Community of the Risen

After reading about Rob Bell’s The Gods Aren’t Angry tour, I decided it was time for me to do a study on several famous pastors in America. There is good reason for doing this. I have been visiting a number of blogs that bash different famous pastors because they do not preach the “true” gospel. I already spend some time earlier talking about what I believe the gospel is and defending sites like Jesus Manifesto. I think that people have gotten so caught up in certain of their ideas being “true” or “right” that they have lost the most true and right ideas of all: that we can find truth in many of the famous pastors in America if we would only take off our critical lenses for one minute. I am going to take a lot of time to prepare for it, and I will make sure to do both a “positive” and “negative” view of all the pastors in the various categories.

On one side, I will look at Rob Bell and Brian McLaren’s views on salvation. Next I will look at Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer’s views on salvation and how to live the Christian life. Finally, we will look at Paul Washer and John MacArthur to see how they view salvation.  I have chosen two “emerging” pastors, two “prosperity” pastors, and two very conservative pastors.  I will also be continuing my thoughts on Christianity and politics.  Hopefully my readers will be able to sift through all of it.

May you have a blessed new year.

“I don’t support the war,” I said.

I turned off the air conditioner again. I have this theory that we are in Iraq because of oil, and if America would just stop using so much oil we wouldn’t be so worried about the Middle East. I know that it sounds simplistic, but if everybody just stopped driving, started taking mass transit, and riding bikes or walking more often, I think we would be living in a much better world. But since my brother is driving, I figure we can at least turn off the AC to save some gas.

“I do support the war,” Brian retorted jokingly as he turned the air conditioner back on.

I turned it off again and rolled down the window. We were driving to Arby’s.

“Today in church they were talking about how we need to return to being a Christian nation,” I tell Brian. “It’s all so silly. I mean, we can’t force people to be Christians can we? If we have fallen away from our roots, how could we ever get back there?”

“Yeah,” Tommy says.

Tommy is my little brother, but he is taller than both Brian and I.

“And you know what else?” I ask. “I’m tried of singing songs in church like The Battle Belongs to the Lord. Why do we have to use war metaphors to talk about life. Why can’t we talk about peace? I just can’t support the war.”

“I was watching CNN the other day,” Tommy chimes in again. “They say that if we come home, they will come here. I think our soldiers should stay there so that they don’t come here.”

“Tommy!” I laugh. “I wish I could record you and everything you say. People would think you are so funny.”

“I know,” Tommy says with that Tommy grin on his face. “The police should just wiretap me, and put everything good I say in a book. I will be cooler than Janet Reno.”

“You watch CNN nowadays, Tommy?” I ask surprised. He is not the political type.

“Yeah.”

“What else is going on in the world?”

“Well,” he says. “That Bhutto chick from Pakistan died.”

“Yeah. That is going to be a big problem.”

“Why?”

“Because,” I say. “That is where the majority of the Muslim extremists live.”

“Oh,” he says. “Why don’t we just nuke them? Why don’t we just nuke everywhere except America?”

Late Merry Christmas and a happy new nuclear holocaust year.

“According to my study,” said Karen. “George Washington studied his bible for an hour, and John Adams wrote that godliness was true way to be successful in the world.”

While Karen was talking a referendum that I had seen earlier at an EV Free Church in West Covina that called for an end to “bias” in teachings about homosexuality was being passed around.

This happened today in my home church in my hometown of Santa Maria. We watched a video in the “Christian heritage” of America. It was a one-sided view of history that showed how many of our founding fathers held Christian ideals. Apparently I cannot escape it.

During service as we sang The Battle Belongs to the Lord.

All of talk of politics and war make me wonder if the church knows what power really is. A guy named Doug–formerly a colonel in the army–used to be an associate pastor of our church. He would talk about winning the war for the Lord and how we were in a war with the enemy. I always through the true power was that Jesus Christ was the prince of peace and that his message of grace really was free and that we were called to live in a new kind of way where we do not fight the way the world fights.

But maybe I am just too much of an idealist.

He was walking by the trees when he heard an abnormal rustling. It could not be an animal, the sound was too precise. But the noises did not sound human either. Abraham stood up quickly and wiped the sweat from his brow. He looked up.

There were three. They looked oddly familiar to Abraham.

Re-reading the story thousands of years later–trying to understand the rich tradition of the Jews–I picture Abraham staring at three strange looking men (Genesis 18). I wonder what they look like. Why was Abraham so surprised by them, and why the Bible refers to them as “men” (Genesis 18:2). Abraham noticed.

