Christians and Politics

I recently read a post titled “More on Christian and Politics” by Brian at The Blog Prophet. He made the following request to his readers, “Would someone please rank these issues in the order of importance (include Biblical reasoning) so that I can know how to vote as a Christian and whom to vote for in November: War, Abortion, Environment, Poverty, Immigration”

I made a lengthy response and then posted. Though, after reviewing it again today I decided I should make my own blog post with my comments. So, here was my response to his question:

I will list my response in order from greatest (a “1″) to least (a “5″) of importance to me as a Christian. Though I will not necessarily use biblical reasoning. I will not do so for two reasons. One, my church views more than just the Bible as scripture and thus more than just the bible shapes my Christian beliefs. Two, I do not rely on the Bible or other form of scriptures alone but also what my faith has taught me. And by that, I mean what I have learned in life on my journey as a Christian. The Bible, IMO, should only be seen as part of what shapes the beliefs of Christian. More importantly, my relationship with and understanding of God shapes my beliefs as a Christian. With that said, here we go…..

1. Poverty – I pick this as the number one issue because I see it as being one of the greatest, if not the greatest, moral issue facing us today. In my faith movement we have a scripture that says, “God, the Eternal Creator, weeps for the poor, displaced, mistreated, and diseased of the world because of their unnecessary suffering. Such conditions are not God’s will. Open your ears to hear the pleading of mothers and fathers in all nations who desperately seek a future of hope for their children. Do not turn away from them. For in their welfare resides your welfare. “. I think that “For in their welfare resides your welfare” should be the greatest understanding of this issue.

2. War – I do not believe that we are to follow an eye for an eye mentality. I believe the teachings of the love of Jesus Christ should be an example for us to rise above that. Often times war is started out of fear and/or retaliation. The religious right wants us to believe that we will be safer when war is used as a method for peace. I find that absurd and not congruent with the teachings of Jesus Christ at all. There will be no peace until we are willing to put down our weapons and extend hands of love and reconciliation to all. There will be no peace until we realize that we often hurt many innocent people just to get back at a few.

3. Environment – unfortunately, we have taken God out of the equation, not left him out. We have done so many things for good in the name of progress but the affect that we have had on our Earth is devastating. Another part of that scripture that I stated earlier also says, “The earth, lovingly created as an environment for life to flourish, shudders in distress because creation’s natural and living systems are becoming exhausted from carrying the burden of human greed and conflict. Humankind must awaken from its illusion of independence and unrestrained consumption without lasting consequences.”. It is time to wake up so that generations from now will have a place to call home. If we, as Christians, don’t do something now, this beautiful planet that God created for us will be harmed beyond repair. I pray it isn’t too late.

4. Immigration – This really is a mute issue for me. Simply because it irritates and saddens me to beyond beliefs the way immigrants are treated today in America. Did we somehow forget that most of our ancestors were immigrants once here as well and inhabited someone else’s land to form the US. Immigration does not concern me. How people respond to it does. We have seen the worse come out in people because of immigration. Our nation is currently seeing an ourpouring of racism that may be even scarier than it was when it was mainly against our African brothers and sisters. I say that because this racism is supported by many and is subtle in so many ways. Remember, this isn’t OUR land. This, and every other part of the world, is GOD’s land! All should be welcomed.

5. Abortion – I am personally against abortion but do not believe it is the goverments responsibility to get involved. Thus, I am pro-choice. ‘Nuff said!

Gays are Worse than Terrorists?

Referring to homosexuality, Oklahoma lawmaker Sally Kern said, “I honestly think it’s the biggest threat our nation has, even moreso than terrorism or Islam.”. What? Are you freaking kidding me? I find this to be so saddening and disheartening on two levels. First, Islam is not a threat to our nation, just terrorists are. And many religions, including Christianity, have extremists who do harm in the name of God. Though, that is not what this posts is about. I find it to be so sad that people, specifically so called Christians, will continuously degrade homosexuals with statements such as this. It reminded me of the comments that Jerry Falwell said following the attacks on September 11th, 2001. He said, “I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say ‘you helped this happen.”.

I don’t think I have made a post on homosexuality as of yet but I am 100% in support of homosexuals having all the same rights as heterosexuals. I believe that they are born gay and that it isn’t a choice. It is not a lifestyle and I find it degrading to my homosexual friends and family when that word is used to describe who they are. Ms. Kern said that she says what she said because she is Christian. Well, I believe in what I have just said because of my Christian faith, not in spite of it. Didn’t Jesus teach us that the second greatest commandment is to “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22: 39)? How can the words spoken by Kern be keeping true to this commandment?

