Culture – Page 4 – LOVE | ACCEPT

Shattered Advent Peace To Be Restored

Here in the Denver area we are inundated wall to wall with news of the horrific shootings that took the lives of missionaries and church goers on a snowy Advent weekend. Why a young man, a former YWAM trainee would be gripped by such evil and carry this out has not been determined and may not ever be. As the radio and print pontificators point out all of the cultural effects that bore on the shooter, some voices have brought out the question that is on the minds of many, where was God in all this?

How do we explain God’s economy in which good and bad comes upon the regenerate and unregenerate alike? Can the Church continue in our anticipation of the Birth in a way that demonstrates the trust we have in a God whose long term vision for the world is beyond our understanding? Can we demonstrate to those who have yet to meet the savior that our trust is secure, regardless of actions such as this?

I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord. (Psalm 40:1-3)

He has lifted us out of the muck and the mire and given us a solid foundation in which we live our new lives. It is firm and fixed and cannot be moved or shaken by worldly forces and we can trust in it. Though it might tremor from time to time as evil passes by, sometimes near, sometimes far, the Rock upon which we stand will hold us until that moment we are called home. The new song that God has placed in our mouths and in our hearts must be sung at the top of our lungs in times such as this. Our praise will catch the attention of those near and far and they too will put their trust in the Lord.

Pray for our fallen brothers and sisters and their families, YWAM, and New Life Church.

Philip Crouse

Philip Crouse was shot and kllled early today at the Youth With A Mission campus in Arvada, police said.

Rachael (left) & Stephanie (far right) Works

The Works family, clockwise from back left, Rachael, 16; Laurie, 18; Marie; Stephanie, 18; David and Grace. Rachael and Stephanie died in the shootings.

Tiffany Johnson

Tiffany Johnson, 26, identified as one of two people shot and killed at the Youth With a Mission in Arvada, is pictured on her MySpace page.

Maranatha! Come O Lord and bring us your peace!

Ravenhill Meditation

“Are the things you are living for worth Christ dying for?” — Leonard Ravenhill

The Master Chief in Church

Among the worst ideas ever was to use Halo in order to attract youth to a possible appointment with Christ. As expected, Dr. Groothuis has the closing words on this poor bit of judgement. Read it here. Ben Witherington comments as well.

Becoming a Gracist

I urge all of you to pick up David Anderson’s excellent book Gracism. As I’ve blogged chapter by chapter, Anderson roots his work in Paul’s admonition to the church at Corinth to be inclusive rather than exclusive. He gives the metaphor of the Body of Christ being similar to the human body in every part being dependent on every other part. Putting this idea into practice would have a ground breaking effect on the impact of the Church in the world. Instead of being seen and countless separate enclaves of exclusivity. How do we get there though? Anderson offers these five suggestions, all rooted in the Body being led by Holy Spirit.

Receive the Grace of God in Your Life First: It starts with us. Each of us who identifies as a follower of The Savior needs to ensure that we are fully surrendered to the work of the Spirit. Often we can be followers of Jesus for some time without allowing the Spirit to fully dominate our thoughts and actions. Until we do so, we will tend to be Christians whose actions and associations mirror the world at large be maintaining congregations of ethnic or racial separatism and exclusivity. Remember Galatians 3:26-28.2.
Reach Over the Color Line By Inviting Someone to Your Church of Home: Even if you don’t feel like you’ve received the spiritual gift of hospitality, it should be a practice that we seek to display. We do this by inviting people different from ourselves into our most intimate surroundings, our homes or churches. Just as Jesus crossed every line imaginable, we as His people must also work to cross these lines as well. Remember Acts 1:8.
Read on the Subject of Reconciliation: To be a bridge builder the Christian must devote the time and effort involved in the engineering practice. We must seek to understand not only our own corruption, of which the Bible provides more than ample evidence, but we must seek to understand the struggles, cultures, and dreams of our brothers and sisters of other races and ethnicities. Pastor David provides a short reading list at the end of the book of which I recommend all. I especially commend William Pannell’s book The Coming Race War. I once spoke with Mr. Pannell about my desire to make reconciliation a centerpoint of my ministry work to which he replied that it was the single greatest contribution the church can make in a world of desperate need.
Relate on Purpose to People Who are Different: Humans tend to associate with those most like themselves. Our natural tendency is not to seek out others who exist in a different circle but this is Anderson’s prescription. He suggests that we make it our business to go out of our way to work, shop, or play in areas in which we are most likely to encounter those different from ourselves. In doing so we move outside of our comfort zone, allowing ourselves to feel the pressure of moving in different circles. This will help us to empathize with those we invite into our little circles. Remember Jesus moving out into Samaria in John 4.
Link with a Church or Organization that Promotes Care for the Poor: This goes without saying and should already be a mark of every Christian body. Jesus clearly values the care of the less fortunate and therefore, it becomes our care. Remember Matthew 25.

