Monday, October 30, 2006

I took about a week off posting so I could reflect on the things that God keeps speaking into my heart. You know what most of them are--I've shared them here and here. It's been an interesting journey, that's for sure.

Tonight the small group that I attend with girls from work got into a discussion that ended up being pretty relevant, I think. I left contemplating the difference between being heaven-minded and being eternally-minded. I think the difference is pretty big, and I think Shane Claiborne gets to the heart of the matter when he says:

"While the voices of blockbuster movies and pop culture cry out for a life outside the matrix of numb efficiency, Christianity often has offered little to the world, other than the hope that things will be better in heaven."

But then you come across verses like these in the Bible:

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor. Yet I do not know what I shall choose. For I am pressed together by the two: having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. (Phi 1:21-24)

God has a purpose for my life. I know that. I also know that He's not going to take me to heaven until that purpose has been fulfilled. So why should I long for something that I can't have right now? My effort should be placed in fulfilling that purpose in life.

Read Shane's quote again:

"While the voices of blockbuster movies and pop culture cry out for a life outside the matrix of numb efficiency, Christianity often has offered little to the world, other than the hope that things will be better in heaven."

To me, that's the result of heaven-minded people. And it's sad! We need to be more concerned with this world than the next. This is the world full of sad, lonely, and hurting people. This is the world in which we can offer the hope that we have found.

Being eternally minded, to me, is what is talked about here:

Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. (Mat 28:19-20)

I want to be on the earth because this is what I'm supposed to do. Jesus is with me, I know that. And I know that eventually, I'll be with him. That's good enough for me. My focus isn't on getting there as soon as possible. My focus is on working to make this world a better place--isn't that what God has asked us to do? We're supposed to offer hope to the world.

And may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Rom 15:13)

Blogs who link here: Pursuing Holiness, Conservative Cat, Dumb Ox News, Blue Star Chronicles

Posted by Amanda at 10/30/2006 08:40:00 PM 2 Comments

Sunday, October 22, 2006

God never ceases to amaze me. I started reading (and nearly finished) a book on the plane today that completely affirmed everything that I've been feeling recently. Take that, Satan!

I feel a little silly that I allowed myself to get so discouraged. But you know, it happens. But I want to share with you a little more of my heart, this time in the words of Shane Claiborne in The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical. I hope you will take the time to read all of these quotes. This is only a small portion of the book, but each of these spoke volumes to me. I found myself in tears several times on the plane today because of the intense hunger for God I feel.

"While the voices of blockbuster movies and pop culture cry out for a life outside the matrix of numb efficiency, Christianity often has offered little to the world, other than the hope that things will be better in heaven."

"Sometimes we speak out to change the world, and other times we speak to try to keep the world from changing us."

"There are many false prophets (and false profits) out there, and all kinds of embarrassing things being done in the name of God. Religious extremists of all faiths have perverted the best of our traditions. But there is another movement stirring, a little revolution of sorts. Many of us are refusing to allow distorted images of our faith to define us. There are those of us who, rather than simply reject pop evangelism, want to spread another kind of Christianity, a faith that has as much to say about this world as it does about the next."

"Dualism has infected the church, a dualism in which folks separate the spiritual from the political or social, as if the political and social issues were of no spiritual significance, and as if God had no better vision to offer this world...The issues we will stir up can be volatile and gut-wrenching. But I think there are enough of us so discontented with the old answers and traditional camps--whether believers or activists, capitalists or socialists, Republicans or Democrats, pacifists or just-warriors--that the risk is worth it. The time has come for a new kind of conversation, a new kind of Christianity, a new kind of revolution."

"In our culture of "seeker sensitivity" and radical inclusivity, the great temptation is to compromise the cost of discipleship in order to draw a larger crowd. With the most sincere hearts, we do not want to see anyone walk away from Jesus because of the discomfort of his cross, so we clip the claws on the Lion a little, we clean up a bit the bloody Passion we are called to follow."

