Life and Death Among Computers

Laptops, for me, seem to last about three or four years – sometimes even less. I’ve always thought that Detroit was guilty of “built-in obsolescence,” but I think the computer industry could be just as guilty.

About two weeks ago, my previous laptop began showing signs of what appeared to be pests and a day or two later simply wouldn’t complete the boot. Fortunately it at least came on, and so I figured the Geeks could do some surgical repair and revive it.

After four days in intensive Geek care, I got the death call. The machine was in a coma and it was just a matter of time. They could remove all the important internal organs, and if I acted quickly in buying a new instrument, they could preserve the body parts long enough for a successful transplant.

Within hours a new laptop (pic above) was ready for the implants and a day later was up and running (with nice upgrades, to boot).

It’s funny how quickly the emotional ties disappear – even from an old buddy. How quickly we lose attachments that no longer serve us. In fact, there will not even be a memorial of any kind. Sounds cold, I know.

But the truth is that the new laptop is already a friendly, functional companion, and the old data and pics have gained their lifelike qualities once again.

Rest in peace, former buddy. Someday, somewhere, there is a chance you might be resurrected.

The Audacity of Apostolic Economics

This past Sunday in church we got a lesson in economics unlike one gets at a secular university.

Our associate Pastor, Kent Shane (photo), pointed out that “apostolic economics” (a term used and apparently coined by Dr David Tiede, former president of Luther Seminary and current Bernard M. Christensen Chair professor at Augsburg College) does not involve either “supply side” or Keynesian points of view.

Instead, the term suggests something relatively simple and easy to understand: you must give away what you have in order to gain everything.

What?

Pastor Kent’s sermon focused on our lectionary reading of 2 Corinthians 8:7-15 and reminded us that even as we give away love, our lives become rich in “meaning, purpose and promise.” Following the service, I commented on the term “apostolic economics” and he pointed me to Dr. Tiede’s commentary on these same scriptures.

“God’s distribution of the manna in the wilderness set the standard in Israel that ‘the one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little,’” says Dr. Tiede.

He goes on, “The Gospel of Apostolic Economics is about ‘our Lord Jesus Christ:’ ‘though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor’ (2 Corinthians 8:9). This is the theology of the cross in economic language, leading not to human privilege to possess our wealth, but to Christian freedom to put the well-being of the neighbor ahead of our own interests.”

For me, that’s “the audacity of apostolic economics” stated about as well as it could be expressed. If only we had the audacity to live by it.

Sequim’s Oak Table Café Opens Kingston Location

If you’ve ever traveled to or through Sequim but haven’t made a stop at the Oak Table Café at the corner of 3rd & Bell, you’ve missed out on one of the great breakfast/lunch experiences available anywhere in the Pacific Northwest. And that is not an overstatement.

Now, however, there’s good news for those of us who don’t live on the Olympic Peninsula. A second location of the Oak Table Café has opened in Kingston in the new (converted) Firehouse on Hwy 104 (top pic). The better news is that all those delicious breakfast (and lunch) delights seem to taste even better closer to home!

And you guessed it – every table top is made out of oak, to enhance their distinctive décor.

My cousin Joel Narva and his wife Sandra first introduced us to the Sequim site several years ago, and so we were anxious to try out the new eatery in Kitsap County. We finally had a chance to do so this week, and it didn’t disappoint. Owners Ross and Nikki McCurdy have succeeded in cloning the ambiance and family-friendly, delicious food presentations here on our side of the Hood Canal.

Stop by when you have a chance; if the friendly atmosphere doesn’t hook you, the food certainly will. They are open daily from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

It’s Monday. How’re we doing?

Monday morning can be a drudgery for many. Or it can be an opportunity for a full week of productive effort. Our attitude and perspective can often determine our outlook.

“Monday Morning Men” is a group of mostly elderly and retired gentlemen at our Church who meet for coffee, sweet rolls, (most are Scandinavian) and Bible study, followed by several hours of working around the church on various maintenance projects. What a great way to begin the week.

