates, bullying—these lead people to kill other people.

Most people when they watch a movie, read a book, listen to a band, or attend a concert, immediately forget whatever “message” the respective artist, writer, etc. was trying to get across. Most Americans are influenced by ever-changing fads to the extent that nothing is able to take root for any length of time. This is why I think “Christians” are not in nearly as much danger from secular entertainment as "fundies" tend to think they are. There isn’t time to be influenced negatively; something else is coming down the pike before the message is even into your brain. Further, most people, especially teenagers, don’t even realize that there is a message that is being presented to them. How can there be negative influence if there is not even an awareness of the negative influence? You have to let negative influence in. If you aren’t looking for it, then you can’t find it. 

Additionally, if you are influenced by this stuff then you already had major problems running through you like an underground river. On the surface it looks like the movie or the music was the problem, when all along there has been a wellspring of hatred, bitterness, anger, malice, rage, depression, anxiety, fear and a legion of other inhabitants from Pandora’s box.

So here’s the thing: I’m not telling you to go out and just go hog-wild watching, listening to, reading, etc. everything and anything that comes into your radar. You aren’t a sponge. Don’t just soak in everything. Discern. Turn your radar on. Know your own weaknesses and avoid what may prey upon those weaknesses. But remember that you are free to enjoy life and that truth can be found in some of the strangest places, places you might never look if you don’t stop watching Left Behind or step foot outside the doors of your local Christian bookstore.

shalom, matt

 

Jesus and the Imperial Order

I’ve been reading Shane Claiborne’s new book “Jesus For President” and in one particular section he is dealing with the amazing similarities between the imperial language used by the Roman Empire and the account of Jesus’ birth in Luke. I thought it worth sharing. Claiborne’s point is that Jesus’ life, even his birth, was a revolution and a challenge to the Roman imperial order. But the challenge didn’t stop with the death of the Roman Empire. Jesus’ life and message is a challenge to all empires.

Imperial Language

Basilea (“empire” or “kingdom”): Term used for the Roman Empire. At the head: Caesar

Gospel (evangelion: “good news”): An imperial pronouncement, usually accompanied by flags and political ceremony, that an heir to the empire’s throne had been born or that a distant battle had been won.

Christ (Greek translation of Hebrew messiah): Known by the Romans as the name Jews used for their ruler, anointed by God and the people. The King of the Jews job title had already been granted to Herod, hence the problem when Jesus was also considered to be a King of the Jews. Only one person at a time can fit on a throne; expression of being commissioned or appointed, especially by divine authority—precisely how folks thought of the Roman emperors (literally means “dripped on by the gods,” as in anointed with oil).

Son of God: A popular title for kings and emperors. Name taken up by Alexander the Great (also used King of Kings) and Octavian, later known as Augustus, in the lineage of Julius Caesar.

Ekklesia: A local public assembly within the greater Roman Empire, much like a town meeting. These assemblies bestowed citizenship, discussed local political concerns, assigned “elders,” and offered prayer and worship to Caesar. There was no separation of religion (cultic sacrifices, etc.) and secular political business.

Parousia (literally, “presence”): The return of Caesar to visit a town.

Savior (soter: literally, “healer” or “preserver”): Caesar Augustus, as Savior, was seen as the one who healed the chaos of Rome and brought it into a new golden age.

Faith: A term used for trust in, allegiance to, and hope in the Pax Romana. It had much to do with loyalty, as with a faithful husband.

Lord (kyrios): Name for a ruler, particularly a supreme ruler.

Emmanuel (dues praesens): The manifestation of the presence and will of the gods; a title claimed by emperors like Antiochus IV Epiphanes and Domitian.

Worship (proskynesis): A practice involving the act of prostration or bowing in submission before a ruler or emperor; an act of submission.

Jesus’ Language

Basilea: Jesus’ most common topic of conversation: the kingdom of God or the kingdom of the heavens. At the head: YHWH, who liberated the Israelites from Egyptian slavery.