"We would like to include people like the rich ruler and Ananias and Sapphira, but we would end up with the sort of Christianity that arose after Constantine, in which everyone can be a Christian but no one knows what a Christian is anymore."

"We can admire and worship Jesus without doing what he did. We can applaud what he preached and stood for without caring about the same things. We can adore his cross without taking up ours. I had come to see that the great tragedy in the church is not that rich Christians do not care about the poor but that rich Christians do not know the poor."

"I'm not sure we need more churches. What we really need is a church. I say one church is better than fifty. I have tried to remove the plural form churches from my vocabulary, training myself to think of the church as Christ did, and as the early Christians did. The metaphors for her are always singular--a body, a bride. I heard one gospel preacher say it like this, as he really wound up and broke a sweat: "We've got to unite ourselves as one body. Because Jesus is coming back, and he's coming back for a bride, not a harem.""

"For us, belief is only the beginning. What really matters is how we live, how what we believe gets fleshed out, so we also have a statement of orthopraxis (meaning, "right living, right practices"). And this is where most belief-oriented faith communities fall short. They tell us only what they believe, but they do not tell us how their beliefs affect their lifestyles."

"People are poor not just because of their sins; they are poor because of our sins (and people are rich because of our sins). On the wall of New Jerusalem (a facility made up of people recovering from addictions) is a sign that reads, "We cannot fully recover until we help the society that made us sick recover.""

"Jesus never talked to a prostitute because he didn't see a prostitute. He just saw a child of God he was madly in love with."

"We live in an age in which people, when they hear the word Christian, are much more likely to think of people who hate gays than people who love outcasts, and that is a dangerous thing."

"The world has seen Christian extremists who will blow up abortion clinics and dance on doctors' graves. We have seen Christian extremists who hold signs that say, "God hates fags." The world has seen Christian extremists who declare war in the name of the Lamb. But where are the Christian extremists for love and grace?"

Perhaps my words earlier did not seem to carry love and grace in them; I assure you, it was there. My heart cries out for the world to see Jesus! And to see Jesus through those of us who carry his name. And for that to happen, the church needs to see itself the way the world does. We are supposed to be a light in the darkness. We're supposed to help the poor and the outcasts and the sick. But those who don't believe see us as full of hatred and judgment and condemnation. We have our exclusive Christian bubbles and often don't want to be bothered by anything outside of them.

Burst the bubble.

Reach out a helping hand.

Do, don't just tell.

Labels: Books

Posted by Amanda at 10/22/2006 08:37:00 PM 13 Comments

Saturday, October 21, 2006

I wrote an article recently and I ended up pretty discouraged as a result. My intended audience was people like myself: those who follow Christ. The response to the article only confirmed for me what I was intending to expose. In general, Christians have become complacent and comfortable with life the way it is.

Christians are seeing the world as right/wrong, heaven/hell, black/white, and pharisee/disciple.

The way we do things at my church is right.

The songs we sing at my church are right.

The way we dress at my church is right.

The Bible we use at my church is the right one.

How selfish and self-centered can we be? Why is it so hard for a Christian to accept criticism? Or change, for that matter? Why have we become so complacent and content where we are that suggesting anything radical (like Jesus, perhaps?) would cause a stir?

Satan has certainly put me under a fair amount of attack since I posted the original article. I even began questioning whether or not what I had written was really something that God had laid on my heart. I began to think that if the nonChristian crowd enjoyed it so much, then maybe the ideas I presented were wrong and not from God.

But that's just silly. God has been dealing with me and this issue for quite some time. And while I certainly acknowledge that I don't know everything and that I am not perfect, I know that there is definite truth behind my words. There is a problem with mainstream Christianity today. And those of us who see it aren't using our voice to deal with it. And not speaking up is the same as condoning it.

I refuse to do that any longer. I used to ask how one lone voice can make a difference. I still have the question, but at least I'm trying to use my voice to find the answer to that question.

Where's your voice?

Posted by Amanda at 10/21/2006 02:00:00 AM 9 Comments

Thursday, October 19, 2006

It looks like the AFA succeeded: NBC has edited out the portions of Madonna's concert special in order to cut the scenes where she is singing while on a cross.