On the other hand, today’s Washington Post contains an article by columnist Robert J. Samuelson which suggests that our new President and elected leaders are facing the economic equivalent of enduring a back-to-back Ironman triathlon and Tour de France if they want to overcome the three financial monsters we face (consumer spending collapse, financial and credit collapse and our trade imbalance crisis). Not a positive beginning for the week.

However, this, in a sense, is the ongoing challenge for those of us who are followers of Christ and who also must live, work and raise families in this culture and in this world. Every day we are immersed in the often conflicting compellings of practicing our faith while we live our lives.

I’m learning to really appreciate the Lutheran perspective on faith and living. In fact, I’ve already alluded to it in a previous post. Lutherans believe that there are, at the basic level, two factors involved in faith living (or living the faith, if you will): justification and vocation.

In other words, we are justified (“restored” in God’s eyes) by God’s grace alone, and then our vocation is to live out our faith as God calls us to do. This oversimplifies, of course, but the model holds for me.

So, how does our Monday look? Let’s be busy in our vocation and trust God for the possibilities.

Emulating a “Servant God”

In this month’s issue of our church newsletter, the PFLC Visitor, our associate Pastor, the Rev. Alison Shane, right, made a wonderful – but perhaps a bit intimidating – Epiphany observation in her remarks:

“Nothing makes God-with-us more tangible for people than when we serve them. In our actions of service, people catch a glimpse of God’s work on earth.”

Stop. And let the implications of that thought sink in for a moment.

Pastor Alison continues in her comments, “A servant God is a very different image than many people are used to. Popular religion holds up a God who is ‘in control,’ whose ‘will is done’ in everything that happens to us, even in death. But a servant God comes in the midst of the brokenness of life and comforts, washes feet, and carries the load. God comes and says, ‘Sin has caused a broken world, and many things in life are therefore senseless. But I am here with you, and I have redeemed you and this world. Together now we walk through life.’”

She then gives us our core impetus for Christian service (living out our vocation, in Lutheran terminology): “When we serve, when we walk with others in service to them, they can catch a glimpse of our servant God. As we walk with them, they see God walking with them, and we are bearing Christ’s light to the nations.”

Thanks, once again, Pastor Alison, for cutting right to the quick and shedding important light on our mission as followers of Christ. Thanks be to God.

Pulling Back

Every once-in-a-while it’s good to “pull back” and give thought to the bigger picture instead of just blindly plodding on in the everyday slog.

I was thinking this morning (while awaiting the arrival of painters) of what God’s view of our world is like, compared to ours. I can imagine at his first glance it is something like this photo.

But as he would look closer, the image would reveal us humans, hustling and bustling around like hordes of ants on a mound. My sense is that as God looks down on this activity-filled planet, he laments all of the purposeless human effort.

I can hear him grieving, “O what I could accomplish through my people if they would just be responsive to my nudgings.”

Of course as humans, we’re consumed with our “important” work. We must plan for unexpected eventualities. We must take care of our family. We must invest wisely. We must plan and save so we can send our kids to college. We must be self-sufficient. We must plan for retirement.

But do we ever pull back and ask the most important question of all? That is, WHY are we doing all these things? Is it so that we can better live out God’s grace in the world (which is our sacred calling as Christians)? Or are we consumed with “our” agenda?

All of the aforementioned concerns are “western” (read Euro-American) values. And we American Christians have thoroughly bought into them. Jesus, however, had quite a contrasting plan for us, and I’ve alluded to it before in these posts.

Consider this observation by the late, Dutch Catholic priest and writer Henri Nouwen: “We are called to be fruitful – not successful, not productive, not accomplished. Success comes from strength, stress, and human effort. Fruitfulness comes from vulnerability and the admission of our own weakness.”

And then look at what Jesus said about fruitfulness in Matthew, chapter 7: “Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits”.

So, apparently, Jesus evaluates us by what we are accomplishing for him in terms of fruitfulness, not by what we are accumulating for ourselves and/or for our future.

God’s perspective is one and the same. Which means he’s looking for some fruitbearers among us ant-like humans. Does he see any? Lord, help me to be sensitive to the nudges, and give me the faith to be a fruitbearer.