Gospel: Jesus’ good news that the kingdom of God is at hand.

Messiah: Divinely anointed ruler over Israel who would fulfill the scriptural promises of saving the Israelites from oppression (and from themselves). While a primary title for Jesus, this is also the name used for David and other rulers. Messiah does not mean, as it is commonly mistaken to mean, that God beamed down to earth and squeezed into human flesh, but a “divinely mandated royal man.” (We might understand Jesus as the incarnate deity, but Messiah had a very different political connotation and historical role.)

Son of God: Name given to Jesus, though he more commonly spoke of himself as the Son of Man (or “the human one,” a term borrowed from the prophet Daniel). Used by the Tempter in the desert in reference to tempting a king.

Ekklesia: Word used for the early church, “Emphasizes that the followers of Jesus were called to participate in their world as ‘local communities of an alternative society to the Roman imperial order.’” Bestowed alternative citizenship and assigned elders. Though it discussed its own political  and religious concerns, it was understood as separate from, and in contrast to, the state and the other ekklesia, their politics, and their religion.

Parousia: The second coming of Jesus, seen in contrast to the parousia of Caesar.

Savior: A title for Jesus.

Faith: A term used for trust in, allegiance to, and hope in Jesus.

Lord: A much more international acclamation for Jesus than the term Christ/Messiah.

Emmanuel: Means “God with us” and is the name prophesied in Hebrew Scripture for the Messiah, later proclaimed by the angel to Mary as one of the names for Jesus.

Worship (proskyneo): Bowing before God in praise and adoration. For example, this word is used when the magi bowed down before the baby Jesus in the manger.

Well, there you have it. Now do you understand why Herod, Rome and the Jewish authorities wanted Jesus dead from the moment he was born?

shalom, matt

 

God as He and Him

This is a good article from ysmarko.com on his view, which tends to mirror my view, on the use of male pronouns in reference to God. He traces the progression of his different views and I found that they generally follow the same progression I went through. 

shalom, matt

The Weight of Sin

I’ve been thinking recently about how “heavy” sin feels. Generally, it takes a moment of debilitating brokenness before we realize how weighty sin actually feels. Whatever the catalyst for our awareness the weight is still crushing. The reason is fairly simple: sin is never alone. Like parasites to a host, guilt, shame, and self-hate glom onto sin and give it a mass far greater than the acts of wrongdoing would have on their own. That’s why sin is so ugly: it always brings too many friends to the party, uninvited guests that overstay their welcome long after sin has left. The unholy mass of it is almost enough to crush your heart out your back with sorrow. And worse than that is the self-flagellating that we do over the next days, weeks, months, perhaps even, years, beating ourselves up again and again in an effort to assuage the guilt and “show God how sorry we are.”

He who knew no sin became sin for us.

I bring this passage to bear for two reasons: I cannot fathom the entirety of human sin placed on one man’s shoulders. I can’t comprehend the weight of it. Could there be anything heavier in all of creation? The weight was such that Paul says, “he became sin,” almost as if his very self was changed under the weight of it all. The weight of even my own sins crush me. I can’t grasp the weight of the entirety of humanity’s sin—sins I didn’t even commit—loaded onto my bleeding, bruised, straining back.

And yet…

This is the cross of Christ, at least in part, isn’t it? One man takes upon himself, not just our sins but Sin as an entity. By doing this he nullifies the effects on us forever. Sin no longer owns us. No longer do we need to self-abuse, linger in guilt, entertain shame. We are free from that because sin no longer has power. We need not be crushed by it any longer than it takes to repent of it, turn from it, move on. Paul says it this way:

There is now, therefore, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  

So if God isn’t condemning us then why are we heaping guilt and co. upon ourselves? Why do we self-condemn so often and for so long? Yes, sin is heavy and carries with it consequences and reactions that can last far longer than we wish they would. Yes, those consequences hurt. But the tragedy of sin upon our souls, upon our real Self, is turned into a comedy because of grace through Christ. You see as weighty as sin may be, grace is “weightier” still, is it not? Again, I turn to Paul to explain:

Where sin increased, grace increased all the more.