Read my thoughts on Madonna's mock crucifixion.

Posted by Amanda at 10/19/2006 03:19:00 PM 1 Comments

Judge Dismisses Charges Against Woman Who Killed Her Unborn Child

This story, about a woman who shot her stomach, killing her unborn child, on the morning she was to deliver (she was having contractions), makes me want to scream and rage and cry all at the same time.

I want to hurt the judge.

That may not be the most Christ-like attitude to have, but at least it's an honest one. I am very adamantly pro-life. Oddly enough, it isn't rooted in my faith. I don't think abortion is a moral problem--it's a legal one. If this woman had waited a few hours to shoot her baby once it was outside the womb, there would be no question about her guilt. She would have been convicted of murder. But because the child (who was completely formed and full term) was still in the womb, she's innocent of murder.

Why does some skin, tissue, flesh, and fluids count as the line that is drawn between murder and legal abortion?

All she was charged with was carrying out an illegal abortion. And then she was found not guilty because it is apparantly not a crime for the mother of the child to kill her own child.

If someone else had pulled the trigger, he or she would be criminally accountable. Because it was the pregnant woman herself, no crime was committed, the court ruled.

What kind of crap is that?

Posted by Amanda at 10/19/2006 12:53:00 PM 2 Comments

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

This week's Christian Carnival is up at The Buzz Blog.

Highlights:

• Why students are dropping out of church by Life in Student Ministry
• Why do I stay at New Life Church? Making the hard decision to care covenentally for my church family at the Faith at Work blog.
• What God has joined together at Every Thought Captive

Labels: Christian Carnival

Posted by Amanda at 10/18/2006 05:34:00 PM 0 Comments

Which Does Jesus Find Funnier: You or Me Laughing At You?

There's a great post on OblivionTouch's Xanga site.

Go read it.

Which Does Jesus Find Funnier: You or Me Laughing At You?

Posted by Amanda at 10/18/2006 11:24:00 AM 1 Comments

A Call to Christians

I am told that Christians do not love each other. I am very sorry if that be true, but I rather doubt it, for I suspect that those who do not love each other are not Christians.

Charles Spurgeon

I’ve spent a lot of time in recent months becoming more and more aware of how the world views those who use the label “Christian” to describe our lives. At first I just dismissed those negative views as some anti-Christian bias, but I’ve recently become acquainted with a group of people who harbor some very strong and very negative feelings and opinions towards anything having to do with Christianity. When I took a step back to ask myself how anyone could possibly feel that way, I didn’t like the answers I found.

It felt like a slap in the face when I realized that all of the spiritual growth I’d experienced in the last several months had come with no help whatsoever from the Christian world. God has brought me to some new places by opening my eyes to those outside of the Christian bubble I’ve always lived in.

I noticed pretty quickly when I became a frequent commenter on an atheist blog that it seemed as though the most hateful and condescending comments often came from those proclaiming the name of Christ. Sadly, the problem is not confined solely to the internet. The only “Christians” getting any media exposure these days always seem to be the extreme fundamentalists who are busy proclaiming “God hates fags” or promoting similar hate-speech. If it’s not that, they’re busy condemning our nation as wicked and predicting God’s wrath raining down upon us in the form of a natural disaster. The biggest churches in America are now promoting the “prosperity gospel” where followers are promised financial prosperity through faith, thus turning evangelizing into a form of bribery.

Christians: it’s time to get back to the basics! Is this the face of Christianity that you want the world to accept? Is this what it truly means to be a follower of Christ?

We have become complacent in our faith.

We have forgotten what it means to be like Jesus.

We watch daily as these “Christians” run the name of Christ through the mud, yet we are content to sit idly by and do nothing about it.

Would Jesus ever condemn a man or woman by proclaiming “God hates fags”? Absolutely not! Would Jesus ever sit on a pew in a church comfortably listening to doctrines that promote the “prosperity gospel”? Never!