I have always grown up believing that homosexuality was not a choice. I attribute that to being raised by my mother (someone who has always been accepting of homosexuals) and because of the faith movement that I have grown up in. My belief that it isn’t a choice was confirmed to me a few years ago when I went back to Independence, Missouri, for the 2004 Peace Colloquy. I stayed with a lesbian couple, Sharon and Meta, who were friends from church that I knew from when they lived in Oregon. As I shared the weekend with them I became aware of many things. When Sharon picked me up from the airport she shared a article from that day’s local newspaper with me. It was an article, if I remember correctly, about legislation that was being worked on that would clarify marriage as between a man and a woman. I could see the pain in her eyes and hear the frustration in her voice. Then the next night I was in the living room watching the news with Meta and Sharon and they went to a story in Texas of how a group of males had beaten a gay man to death. Meta began to cry in reaction to what she was watching. My heart wept as well. It became even more clearer to me that they did not choose to be gay such as I didn’t choose to be straight. No one can convince me that Meta and Sharon and everyone else like them chose to live a life where they would be ridiculed, despised, rejected, and even killed.

It has been pointed out that Representative Sally Kern has a right to free speech and can say what she wants. This is true. Though, as an elected official, the constituents in the district that she serves also have right not to elect her back into office when she is up for re-election. It is my hope and prayer that the good people of Oklahoma will use exercise that right.

What’s your theological worldview?

I just took a quiz titled “What’s your theological worldview?”. I find the results very much representative of who I am! It was pretty accurate.

Here are my results:

You scored as a Emergent/Postmodern
You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don’t think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this.

Emergent/Postmodern – 89%
Modern Liberal – 54%
Classical Liberal – 54%
Charismatic/Pentecostal – 54%
Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan – 50%
Neo orthodox – 43%
Reformed Evangelical – 25%
Roman Catholic – 25%
Fundamentalist – 11%

To take the quiz click here and comment with your results, if you like!

What You Give Away

The following is a blog post from almost a year ago. I posted it at the beginning of the Season of Advent. I thought I would post it again as a reminder for us all!

Originally posted on 11/28/06:

As usual, this blog is also rooted in a song that has touched me recently. This past week I had been wrestling with a portion of a worship service that I was to preside over at my home congregation yesterday. It was to be a “Hanging of the Greens” worship as well as our regular Sunday morning worship. “Hanging of the Greens” is when you decorate the sanctuary for the Christmas Holiday Season through worship. Anyways, I had picked a Christmas song for the ministry of music and continuosly thought, “This just isn’t right.”. So I contemplated it for a few days until I remembered a song off of a CD I bought recently. The song is called “What you give away” and is sung by Vince Gill with background vocals from Sheryl Crow. So I played it in my car earlier last week and realized this was to be the ministry of music. I decided to play it as part of the offertory remarks. It worked wonderfully. Come to find out it was perfectly alligned with what my pastor said in her sermon.

This song spoke to me about how we try to have it all; the biggest home, the most money in the bank account, the pricey possessions, etc. Though, what it boils down to is not what you have but what you give. In the end our lives will not be measured by the riches we possess but by the riches we give away, whatever that may be.

Furthermore, I was especially assured that this song was pertinent to this time of year, in particular, because of the following verse:

There’s people on the street / Ain’t got enough to eat / You just shake your head / The measure of a man is one who lends a hand / That’s what my father said

We have so many people in this world who are without shelter, food, water, and clothing. This time of year the realization of these situations are more noticeable. We often times see these people on the street corners but what do we do to help them? It can be as simple as walking into a convenience store and buying a sandwich and bottled water and giving it to them. I remember when I was around Middle School age that every time we went to the Highland Park Congregation in Seattle, WA, we would stop by a convenience store on the way back to the Interstate from the church and there would be this same man there with his cart. My younger brothers would always ask mom if we could give him something and she would oblige. Now, I will note that it wasn’t always the same convenience store, but, he was there!

As I write this I am sitting in my home at almost 1:00 a.m. in the morning, sipping my hot chocolate, watching the snow fall, with the heat cranked up. I have been blessed to be able to live like this on a cold night like tonight. Now, how am I going to be a blessing to those who do not have what I have? How are you going to be a blessing to those who do not have what you have? Remember, actions speak louder than words.

Here is a video of the song on youtube that inspired this post:

Meme: WWJS – A Personal Relfection

I have been tagged by Mike for this meme which was started at Lord, I Believe; help my unbelief! The question I am suppose to answer is, “What would Jesus say to me?”. Well…..phew….at least this meme isn’t tough.

This is a lot like an exercise that I have done at Spiritual Growth Retreats. During the exercise the leader of the retreat invites us to close our eyes and listen as she reads a scenario that we are suppose to immerse ourselves in to and become the person that she is reading about. She reads this beautiful description of how I am walking along a path, paying attention to all the details around me. Listening to the birds chirping their melodic song, feeling the breeze wrap around my body, seeing the beauty of a flower and so on and so forth. Then she reads that I am coming to a clearing and that there is a bench in the clearing with a man sitting there. As I come closer, I see that is Jesus. He invites me to sit next to him. At this point, those of us that retreat are instructed to journal what Jesus would say to us. For some, this becomes that most valuable exercise of the retreat. For me though, I always have a really hard time with it. I will again try it for this meme.