The more we sin, the more grace God bestows upon us.

Read that again, please.

Realize that you are going to sin. It’s certainly not an excuse to do as you please, and no rational follower of Christ would believe otherwise. But you and I no longer need be buried by the weight of our sins anymore; Christ has been buried by them already…and rose above them. 

shalom, matt

Uhhhhhh....What?

Could be THE single most bizarre thing I have ever heard.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080312/ap_on_re_us/woman_in_bathroom

That Old Saying

There is an old saying that sometimes God works in mysterious ways, and, frankly, I hate that phrase. It’s not that God doesn’t work in mysterious ways; it’s that God only works in mysterious ways. Honestly, I’m not sure that God is “capable” of working any other way. And it isn’t that I’m not okay with this. Yes, I would like God to be a little bit more obvious, but the older I get, the more I realize that His glory, His presence, is more profoundly evident and observable when we can look back and see that the mystery, the puzzle has come together in a beautiful picture titled Grace.

Here’s what I mean: nearly 6 months ago I took a job in a factory that makes diaper wipes. Previous to this I was a youth minister for years. Let us think about this for a moment. I went from being used by God to change the lives of teenagers to making diaper wipes. I make a product that will one day wipe poop off of the tiny butts of infants. I’ve gone from sharing Christ to making cloth destined to be covered in feces.

Life takes odd turns, eh?

6 months ago I started out as an Operator-In-Training, learning how to operate a machine I’ve never seen, in an industry I barely knew existed. In one month I was certified as a Converting Operator, with the accompanying raise. Three months later I earned my second certification as a Technical Operator, with another raise. 2 weeks later I was asked to be the Team Lead for my line (with a partial raise, and, after a 3 month probation period, another raise). In the span of less than 6 months I’ve become a team lead and will have received when it’s all said and done over 3 dollars an hour in raises. Did I mention that all three of the guys on my team have been there longer than I have?

I’d say God’s been involved, wouldn’t you?

It’s fairly astounding and nearly unbelievable (aren’t most things that God does?) when you look back on the whole scenario. While it is entirely frustrating sometimes to be in the midst of the journey, never knowing where it is that God is leading you until you’ve already arrived (Abraham comes to mind right about now), it is entirely God’s intention to produce a patient faith in each of us that allows him to guide us wherever he dang well intends to take us. God through the prophet Isaiah says,

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.

Looking back now over the last year there has been no greater reality in my life than this. May you find that the same is true of yours. 

shalom, matt

 

How Fast Are You?

How fast can you name all fifty states?

In 2m 47s

Click here to Play

See This Movie, Buy This Soundtrack and Watch This Clip (but not necessarily in that order)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=87f5nj7cOjc

Lashed to Images

Myself and a friend of mine, who happens to be currently residing in New Zealand for the next 6 months or so, were discussing the characteristics of God and how difficult it is sometimes to latch onto one particular aspect of God’s nature. For instance, my friend was saying how they understand and can accept God’s love in general, but they struggled with the image of God loving us as a father. Now, at the outset there doesn’t seem to be much difference between the two, and, ultimately, there isn’t any difference. God is God regardless of the images we project onto Him. But, I understand what my friend was getting at. If you have had a poor example for an earthly father, who, consequently, should be a reflection of God as Father, then you would struggle mightily with the image of God as a loving dad. I realized that at different points in my life I tend to lash myself to certain images of God, ones that speak to me at that moment in my life. God as Father, as Redeemer, as Healer, as Comforter, etc. It is our human nature to desire images for our hearts and minds to cling to. I can understand the God as Father image and cling to it, because my father is a loving part of my life. There are times when I feel wounded, broken and beaten down. At those moments I hold fast to God as Healer.

Here’s the point: whatever image we gravitate towards at particular moments in our life we are still gravitating towards God. Yes, some images are hard for us to receive, but, nonetheless we are still holding fast to God. Period.

shalom, matt