But he did more than notice; he bowed down. I wonder if the Christian church, full of its theology and its political agendas in America, have lost a sense of awe for our God and savior Jesus Christ. I wonder if we saw God come fully in his human flesh, just as Abraham sees these three men, if we would bow down to the ground. And I wonder if bowing is the first thing that Christians can do when they think about the relationship of politics and power. Maybe just maybe, the first thing Christians have to do is realize that, as they see God at work in their lives, and when he makes these divine appointments, all we can do is bow before him in worship.

But Abraham does not stop at worship.

“If I have found favor in your eyes,” he says. “Do not pass your servant by.”

He goes on to serve them water and Sarah makes them bread. I like the name Sarah. It means “princess” or “goddess” in the Hebrew. Surely than we see the goddess making food and serving the Lord–but she also doubts the promise of the Lord. A walking contradiction.

But if we want to understand power, we must continue on in the story. Power in the kingdom of God begins in noticing, turns to worship, and then offers hospitality. Jesus, in the same way, first called his disciples, transfigured in front of them, and then warned them that not giving a cup of cold water to the least of these could cost them their very salvation.

I wonder what the conversation was like. Surely you can’t talk about the Dodgers to God over dinner.

“How about them Yankees, Yahweh?” Abraham said.

“You know the curse of the Bambino?” Yahweh answers.

“They’ll never win again,” Abraham yells. “I don’t believe it.”

“Nothing is impossible with God.”

I just don’t know what you talk about with God over a meal. But then they get up. Abraham almost thinks his meal is finished, but then God notices. Just as Abraham noticed the Lord, Yahweh now looks at Sodom. As Abraham walks with them on the way, Yahweh must notice how Sodom is doing the exact opposite of Abraham–no worship at all.

“Can I keep it from him any longer?” the Lord asks his associates.

The associates sit quietly. I would too. It would just be a a bit overwhelming to say anything to God–even if you were his friend.

“Abraham,” the Lord looks at him sternly. “I’ve given you power, the power to bless all the nations through your family line, but I’m looking at Sodom. Actually that’s where me and my associates are headed right now. Their sin is so heinous that I must destroy it. What else can I do?”

This is the first time that power comes into the bible, but notice that it is tied into politics. Right after this, Abraham becomes the first politician and tries to talk God down from destroying Sodom and Gomorrah. It is interesting that the first message about humanity, when they are given power, is to call defend people who do not deserve God’s grace. I have spent a good three posts talking about the Christian call to the poor, but what do we do with the power that Jesus Christ has given to the church?

The great commission, the call for all Christians to follow, is given with the authority and power of Jesus Christ–to whom all power has been given. We have an enormous responsibility. But remember what the disciples did after the commission was given? First they watched Jesus leave them. Then they went into the upper room–obeying Jesus’ command–and prayed. They got on their knees, just as Abraham did hundreds of years before them. Then they were given power from on high.

Before Christians think about what they can do, they should first notice Jesus Christ who is sitting across from them in the very room they read this blog. Second, it should cause them to fall down in worship. Surely they will receive no less power than Abraham and the apostles?

Here is a good article that talks about shifts taking place moving the “center” of Christianity from the West to the South (Latin America and Africa).

As always there is some good conversations going on at Jesus Manifesto.

Andrew is one of my favorite bloggers as well. Read just one post by him and you will see why.

Mike’s story is also one that I think it worth reading.  He tells it with such grace.

I also want to put a newer blogger on the radar because she writes beautiful poetry.  Check her out here.

“Hello,” I said to the dark haired man in a wheel chair.

“Hello,” the main said back very matter of fact.

“How are you?”

“I’m doing well,” the man looked me in the eyes.

He was obviously homeless. I’m ashamed to admit that I do not remember his name. He told me about his experiences in Vietnam—how he thought it was all a United States and Chinese conspiracy to covertly bring sell opium. We talked about the work he had done for Microsoft in the past and how he had evaded paying taxes for so long. The list was interesting.

“Are you hungry?” I asked him.

“Yes,” he said.

I bought him a meal from Jack in the Box. It wasn’t much—just a few tacos. A few weeks later, I passed another man who was obviously homeless, but I didn’t stop to say hello to him. I wasn’t in a hurry. I didn’t have anywhere better to go. In fact, I think I went home and played guitar hero in my apartment. Why didn’t I stop? Well…I didn’t have any money.