What Did It Mean When Christ Said, “Take MY Yoke Upon You… (For It) Is Easy, and My Burden Is Light”? Perhaps Not What You Might Think.

In our worship, once again this past Sunday, we got a fresh perspective on some familiar Scripture verses. Who of us hasn’t heard Jesus’ oft-quoted words in Matthew, chapter 11, verses 28-30:

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Most of us, from our western-world, “feel good” approach to the faith, have interpreted this verse to mean that “if we trust Jesus, he will in some way partially carry our life’s load, and therefore our own burden will be much less” – or something like that.

We often like to view our faith as something that can make our lives better, or maybe easier, when the truth is that the call to discipleship is usually anything but comfortable. But it appears Jesus was focusing on something else.

Our Pastor pointed out in his sermon that, in context, the “yoke” that Jesus was talking about was actually the Jewish law – and the inability of humans to keep it perfectly. Instead, what Christ was offering was his provision of salvation – a much lighter and easier-to-bear “yoke” – freely provided.

The sermon was another in the wonderful Lutheran perspective of emphasizing the incredible Grace of God and how this Grace extends to all. This passage of scripture will now forever be, for me, a refreshing and encouraging support for living out that Grace. Thanks be to God.

A Pet Chicken Leaves Its Mark

When we were at my son and daughter-in-law's place in the Oregon’s countryside early last week, a neighbor of Gregg and Elaine’s stopped by with her pet chicken. I guess I’m pretty much a city boy, and maybe that’s why I’ve never seen a chicken in the house before.

The photo shows our granddaughter Talli holding the (undersized) chicken as the bird scrounged for any tiny crumb that might be in her hand. Click on the photo; it may appear a bit larger.

Several months ago, the neighbor had “rescued” the emaciated chick from certain impending starvation, and, of course, from that point on, the chicken bonded with her and will not let her out of its sight. A touching story, but it has its drawbacks.

Just prior to me snapping the photo of Talli with my phone cam, Elaine was holding the chicken. Our five-year-old granddaughter, Aubrey, suddenly yelled, “Look, the chicken is laying an egg.” Well, at first it did look like an egg, but it turned out to be a “softer boiled” variety. Everyone simultaneously grabbed for paper towels.

Turns out, the chicken does lay eggs occasionally, but this time she had left her mark in a different way.

If You Think You Knew the Meaning of “Resurrection,” Think Again (Or Read This Book)

I just finished reading the greatest book I’ve ever read on the Christian faith. C.S. Lewis, for me in the past, did a wonderful job in providing perspective on many Christian beliefs and practices. But I think he’s been “one-upped”.

N. T. Wright, in his new book Surprised By Hope – Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church, does an absolutely incredible job in providing enlightening early church views about the title topics and packaging them wonderfully in a message of hope for the future in which we can immerse ourselves today.

Here are a few things from the book that have refreshed my faith:

● I should be looking forward to a new resurrection and re-creation of heaven and earth where we’ll thrive with Christ, rather than anticipating some sort of a dis-embodied existence in a far away “heaven”

● Everything we do in our bodies that eventually will die (good works) will become part of God’s future and ultimately will be part of his new creation. (This certainly gives fresh meaning to life itself.)

● Christ’s resurrected body was our first glimpse of the promised new creation and the Kingdom of God. It was the beginning of God’s reign on earth (just as we pray for in The Lord’s Prayer) that will culminate when God finally “brings together” heaven and earth.

● The mission of the church is a mission of hope – “that the genuine Christian hope, rooted in Jesus’ resurrection, is the hope for God’s renewal of all things, for his overcoming of corruption, decay, and death, for his filling of the whole cosmos with his love and grace, power and glory”.

● The sacraments are not just “remembrances." Communion, for instance, is a celebration of the presence of the living Lord who has gone on into the new creation as its prototype. In a real sense, through the eucharist, we experience Christ’s resurrection in a tangible, powerful way, in anticipation of the new creation and the marriage supper of the Lamb.

And there's much, much more. I highly recommend Wright’s book. It has for me changed forever my understanding of Christ's resurrection and the very purpose for my existence.