We must ask ourselves why we let those who call themselves “Christian” do those same things. Why is no one standing up and proclaiming “Hey! That’s not right! That’s not what it means to be a Christian!”?

I once heard a great story about a bag of Oreo cookies that nicely parallels our current situation. A husband and wife bought a box of snack-sized bags of Oreo cookies. When they arrived at home they decided to open up a bag for a snack. The bag looked like all of the other bags, but when they opened it there were no cookies inside! The bag contained nothing but air, so they threw it away and opened another one. Again, though the bag looked normal from the outside, they found no cookies inside the bag. The husband turned to his wife and asked “How many bags of cookies will you go through before you give up and assume they’re all empty?”

How many times does a nonbeliever have to get burned by someone claiming the mantle of Christ before they give up on Christianity altogether?

How long will it take before Christians stand up and show the world what it really means to be like Christ?

Many people, after a brief look, come to the conclusion that Christians have become the most judgmental and hypocritical group of people on earth. Many Christians, it seems, go to church on Sunday and spend the rest of the week living however they choose.

Is it any wonder that people don’t want to associate themselves with anything “Christian”?

The Bible says, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was” (James 1:22-24).

That paints a perfect picture of how most people view the Christian: hypocritical! Dare I say it: Christians are the most hypocritical group of people living today.

When are we going to start doing everything we say we believe in?

When are we going to stand up and let the world know that Christianity isn’t a label, but a lifestyle?

When are we going to show the world who Jesus really is?

Blogs that link here: Conservative Cat, Blue Star Chronicles, Random Yak, TMH's Bacon Bits, Linkfest Haven, Dumb Ox News, Planck's Constant, Third World County

Posted by Amanda at 10/18/2006 10:18:00 AM 33 Comments

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

I'm not really sure what God is doing in my life these days. He's revealing all sorts of new things to me and putting things in my path that all affirm what I've been feeling the need to get across to Christians in this country--and across the world.

I'm a regular reader of the Burnside Writer's Collective and there is an article posted that spoke volumes to me--particularly considering what God is showing me as of late.

Don't Want To Be The Church Anymore

Dear Church,

I don’t mean to hurt your feelings here, Church, because I know you’re all about living up to Jesus’ expectations for you. But sometimes, how can I say it, the word church just doesn’t have that ring to it.

Know what I mean?

Like I kinda want to whisper the word sometimes. Not because I’m ashamed, because well, I know better than to be ashamed. Don’t think I’m not aware of that verse. You know, the one that says we’re not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. I can recite it in my best monotone-KJV-memorizing-Scripture voice, if you want.

I want to whisper the word church because I know that as soon as it leaves my mouth, someone in the room will flinch, inevitably thinking of steeples and crosses and roadway signs sporting interchangeable cheesy sayings. It’s like playing one of those terrible psychological games where I say the word and everyone else says the first thing that comes to their minds. Only when I say “church,” they tell me their reactions with their eyes, with their body language, and yes, sometimes with their mouths. And let’s just say, the “gee, tell me more” reactions are hard to come by.

I want to whisper the word church because sometimes the person in the room who is flinching is me. Because, despite all the amazing, mind-blowing images that come with any institution appointed by Christ himself, the term church has developed some negative connotations even for me. So sometimes I resort to saying it softly, or kind of half-mumbling, half-coughing it out into conversation without pausing to let someone point out that they can’t understand my slurring.

Sometimes I just skirt mentioning the C word altogether. Not to sell my faith short, you understand, but to get around all the assumptions attached to the label. Unfortunately, it is not easy to describe your brand of Christian faith without affiliating yourself with an institutional church.

Simply saying that I’m a Christian would be an immediate giveaway, of course. Christians go to church. Churches are full of Christians. Everyone sees the connection.

I can’t really go around telling people I am “a person of the Way” because that brings to mind cults and stories of churches gone bad, like David Koresh and Jim Jones. And God knows, enough people already think the local Christian churches are cults as is. Heck, it’s our favorite churchy joke to recount how the neighbors heard that people in our “cult” light candles at late-night services and get what they’re sure is garden-variety Crisco oil slapped onto their forehead at various prayer meetings.