And then it hit me like a ton of bricks.

I viewed myself as a homeless charity organization. I wasn’t talking to them simply to talk to them—to treat them like human beings. I was talking to them because I thought I had something to offer them. I was talking to them because I thought I could bless them.

But I realized that it didn’t stop there. I recalled a conversation I had a few weeks ago with a dear friend of mine. His name was Randy. I love Randy, but he can be a bit annoying. He’s the type of guy who doesn’t have the best social skills—a Charlie Brown.

“Do you really value our friendship,” he asked me once.

“Of course I do,” I answered simply. “You’re worth so much to me.”

I don’t know why that conversation stuck with me, but now that I look back at the words we used, I realize that I speak of relationships in terms of economics. Words like “value” and “worth” are all words we ascribe to money. As we continue thinking about people, we need to remove economic value from relationships—love is not a piece of meat.

Halden, over on his blog, has argued that Christians ant politics don’t mix at all suggesting:

“Fundamentally, I simply find it ridiculous that Christians would consider voting in the U.S. a viable way of “making a difference”. The “elections” that we have here are utterly obvious in how they are bought, regulated, and sold. The idea that we can somehow ‘influence the system’ by voting plumbs the depths of absurdity as far as I’m concerned.”

Christian, on his blog, argues, while not totally disagreeing with Halden that:

The change I have experienced in the last few years, however, is the conviction that I need to be involved in politics at a state and local level. At this level there seems to be more honest democracy (at least, that is the hope). And this change I would attribute to folks like Hauerwas, Milbank, Stout, and most importantly, Wendall Berry. So, I do need to get off my white middle-class ass and get involved.

Christian helps bring home the first point from my first blog. Jason, commenting on Halden’s article, argues here that:

I am a registered Independent who voted for Bush in 2004. I regret it. There a whole lot of fear tactics in the Christian Right movement and it is paralyzing if one is not informed. But the Christian Left is no better. They jumped the “tolerance” bandwagon and compromised the core tenets of the Christian faith to advance progressive ideologies. Humans don’t need progress. We need Jesus. We need to be truly born again, of the Spirit.

Here I have taken the the view in my post that God called the Jewish race to be a people of hope and comfort in their own land. In other words, the Israelites as a people are called to be a people of justice and hope in their context. So should one vote? Yes. Will it make a difference? Don’t count on it. What you can do, however, is take Christian’s advice to start advocating for the poor and the alien in your own communities (we all have them).

You can do much more for your own community locally than any president ever could. The president’s job is basically to oversee everything that goes on in America. He cannot be a micro-manager, and we cannot count on him to help us in our own communities. Following Christ is founded on the premise that we will Christ, and really do what he wants us to do.

I recently talked about how I was appalled that certain Christians, such as those at Reformation Nation, are STILL saying Harry Potter is nothing more but a pagan novel about the occult. But rather than continue to harp on what they have wrote, I invite the people there to come here and begin a discussion on the theological elements at work in the Harry Potter series. I hope that those at Reformation Nation, and others found here, will come off their high horses and discuss with me here why they think Harry Potter is so offensive. To cover all of the theological elements in Harry Potter is impossible, so I will only cover one chapter entitled “The Lost Prophecy,” from Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix where I think we can see clearly Rowling’s purposes in writing these powerful books. Before you begin, however, one should read this interview with Rowling from TIME Magazine.

Spoilers Below

In it, we finally find out why Voldermort is after Harry Potter. Potter’s parents were killed by the evil wizard Voldermort, and Dumbledore, finally, will tell Harry Voldermort’s weakness and Dumbledore’s plan:

“But I knew too where Voldermort was weak, and so I made my decision. You would be protected by an ancient magic of which he knows, which he despises, and which he has always therefore, underestimated–to his own cost. I am speaking, of course that your mother died to save you. She gave you a lingering protection he never expected, a protection that flows in his brain to this day. I put my trust, therefore, in your mother’s blood. I delivered you to her sister, her only remaining relative.”

Magic is the sort of thing that American Christians do not understand because we have put all our faith in science. We pray to ask that the spirit would guide the doctors rather than praying for divine intervention. Church leaders quickly condemned Harry Potter because of their aversion to the “idea” of magic rather than a geniune fear of magic. Christians often forget that Jesus did majgic–a magic that we call miracles–because his life-blood was intimately connected to the spirit of Yahweh. It is a spirit that evil nations have “underestimated”–much “to their own cost.”