Christ’s Resurrection Is More Than “Coming Back to Life”; It Is, In Fact, The Present Assurance of Our Future

I have not yet finished N.T. Wright’s new book, Surprised By Hope – Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church. But I’ve already gained an incredibly wonderful perspective on our future.

In the book, Bishop Wright meticulously takes us through Hebrew, Jewish and early Christian views of life, death and the hereafter. And, of course, the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is the key to a clear understanding of what New Testament writers are talking about as they lay the foundations of our faith.

Here, in my opinion, is one of his most crucial fulcrums in what I have read thus far:

“The whole point of what Jesus was up to (in his resurrection) was that he was doing, close up, in the present, what he was promising long-term, in the future. And what he was promising for that future, and doing in that present, was not saving souls for a disembodied eternity but rescuing people from the corruption and decay of the way the world presently is, so they could enjoy, already in the present, that renewal of creation which is God’s ultimate purpose—and so they could thus become colleagues and partners in that larger project.”

Wow. Just think for a bit of the ramifications of Wright’s implications. Wow.

Happy Easter!

Tax Freedom Day

For most people, tax freedom day is a point in time between April and June when, from that instant forward, we’re working solely for ourselves instead of for the government.

However, for me, tax freedom day was yesterday. It was the day my wife and I finished gathering information, receipts and forms, and we sent it all off to our C.P.A. Now she can have fun trying to figure it all out.

And I am now free of the yoke which bears heavily on me each late winter and sometimes into early Spring. In fact this year we finished the abominable task earlier than I can remember over the past 15 or 20 years.

I’m a procrastinator by nature, and so I’ve always tended to “put off the inevitable” as long as possible. It has ruined many a Major League Baseball opener for me.

I love baseball, and I really look forward to opening day as a relief from the sports drought since football ended about two months ago (I’m not a basketball fan at all, except for a slight interest in March Madness). The horsehide opener is early this year (late March instead of somewhat into April), and now I’ll have some time to even watch the Mariners and the Giants from Arizona whenever they’re on TV. And to enjoy opening day without a thought given to the tax man.

Back in the days when our taxes were less complicated, and I was able to do them with the assistance of Turbo Tax, I can remember sweating tax bullets often right through opening day. That’s enough to not only require a lot of Pepto Bismol – but also to spoil the grand beginning of the baseball season.

One reason I love baseball is that it’s a Spring sport. There’s nothing quite like the blended aromas of a well oiled baseball glove, sweat, freshly raked dirt, and new grass underfoot. All of nature is optimistic in the Spring, and it carries over into baseball hopes for the season and to an anticipation of many wonderful warm weather days or nights at the ballpark.

It matters not that I still have to deal with paying the taxes on the 15th of April. I’ll drop the envelope in the mailbox on the way to the ballpark.

What Is Jesus Suggesting With the Imperative, “Take Up YOUR Cross and Follow Me”?

The above consideration was discussed yesterday in the fifth session of our adult ed Sunday School hour class, DOWN + OUT – Where Grace Takes You. Last week we discussed how that when we go “out” into the world, we administer God’s grace through our “vocation” (our “calling” for which we are God-gifted).

This week we were presented with the idea that our own family is the first focus of our vocation. One Lutheran theologian in our DVD series suggested that “parents are the apostles, bishops and priests” for their children. He meant, of course, that our children discover and get to know God through our lives.

As regards family, how do we best live out our vocation. Another discussion leader pointed out that we “find our cross in our calling.” He was referring to Jesus’ words in the Gospel of Mark, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” We don’t bear Jesus’ cross; we take up our own.

Our discussion then zeroed in on how this is done in the family context. One DVD series leader offered that “we don’t ask, ‘what’s the Christian thing to do?’” Instead, we should ask, “what needs to be done? – and then do it.” If the carpet is dusty, vacuum. If there are dishes in the sink, wash them. If a diaper needs changing, change it. The cross we are asked to bear takes form and is applied in doing everything we notice in the family setting that needs doing.

Lutherans believe that we administer God’s grace to our family in this way. And I’ve got a feeling it’s not only Lutherans who believe this. Now if we could only practice it.