I can’t say I’m “an evangelical,” because that is even worse than being a church-going Christian. Evangelicals are those people who preach a rotating list of twelve sermons all written to describe the eternal torment of hell. They are the people who play eerie music as the pastor asks people to raise their hands or “come forward.” Or if they are on TV, maybe they ask you to touch the screen where the static electric charge doubles as the spark of the Holy Spirit.

I can’t say I’m “a conservative,” because then it beckons images of men with three-piece suits and neatly parted, shiny hair who build coalitions to defeat the Democrats, the Smurfs, and billions of other alleged tools of Satan.

I can’t say I’m “religious,” because we’ve all been taught the folly of that. Now everyone say it together: “This is not a religion, it’s a relationship.”

I can’t say I’m “a Jesus Freak,” because although I do know D.C. Talk’s rap by heart, I like people to wait in suspense a while before deciding I’m a freak. I don’t want to tell them right from the beginning. It takes the fun out of it.

I can’t say I’m “spiritual,” because people translate that as a simple “two thumbs up” for Mel Gibson’s Passion movie. Or they figure I subscribe to an online horoscope and watch TV shows about channeling my dead pets. Spirituality is very in, you know. My waitress, drycleaner, dentist, and grocery store cashier all have WWJD bracelets and copies of The Prayer of Jabez to prove it. The emergent church opts for “Christ follower” which, I have to admit, is the best term I’ve got as well. (But darn it, I don’t want to be pigeonholed as “emergent” either.)

I wish I could land on a self-description that’s new and fresh, something not so stained in people’s minds. The only problem being, of course, that eventually too many Christ followers (myself included) will show their humanness and our new words will be blacklisted from the usable list too.

Maybe instead of worrying about labels, Church, I should be taking the advice of Francis of Assisi: “Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.”

Maybe I should demonstrate that “going to church” infers something broader than keeping a pew warm in a cross-clad building. Maybe it’s time to rewrite the age-old, folded hands illustration: Here is the church. Here is the steeple. Open the door and see all the people.

Here’s my edited version: Here is the building; it doesn’t need a steeple. Inside is the church … see, the church is the people.

Perhaps I should make it clear that church, at its most basic level, is just a big group of Christians. And then I could point out that Christian was never supposed to be a synonym for “perfect,” “blameless,” or “never hypocritical.” We already have a synonym for that. It’s Christ. The two words sound similar, and look similar on paper—and obviously there’s an inescapable relationship between them—so it’s understandable that people sometimes get confused. But, thank God for us, they are far from identical twins. Mistaking even the best Christian for Christ is like seeing your first Model T and walking away thinking you’ve met Henry Ford.

Maybe we should revamp the newcomer’s orientation. You know, touch on the disillusionment piece. Maybe we should tell potential converts about our various shortcomings upfront.

(Note: We used to call potential converts “seekers,” but apparently the cool term is now “inquirer.” Although I think “inquirer” sounds like someone who buys up those checkout lane magazines about Elvis’s three-headed dragon living in a box of Cheerios. By the way, when it came to vocabulary, Jesus cut right to the chase. He called the unsaved “lost,” and he said it in a way that made the lost sound like the treasure we should all be out looking for. Now that’s cool.)

Regardless of the lingo, maybe we should let potential Christians know that no one in the church keeps all the standards spelled out in the manual all the time. Unfortunately, to my own discredit, I slide here and there, sacrifice a few rules when I’m in a hurry or if it’s convenient. Maybe I should tell them that I strive to perform at my maximum capacity … well, except for when I’m tired, or cranky, or acting in my own self-interest.

Maybe I should point out right from the beginning that there is a reason why Jesus is the head honcho and I am the company gofer. That no matter how many promotions I get, he’s actually the only one who is following procedure all the time. We try to keep up, but we can’t. And the really annoying part? He’s not even following guidelines. He just is that way naturally.