Rowling seems to understand magic better than most people who opposed the book in this regard.The problem, however, is that Dumbledore has always been a bit of an enigma to allegorize. In the present chapter, Dumbledore openly admits the mistakes he has made in regards to Sirius (who just recently died). Dumbledore keeps alluding to a fatal “flaw” in his plan. And what was that flaw?”I cared about you too much,” said Dumbledore simply. “I cared more for your happiness than your knowing truth, more for your peace of mind that for my plan, more for your life than for the lives that might be lost if the plan failed.”

Dumbledore is clearly a wise and powerful wizard, but equating him to God (as some have tried to do in allegorizing the tale) is quite a stretch if we are speaking of the Christian God. In this instance, we might view him as the evangelical church who has become so blinded by love that they have forgotten the greater plan. Rowling praises love in other places, and Dumbledore’s hope in Harry obviously stems from the love he has for him, but love without truth, according to Rowling, is empty love. What a shot at the evangelical church (that even John MacArthur would agree with)!

But what is this “plan” that Dumbledore is attempting to unfold to Harry? First, it is not accident that Harry’s scar (as a result of being attacked by Voldermort as a baby) is referred to as a “curse”–reminiscent of Genesis 3. In a moment that should have been joyous–name the creation of a son–a curse is brought down by Voldermort when he kills Harry’s parents and attempts to kill Harry (but fails). This is surely something that is familiar and truthful to Christians. We have, from birth, (not through any fault of our own) have been born into a world of evil and sin. But Christians also know this is not the end of the “plan.”

Dumbledore goes on to speak of an age-old prophecy that suggests:”The one with power to vanquish the dark lord approaches…he will have power the dark lord knows not…and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…the one with power to vanquish the dark lord will be born as the seventh month dies…” Dumbledore goes on to explain that Harry, through his circumstances and the choice of Voldermort (who himself attempts to extinguish the prophecy in Herodian fashion), fulfills the prophecy. After this Dumbledore makes one final comment to end the chapter:”I feel I owe you another explanation, Harry,” said Dumbledore hesitantly. “You may, perhaps, have wondered why I never chose you as a prefect? I must confess that I thought you had enough responsibility to be going with.”Harry looked up at him and saw a tear trickling down Dumbledore’s face. In other words, Rowling is reminding us of a father’s love for a son. Harry, in my opinion, is not meant to be a “literal” Christ-figure in the books, and Dumbledore is not meant to be a “God the Father” figure guiding Harry. Rowling was not attempting to recreate a Chronicles of Narnia type allegory.

There are remnants of allegory, but she is really attempting to write, both satirically through other characters and quite seriously in the the case of Harry and Dumbledore, real life stories. This is why, in the seventh book, she will note the many shortcomings of Dumbledore’s youht–not unlike Job’s confession of the sins of his own youth in the book of Job. Rowling did a good job of building up Dumbledore in the story and then making you think twice in the seventh book by questioning the character that you have grown to love. Such characters are in the Bible as well. The author of 1 Samuel does an amazing job of making us like Saul a lot before showing us his many weaknesses later on in the story. While Dumbledore is redeemed more than Saul in Rowling’s story, it is a stern reminder that we must think twice before we put too much faith in humanity as if to say, look at your own pastors and leaders in your community, and you will find even the most righteous have their faults.

But Dumbledore’s hope is not in himself, but that an average kid like Harry Potter can stand up even to the greatest evil of all.There is a deep hope in the Potter series from those who have already lived a long life to put hope in a new generation that rise to meet the challenges of evil in their present world. Rowling, speaking through Dumbledore, is reminding us that we can act as Christ acted in our own world if we get beyond our own adolescent obsession with self. We have to look beyond ourselves to a plan greater than empty love–to a love that will truly sacrifice everything and rise again–as Harry Potter later exemplifies in the seventh book.Such things are distinctly Christian, and Rowling has admitted so. I have made my case. Now I would appreciate them to make theirs so that we can begin an effective dialogue on the subject.

“Jesus was too smart to become a politican,” Mike Huckabee said recently.

So why is Huckabee, a former Christian minister, and others getting involved in politics. What part should Christians play in our political system? Today, we look specifically at how Christians should be involved with the issue of poverty. I first recommend reading Alan’s Blog where he discusses some of the pitfalls of “big ideas” in Christian community.