Nuanced Political Slogan: It’s “Judgment,” Stupid

I tend to shy away from posts on partisan political considerations, so this is not. But Richard Reeves’ syndicated newspaper column this week made, to my thinking, a salient observation – a reflection that was not even the main point of his writing.

Reeves, in addition to being a columnist, is also a biographer of Presidents. He is most known for his “trilogy” of presidential works – on Kennedy, Nixon and Reagan. His writing perspective as a columnist is usually from the left point of view, but he leans toward the moderate, rather than to the extreme left.

In his February 22 commentary, Reeves was discussing how, in his opinion, Sen. Clinton has been “getting it wrong” in 10 straight primary elections – at least when it comes to communicating. He pointed out that when it came to “words,” President Reagan, as an example, mostly got it right.

He summed up a concept that Reagan understood, and which many current candidates do not. It can be said two ways:

● The president’s job is not to run the country; it is to lead the nation.
● In that business, words are more important than deeds.

He went on to observe that, in choosing a president, we as citizens are assuming one of the most risky and dangerous responsibilities in the world. Anticipating future behavior is a gamble.

Drawing on his vast experience with and commentary about former presidents, he posited this: “The presidency is not about qualifications or experience; it is about judgment.” Saying it another way, who will best react to unpredictable crises that seem to hit a president almost every day? The answer probably is, it’s impossible to tell ahead of time.

The best we can hope for, he suggests, is to connect with a candidate who can use the right words to explain these things and to persuade us to follow.

A dozen years or so ago, a previous president had a different twist on a similar-sounding slogan, but I like the Reeves-prompted, nuanced version even better: “it’s judgment, stupid.”

N.T. Wright Crystallizes “Kingdom” Aspect of Easter

Anglican Bishop N.T. Wright (pretty close to my favorite, if not my favorite, theologian/author) says that Easter and Christ’s resurrection are more than just “power over the grave.” He portends that in a “back from the future” sort of way, the risen Christ is our “here and now” link to the Kingdom of God.

I’ve just finished reading his newest (I think) book, Christians at the Cross, in actuality a compilation of eight Holy Week sermons he gave a year ago at a parish in Easington Colliery on the north coast of England. My reading sort of plodded along for a time as I took in the very short book (only 79 pages) – until the last chapter. Then, for me, it exploded with a powerful elucidation of what the Kingdom of God can mean for us.

Rather than me trying to interpret his writing, I’m going to just quote a few key paragraphs:

“When God made this lovely world, he wasn’t making junk. He doesn’t want to throw it away and do something completely different, as though the idea of space, time and matter was a bad one from the start. No: he wants to abolish, from within this world, everything that corrupts and defaces and distorts his beautiful creation, so that he can give the world a giant make over. New heavens and new earth – like the present one only with everything that’s true and beautiful and lovely made even better, and everything that’s bad and sad and degrading abolished forever. That’s what we’re promised. Read Isaiah 65 again and see.

“…When Jesus was raised from the dead on the first Easter day, it wasn’t simply as though he’d gone on ahead of us… In Jesus’ resurrection a bit of God’s future, of God’s new heaven and earth, has come forward in time… The point of the resurrection is that at Easter a bit of the future – God’s promised future – has come forwards to meet us, ‘back to the present’.

“…In his death, Jesus had taken all the sin and death and shame and sorrow of the world upon himself, so that by letting it do its worst to him he had destroyed its power, which means that now there is nothing to stop the new creation coming into being. Jesus' resurrection body is the first bit of the new creation, the sign of the new world that is to come.

“…And that is why Easter is the start of the church’s mission. Let's be quite clear. The church’s mission isn’t about telling more and more people that if they accept Jesus they will go to heaven. That is true, of course, as far as it goes (though we ought to be telling them about the new heavens and new earth rather than just ‘heaven’), but it’s not the point of our mission. The point is that if God’s new creation has already begun, those of us who have been wakened up in the middle of the night are put to work to make more bits of new creation happen within the world as it still is... (We need to) start to pray for vision and wisdom to know where God can and will make new creation happen in our lives, in our hearts, in our homes and not least in our communities. That’s what ‘regeneration’ is all about. (See my preceding post for a confirming view from the Lutheran perspective.)