Maybe I should try to help newcomers separate God from me. Hey, a good start on that lesson would be to stop acting like I am God. Stop acting like I know exactly what to say, what to do, how to think, how to live every moment of every day. Stop projecting that I am the ever-so-useful-and-always-accurate judge, jury, and executioner all in one.

Maybe I have to realize that if I want disillusionment to change, the first person who has to change is me.

All I can say is wow.

Posted by Amanda at 10/17/2006 12:33:00 PM 3 Comments

Thursday, October 12, 2006

See you next week.

Labels: Personal

Posted by Amanda at 10/12/2006 10:11:00 AM 1 Comments

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Highlights:

• Reflections on Discipleship--part 1 is the first in a series of posts and open discussion on the topic and need of Christian discipleship.
• The Pharisee Factor looks at the error that what you believe—what you profess, that is—counts for far more than what you are. It's an error that needs correction before the church can regain lost credibility, to say nothing of favor with God.
• Christian Counting thinks about what Paul told the Philippians about counting.

Labels: Christian Carnival

Posted by Amanda at 10/11/2006 10:43:00 AM 0 Comments

Milestone 200

My last post yesterday was a milestone for Imago Dei. I have written 200 posts since the inception of this blog in February 2006.

For those of you who are regular readers...thanks for sticking it out with me!

Labels: Blogging

Posted by Amanda at 10/11/2006 10:33:00 AM 1 Comments

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

During my morning blog-reading (which I finally was able to get back to this morning), I came across a great post about Truth by Chris Cree of CREEations. Above all else, one statement of his stood out above the rest.

“Philosophers go around hunting for truth as though it is a collection of ideas, when in actuality the thing they are looking for is a person. Is it any wonder so many miss it?”

Chris is referring to John 14:6 when Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life."

But what a statement. When stated so simply as that, I feel like I've been living a huge DUH! moment by not getting it.

Sadly we’re seeing a lot more people take the stance that truth is relative. Those of us who believe in what the Bible says about truth obviously believe that truth is absolute and that we have found the truth.

Jesus is the Truth.

But we can't force people to accept or believe this. Forcing people to choose Christ goes against the very nature of the Gospel. We are to choose life; not be forced to accept it.

As Chris stated in a reply to my comment to him, we can present the truth (by introducing them to Jesus), but the rest is up to them.

Out of curiosity, I have to wonder why the idea of relativity is so popular. Why has it gained such a stronghold in our society?

Posted by Amanda at 10/10/2006 01:09:00 PM 2 Comments

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Basically, he and a friend became homeless and lived on the streets for 5 months. They went through 6 cities and the book chronicles the journey. He starts out by transitioning through the rehab program at the Denver Rescue Mission (we give this book out to a lot of our donors) for 30 days. That way he gets slightly acclimated to the homeless culture before he gets thrown out into it. Then he does each other city for a month: DC, Portland, Phoenix, San Francisco, and San Diego.

The experience was, needless to say, life changing for him and reading the book was pretty revolutionary for me too. One thing he kept bringing up, and it keeps coming up in my own life, is how a Christian needs to do. He mentioned church after church that would not welcome the two smelly homeless guys. There was one occasion where Mike and Sam slept on the front steps of a church on a Saturday night hoping to get woken up the next morning in time for the service. They woke up while the service was going on and realized that every person there had avoided the front door and gone in a side entrance.

Another example was when they got kicked out of a church picnic...by the Director of Homeless Outreach for the area! It made me angry. But it was a wake up call. I got a lot of great quotes for my own article. One thing that really convicted me is that even though I work at the Durham Rescue Mission, I'm not really doing anything. You know? I mean, I know the place couldn't run without the admin folks like me, but that doesn't replace any of the actual doing that I should be out there doing. I'm not offering hope to anyone by sitting at my computer screen. Of course, it's easy for me to recognize that but it's an entirely different story when it comes to actually doing anything about it. I don't want to leave my comfort zone!