So, here I am. What would Jesus say to me if I met him in a clearing and we sat a visited a while? As I reflect on this question the first thing that comes to mind is that he would probably tell me how I need to get past my own insecurities so that I can become a better minister. There are some things that I struggle with. Yes, I preach, preside, lead young adult events, direct camps, etc. I feel very comfortable in those roles. But, my own insecurities make it hard for me to share with those whom I don’t know. Those whom I may come across at the super market. Those who may sit next to me on an airplane. I preach about witnessing but have a very hard time doing it. I can be very shy and am uncomfortable with my weight and at times let those things get in the way of ministry.

I believe he would also let me know that I need to be a voice for those that are oppressed. That I need to be willing to speak up more for those who are marginalized by society; the Muslims, the homosexuals, those with disabilities, those who are ethnically in the minority, the poor, etc. He would probably remind that we are all children of God and that no one should made less of a person because of who they are or because of how they are incorrectly percieved. That they shouldn’t be abused because of how our Heavenly Parent created them.

I think he would remind me that I talk a pretty good talk but don’t necessarily always walk a pretty good walk. I am sure I would be reminded that I have nothing to fear without him in my life. That if I continue to be a faithful servant that I will always be spiritually protected.

In the end I think he would let me know that I have made Him pleased thus far. That it is important to recognize my shortcomings but then learn from them as well and that as long as I do that He will be happy with how I am serving Him.

Wow! What an exercise. It leaves much to keep in thought and prayer even after I press the “Publish” button on this post. Thank you Mike for tagging me on this thought provoking, self-reflecting meme.

It is now my turn tag others so I choose to tag:

Nick at Sansego
Shannon at Erosophy
Christian at Flannel Christian

I’ve been tagged – The Good and Bad About Christians!

This past weekend I was tagged by Mike at Still a Night Owl for a meme that was started by Will Hinton and inspired by the book “UnChristian” written by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons. I had not heard of this book before this meme but will definitely have to read it now. The rules are this: write 4 things about Christians; 3 negative perceptions and 1 positive thing that Christians should be known for.

1st Negative:

“Hate the Sin, Love the Sinner” theology. Christians are known for this type of rhetoric and it disgusts me. This can be so degrading. First of all, whose job is it to judge what is and isn’t a sin? Not ours, but, Christians often do so  with their narrow perception of the written Word presented in the Bible and other forms of scripture. Second, this is usually done with no love intended at all. It has become a useless quote that is said to make the person saying it feel more justified in their belittling attitude of hate.

2nd Negative:

The loss of personal accountability. Christians are so quick to judge others for their shortcomings; whether they be justified or not. We are often quick to criticize those who we feel are not living the “ideal” Christian lifestyle. We get too caught up with what others are doing instead of worrying about what we’re doing. And too often times we criticize others for the same thing we are already doing. “You can’t drink alcohol!”, then go home and have a glass of wine with our dinner. Or how about “Maybe you should loose some weight” as we go and get our Super Sized meal at McDonalds. Maybe it’s the parent telling their child “Thou shall not hit” when it comes to hurting a sibling but then punishing the child by spanking them. Ok, so some of you won’t like that last one and that is ok, but, it is still my feeling on the subject. So many times Christian say these things to make ourselves feel better about our own shortcomings.

3rd Negative

My God is better than your God. The idea that being a Christian makes us better than everyone else and everyone must convert to Christianity and be “saved” or they are going to burn in hell! This theology leads us to wars; some physical, some spiritual. It causes families to divide and friendships to cease. We fail to see that maybe we all ultimately believe in the same God but we all take different roads to get to Him (or Her; whatever your interpretation). Christians commit crimes all the time and we don’t blame our religion for it but if a Muslim commit a homicide then all Muslims must be bad.

The Positive

Christians should be known for Love. Yes, it seems simple and the obvious answer. Almost everyone that does this meme will probably answer this last question with the same answer. Christianity is about Love. Everything good about it can be traced back to Love. We have a story to tell. The story of a man who embodied what it means to Love without condition. We should be known for extending the olive branch to our enemy. For accepting everyone regardless of religious affiliation, sexual orientation, color of skin, and class in society. For providing worship opportunities without the fear of condemnation. All can be achieved with Love.

What a great exercise this has been. Reading this, it may be hard to understand why I am a Christian minister when I see Christians living these negative perceptions. The answer is in the positive. I can not let Christians continue to perverse a religion that should be about Love when so many use hatred to try and get the message across.

I tag Shannon, Christian, Nick, and Stacie. Once tagged you are supposed to mention the name of the person that tagged you, Will Hinton, and the book “UnChristian” and then answer the questions on your own blog post.