Wright concludes, “What we do know is that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, that God’s new creation has begun, and that we have to do two things: first, to be true to our own baptismal vows to die with him and to share his new life, and, second, to allow his Spirit to work through us to make new creation happen in his world.”

I’ve never heard the Christian mission better stated.

Lutherans Believe That Every Christian Has A Part In Administering God’s Grace In The World

We’re two lessons into our Sunday morning adult ed class on “Grace,” and already it is changing my perceptions and opening up fresh perspectives. The class is called DOWN + OUT – Where Grace Takes You.

The class consists of a six-part DVD discussion by several distinguished faculty members at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN. The supporting pedestals of the conversation were discussed in the first lesson: Justification and Vocation. We contemplated the idea that, through grace, God has justified us to serve – that is, to serve him in and through our vocation.

In yesterday’s lesson, we moved from the “up and down” concepts of the previous week to the “in and out” ideas of congregational life. We talked about the “priesthood of believers” (one of the basic concepts in the Reformation) and what our purpose is as we meet together for worship. And we learned the nuances of “vocation” and “call.”

If I’m understanding the course material correctly, I’m discovering that the grace of God leads us into a wonderful, freeing existence of becoming what he has created us to be. As our batteries are “recharged” by Word and Sacrament in congregational worship each week, we are empowered to live out our vocations as service to God – at home with the family, on the job at work and in our spare time with our friends.

Each of our actions in these various milieus is an expression of God’s grace at work in the world. For some strange reason he has chosen us to be the propitiators of his abounding grace. And he has done so in spite of our human frailties.

This prayer of Wendell Frerichs, from our class material, says it well:

Lord, what a curious way you have of bringing life and hope into your world, of working peace and justice, of showing compassion and love for all of your creatures. No hands but the hands of us, your servants; no feet but ours; no protection but such as we provide; no money but ours; no friends unless it be we; no shelter except we build it; no institutions unless we found them. Since it does seem to be so: Lord, be in our minds and in our understanding; Lord, be in our hearts and give us compassion; Lord, be in our feet to run your service; Lord, be in our eyes and be our insight; Lord be in our plans and be our hope; Lord, be in our present and give us a future. Amen

There May Be Hope Afterall

I watched and listened tonight to the young Senator from Illinois who spoke on TV from Virginia, after sweeping two Democratic State Caucuses as well as the Virgin Islands Caucus and one State Primary election today.

Barack Obama’s charismatic message is singular and pure. It is a message of hope.

Hope, he says, that the future will be different, under his leadership, if he’s elected the next president. So far in this campaign, I’ve been somewhat of a doubter, as effecting change in our Nation's Capitol is perceived as next to impossible. But after his rousing speech tonight, I’m ever-so-close to being a believer.

Few political leaders in our history could speak words and by them motivate people to believe and take action. FDR could and did; JFK could and did; and Ronald Reagan could and did.

It now is beginning to appear that Barack Obama also has this intangible, unidentifiable, and most unusual quality. I guess it’s now up to him to ride the momentum and see if it can land him the Democratic nomination this summer.

Tonight, with his oratory, he gave hope to the poor, the sick, the young, the worker, and the aged. He has the knack, as did JFK and Ronald Reagan, of believing and saying what your heart desperately wants to hear and feel.

I especially liked his challenge to young people who desire a quality education. “We’ll educate you through the university level,” he offered, “and then you give back something to your country.” He referred to a “partnership” whereby the newly, low-cost educated would offer a year or two of public service to such as the Peace Corps or any of a number of worthy causes.

I love it. Not just a free ride with the government providing a bucket of (tax) money for education, but a challenge to serve and a worthy goal to shoot for. Obama had several other interesting ideas for major problems, all based on hope. Good Lord, who is this young politician? This could work!

For the first time in my life, my vote for President may not be influenced by a particular political viewpoint but by the candidate (and I’ve voted in about a dozen Presidential elections). Hope is catching.

The Ironic Dilemma of American Christianity

First, let me say that this post barely scratches the surface of the topic. But I’m posting simply to try to bring up some considerations for us, as Americans, as we endeavor to live out our faith.