Here are some great quotes from the book. It's just a sampling of the book, and I definitely encourage you to go out and read the whole thing!

“Something critical is missing in places that care for the broken and needy if the only people there are also broken and needy. Without the presence of people…whose lives are not defined by addiction, alcoholism, crime and mental illness, there is little positive influence. Chaplains and pastors can only spread themselves so far.”

“Telling someone who is suffering deeply that he’s going to suffer more is probably a waste of breath. It’s like warning someone who is already starving that they’re about to get really hungry. But tell him of the restaurant that serves heaping meals to all who come no matter where they’re from or what they look like, and he’s more than likely to listen. I thought of Christ’s words, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John ).”

“What do you do when a good tree bears bad fruit or a bad tree bears good fruit? Look harder.

What’s your definition of a Christian? Is it broad enough to encompass the drug dealers, pimps, prostitutes, and broken people of the world? Jesus said that he came to heal the sick. Drug addicts are messed up just the same as liars are messed up, just the same as all humans are messed up. We all need Jesus. We all struggle with personal ways in which sin plays itself out in our lives.

What’s worse? To not do dope or to not love your brother? Why do we kick drug users out of the church while quietly ignoring those who aren’t dealing with other, equally destructive sins? Why do we reject the loving, self-sacrificing, giving, encouraging, Jesus-pursuing drug addict but recruit the clean, self-interested, gossiping, loveless churchgoer?

Which one do you suppose Jesus would rather share a burrito with under a bridge?”

“If we as believers choose to forget that everyone—even the shrunken soul lying in the doorway—is made in the image of God, can we say we know our Creator? If we respond to others based on their outward appearance, haven’t we entirely missed the point of the gospel?

Christ cared a lot about the simple dignities. He stopped to talk to lepers, and touch them with healing (Luke ). He prepared meals for strangers. He rescued outcasts. He wept with those who wept.”

“As CS Lewis wrote, “Christ died for men precisely because men are not worth dying for: to make them worth it.”

“To me, one of the best things about the gospel is that Jesus Christ proclaims and restores human and eternal worth for everyone who believes—regardless of what a person might look or smell like now. No matter what’s crawling through his hair. And because we follow this Christ, each of us has both the ability and the responsibility (“response-ability”) to do the same.”

Labels: Books

Posted by Amanda at 10/05/2006 03:58:00 PM 0 Comments

What's a dual-citizen to do?

There's an incredible article by Tomas Perez at the Burnside Writer's Collective this month: The Tension of Dual Citizenship. Ordinarily, I would just excerpt an article, but this one is so good I'm going to post the entire thing. All of the emphasis in bold is mine.

At first glance, it seems like a question of allegiance; am I loyal to my country or not? The assumption here is unquestioning support of all of our country’s policies and practices both foreign and domestic. The war in Iraq, a tax structure that favors unbridled corporate expansion at the expense of small business, while poor families live without adequate healthcare and children go without food; if I’m going to be a good citizen, I have to either embrace or tolerate (read, “look-the-other-way”) these and many other current realities.

My more conservative brothers and sisters seem to want to wrap the Church in an American flag and declare the U.S. a Christian Nation whose only problem is simply remembering our spiritual heritage and returning to those roots; like a Prodigal nation-state coming home. Such a scenario, incidentally (or maybe intentionally) would restore the Church to a position of cultural and political power.

I’m not sure that’s a good thing.

I’m not sure it’s that simple.

I’m not sure it’s Biblical.

On the other side of the aisle (in the Church and in Congress), my more liberal brothers and sisters want to separate the spiritual from the political. They want to throw out the bathwater of violence, hatred, racism and suffering inflicted on society in the name of Religion. And with it, all that is good; the transformational, healing power of love, grace, forgiveness and peace that the “Baby” Jesus brought into the world.

I’m not sure that’s a good thing either.

I’m not sure it’s that simple.

I’m not sure it’s Biblical.