I want to focus on only one chapter of the Bible in Exodus–doing an entire study on the poor and scripture would be impossible (it is the most persistent command in the Bible). Exodus 23 begins by an imperative against “bearing false witness.” I think that it is interesting that the so called laws of “justice and mercy” begin with testifying falsely against a brother Jew. But it is about more than that, the next command is not help malicious men succeed by testifying falsely for them.

Ben Witherington recently wrote an article on moral ambiguities that arise from the new movie Charlie Wilson’s War–discussing if politics and morality can be intertwined. One line I would like to quote here because it is important:

“The film is not filled with pathos, there is a certain devil-may-care whimsy about it, which keeps the tone light even though the subject is serious. But it is a film that raises all sorts of ethical questions such as—if you had to choose between the two, would you want a Congressman who gets important and good things done but is a sleaze, or would you rather have the ethically pristine but totally ineffectual, or worse blundering, Congressman? This in itself is an ethical dilemma raised for the audience of this movie. It is a question worth pondering.”

The author of Exodus notes as well that we will have to make a decision in our lives as to whether we should support wicked people because it is more politically expedient.  Notice though that the author of Exodus is talking to the individual–not the state.  When the ball is in our court, will we support the institutions by bearing false witness to help the wicked?

There is also a balance the author of Exodus tries to make here.  Not only should we not side with the crowd, but we also should not show “favoritism” to a poor man, but we should also not deny justice to the poor.  The text also says that we should help our enemies, even we have the chance to do them wrong.  There are commands against bribery, false charges that put innocent people to death, and oppressing the aliens.

The bible cares about justice, and we should as well.  I began reviewing Scot McKnight’s book Embracing Grace a while ago (I never finished, I hope to finish reviewing it someday), but in the book he reminds Christians that entering the fold is about more than knowing one is saved, it is about making things right with God and with others–restoring Eikons.  What does this practically?

Well it means that some of us are called to help the poor, others to help our enemies, and others to help the aliens in our land.  We, as Christians, are not called to care about how, for instance, a person of Mexican descent came to America–we are called to help them.  We, as Christians, are not called to either support or not support the wars in the Middle East–we are called to do good to those who call us “enemy.”  We are called the homeless and the orphans in our world–both here and abroad.

But we aren’t just called to talk about …we are called to action.

Recently I was reading Reformation Nation and was deeply disturbed that people who have NOT read the Harry Potter Books are STILL bashing the books as “evil.” First, all readers who have not read Harry Potter must understand that J.K. Rowling now openly admits in an article that many themes in her book ARE explicitly Christian. When I responded to the blog–asking mostly why he had not yet read the books–a man I only know as “pilgrim said this:

Do I need to be or own a slave before I can make the decision that slavery is wrong? Do I need to have or perform an abortion before I can acknowledge that it is evil? Do I need to read the Koran to fully understand that Islam is a false religion? Do I need to read Mein Kampf to completely understand that the Nazi’s were wrong? Do I need to watch a film filled with pornographic and gratuitous violence to be able to condemn it?

I am not trying to be a bother, but slavery was practiced by “Christians” for basically 1900 years, and they justified it by the Bible. Yes. I really do think you need to study slavery, especially the way it STILL exists in the modern world, and help find ways to end it. This includes NOT buying clothes from child labor and by trying to end prostitution rings just like Harriet Tubman did during our own years of slavery.

As far as your thoughts on abortion. Instead of fighting against abortion, why don’t you talk about adopting children in the world and helping to end the systematic injustices that screw up our world?

No. You don’t need to watch porn (comparing Potter to porn is non-sequitar by the way). But you do need to study which companies are profiting from porn (even indirectly) and stop buying from them. Get involved in the systematic injustices that make pornography possible.

As far as Islam is concerned, I WOULD recommend reading the Qu’ran or shutting up about it. I would not suggest talking about things you know nothing about.

I have never read Mein Kampf, but I hear that it is a hard read. Hitler was a bit crazy. I would, however, suggest we need to study World War II to find ways so that these things will not happen again.

Monica, on her blog, suggests that one should “make your decision where you stand on this issue according to your own conscience, and then do not judge anyone else for their decision according to their conscience.” I agree with her, and I think that mostly I am suggesting involvement in the world, and to have a general working knowledge of the subject before you denounce it.

This is a rant, but it is important for Christians to THINK about things before they speak. I find that this is becoming increasingly less hopeful in our modern world.

That’s all.