Some years ago I began an earnest effort to read everything I could get my hands on that might shed light on authentic faith considerations. I quickly discovered that our Protestant American Christianity, as well founded and compelling as it is, provides only a diminutive perspective of the total picture.

The Christian church, albeit divided and flawed in many ways, had already “prevailed against the gates of hell” for more than 1,500 years at the time when Martin Luther nailed his “95 Theses” to the bulletin-board door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. It’s only been less than 500 years since then, but the truth is that the North American church has “put on a lot of miles” in that time.

Part of the reason is that since the Reformation(s), denominations of every variety have sprouted and flourished in our American culture. The Christianity that has emerged has done so in the context of independence, individualism, competition, self-assuredness, self-expression, and (perceived) “freedom” – all esteemed American values.

And therein may lie the roots of the ironic dilemma of American Christianity.

The more I’ve read about “authentic” Christian faith, that is, seeking to follow the teachings and example of Christ in daily living, the more I’m discovering that virtually every one of these values we cherish as Americans are, in fact, quite the opposite of what Jesus espoused.

Gulp.

The “Kingdom of God,” or Reign of God, that began with Christ’s coming to earth in human form, was the beginning of the uniting, or bringing back together, of heaven and earth. Christ’s living among us began a foundationally, fundamentally and functionally “new world order”. And it requires a “conversion,” or turnaround, of worldviews.

Fr Richard Rohr says that conversion “is not a learning as much as it is an un-learning.” Fortunately, we have the life of Christ as our example. But it’s a revolutionary road on which we travel, and the path does not seem to conform much to the culture in which we live – our good old U.S. of A..

Jesus said that in his Kingdom “the last shall be first” and that the “first shall be last” (Matthew 19). What does this mean? Does it sound like anything remotely similar to what’s going on in our country where everyone wants to be “numero uno”?

Americans want “security,” so they hoard “things” and try to accumulate assets so they’ll have “something for the future”. Jesus, on the other hand, said, “Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, and He will give you all you need from day to day if you live for Him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.” Another contradiction?

As Americans we strive for success, recognition and status in our power quest. But Jesus said in John 12:34, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Do we actually believe we can do both, or that in this light, the power quest is even important?

I think the obvious emerging impression reveals that our American culture has shaped our “Christianity” maybe more than we’ve allowed Christ himself to do so. Even our churches often reflect this dilemma to a much-too-great degree (mega-churches, popularity preachers, “prosperity” gospel, etc.).

The prayer of our Lord says, “Thy Kingdom come, ON EARTH as it is in heaven.” To me, it is an ironic (and tragic) dilemma that American Christianity, as currently widely practiced, could be a far cry from what the Kingdom of God is all about.

Changing Our Way of Living

I’d like to walk a little farther down the path of the previous post topic. More pointedly, how is the Kingdom of God distinctly different from our culture (or any culture of this world)?

In Richard Rohr’s book, Jesus’ Plan For A New World (cited in the last post) Fr Rohr makes this appraisal: “When Jesus talked about the Kingdom of God, he was talking about an utterly different way of relating with one another than human society as we know it” (italics mine).

That appears to be radical, inside-out change from what we know and practice. Jesus used the parable of new wine skins to try to explain to his disciples what he meant when he talked about HIS vision of a HIS new world in Matthew chapter 9:

“Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”

Commenting on the above, Rohr makes these observations:

“Jesus’ image is this: ‘I’m going to give you a new vision of the world that you will taste like new wine, but it isn’t going to make a bit of difference unless you have some new wineskins. If there are not new structures that reflect the new attitude, then even the attitude will be lost. BOTH container and contents must be renewed—or they will both be lost.’

“We have traditionally tried to preach a gospel largely of words, attitudes and inner salvation experiences. People say they are saved, they’re ‘born again;’ yet how do we really know if someone is saved? Do they love the poor? Are they free from their egos? Are they patient in the face of persecution? Those might be real indicators” (in contrast to just the words).

From my perspective, we’ve got a lot to learn and a whole new way of looking at things to discover.