Honest, thinking, American followers of Jesus find themselves in a difficult situation these days. We have dual citizenship. We enjoy the huge privilege of living in a wonderful country that has, for a long time, enjoyed God’s blessing. But that citizenship is secondary. We are citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus was not being poetic or engaging in meaningless hyperbole when He spoke of a Kingdom. And he wasn’t talking about a distant place we go to when we die; He spoke of a Kingdom that was “near,” and “among you.” What makes all this difficult is that sometimes the values and purposes of these two kingdoms collide.

Like right now.

One kingdom supports wanton, corporate greed. The other calls its citizens to generosity and sacrifice. One Kingdom would seek to extract every last ounce of resources from our planet. The other calls for stewardship and sustainability. One kingdom fights relentlessly for the protection of the unborn (a noble and just fight) while giving tacit support to a foreign policy of unilateral military intervention to confront perceived threats to our national security…a policy that has resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent people. The other kingdom demands to know why we’re so vocal about fighting the war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan, but so quiet about the genocide in the Sudan and Congo. Is the terror facing the Darfuri people any less important than the terror we faced on 9/11?

What’s a Dual Citizen to do?

Please forgive me if it seems like I’m being too simplistic. I realize my argument so far seems to create an “either/or” dichotomy. I know its not that simple. I’m just trying to make the point that we need to think critically and act strategically as followers of Jesus.

The election season is upon us, and with it comes a chance to act. So let’s act like good citizens. This is not a “get-out-and-vote” brochure. Its a call to exercise our responsibility to be wise and active participants in a political and social process that, while flawed, is still the best “flawed” system ever devised.

Personally, I’m trying to do five things I believe show proper respect for the freedom I’ve been given both as an American Citizen and as a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven.

I’m trying to be as well-informed as I can about the issues that impact our world. Notice I didn’t say the issues that “affect me.” Kingdom citizens accept the fact that its not all about us; we understand that we have a greater responsibility than just lowering taxes and restoring prayer in the public schools. So…I read, listen, think, and discuss issues with those who support and those who oppose my ideas.

I’m trying to be Biblically rooted. I re-read the Old Testament prophets (highly political, by the way!) and I’m re-re-reading the Gospels; all in an attempt to better understand from a Scriptural perspective what God’s agenda is.

I’m trying to order my thinking and my actions around a clear sense of Christian (though maybe not American) mission. In this context, answering the question, “what would Jesus do?’ is probably the best thing a Follower could do. When applied to the host of important issues these days, the answers will probably be difficult, but then Jesus warned us about this.

I’m trying to be constructively engaged. Active, nonviolent protests and boycotts can be good things, but coming up with alternatives to injustice and bad policies is better. So I vote, but I also volunteer my time and energy in initiatives and activities that serve the public good.

And I pray for a spirit of humility. Let’s face it, this is all heady stuff we’re talking about here. Wielding power is a risky business; whether its political or religious, power is like nuclear energy. It has enormous potential for good or evil depending on the motive of those controlling it. As much as I admire and respect Washington, Jefferson, King, Dobson and many others, I’ve never found a more compelling example than that of Jesus…who…

“…though he was God…did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing, he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross.”

Posted by Amanda at 10/05/2006 02:08:00 PM 0 Comments

More info from Westboro

Fred Phelps has agreed not to protest the funerals in exchange for an hour of airtime on Mike Gallagher's show.

HT: Laura and Randy

I will pose the same question here that I posed on each of those blogs: What can we do as a unified body of Christ to stand up and be heard over the lies being spewed?

Posted by Amanda at 10/05/2006 09:42:00 AM 0 Comments

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

How can anyone be as vile as that man? Satan's attacks are certainly working. Men like Fred Phelps have fallen victim to the lies that Satan is spreading.

Now I know that our battle is not with men like Fred Phelps...it is against the powers and principalities of the darkness. But I tell you what...it sure is hard to remember that whenever I read stories like this one.

Christian, it's time for us to unite! Let's lift our voices to the heavens and claim the blood of Christ and rebuke these lies of Satan.

Posted by Amanda at 10/04/2006 09:44:00 AM 0 Comments