Pastor Anderson closes the book with an African proverb that can guide all of us in bridge building. So long as we are willing to keep people unlike ourselves at a distance, it is easy to see them through a filter. Getting closer and closer allows us to see that we are all alike; fallen humans in need of the love of the Savior.

When I saw him from afar, I though he was a monster.

When he got closer, I thought he was just an animal.

When he got closer, I recognized that he was a human.

When we were face to face, I realized that he was my brother.

Gracism and Celebrating Together

The Gracist seeks opportunities to rejoice with others, seeking to be inclusive of all people in the celebration. Paul wrote to the church at Corinth about the twin needs to both suffer with those who suffer and rejoice with all who celebrate.

If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. (NIV 1 Cor 12:26)

This sounds like the easiest prescription of all in David Anderson’s fine book Gracism. Celebrate with those who celebrate hardly seems like it needs to be said but David reminds us of our tendencies; we celebrate with those who are like us but we have a buried envy of those unlike us who find success or celebrate their unique ethnicity, heritage, race, etc. Rejoicing with others seems to be easier than suffering with them, but our jealousy of their success, our envy at how they have overcome barriers, and worse often make celebration harder than we think. The circumstances are familiar:

someone in the body is having a baby, even though I am barren
someone in the body gets a new care and I’m still walking
someone in the body is getting married and I’m still single

Perhaps the best example that Pastor Anderson offers as an example of our struggle is Black History Month. Do we as the Body celebrate the achievements and struggles of our black brothers and sisters? Making a token mention of the event or inviting a black brother to speak in our pulpits or any other singular activity is not an adequate effort in unifying the Body. The eye cannot simply acknowledge the big toe, it must be consistently cognizant of the balancing contribution made by the toe and the struggles that it faces that they eye never sees. All races, ethnicities, and socio-economic divisions must seek inclusivity in all of their actions of ALL of the Body, regardless of how our corrupted selves feel about the efforts.

What if…we took Jesus Seriously…

and fed His lambs? When the Lord returned from the tomb, He had a conversation with Peter: (John 21:15-17)

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

¹⁶Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

¹⁷The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.

He gave similar instructions to the disciples in Matthew 25. We are to see His image in all people no matter how corrupted or marred that image may be. Because of this, when we feed, clothe, comfort or visit another, we are doing it directly for Him. So what if the Church took these instructions to heart and made it a key component of our mission. Specifically, what if we started by feeding His lambs. Not just once a month or once a week, but every day. Not possible we hear, we don’t have the resources, it’s too much, etc.

Well, wait a minute…

This is the tiny vegetable garden that we nurture in our backyard. Not very big at all and nurture is hardly the right word. My wife and I are not urban farmers, to be sure. We dug up the dirt, stirred in some manure, poked the seeds into the ground and gave a little water every so often. That mass of greenery at the back of the picture is four little squash mounds; two Zucchini and two Yellow Squash. These plants, with all of the lack of attention that we can muster and all of the abuse they receive by getting clipped back so that they stay in the yard, being walked through by the dogs, and the searing south sun and upper nineties temperatures we have had nearly every day this summer, these plants provide more produce than several families can eat! We share the bounty with the neighbors and friends and still we have fresh vegetables and herbs beyond what we can use. After we have shared and eaten vegetables in every conceivable recipe, we still find ourselves with leftovers.

If an inexperienced gardener like myself can produce bushels of fresh vegetables far beyond my own needs I’m led to wonder why the Church can’t replicate this on a larger scale for the good of those around us. Many churches, especially suburban and rural churches, are surround by some measure of unpaved area covered by grass, shrubbery and trees. What if we took a small (or large) section of this ground and turned it over to a productive purpose such as growing low maintenance vegetables for the benefit of the community. They could be shared with the immediate neighbors of the church, taken down to the rescue mission, canned and placed in the food cupboard, or cooked and served to those in desperate need of a good meal. The possibilities of this ministry are endless. The gardeners could teach others to cultivate some simple plants (like those monsters in my garden) to provide for themselves. Mission teams can take the lessons of low-requirement, high-yield farming to those they wish to serve.

I’m certainly not proposing anything original here. The Spirit moved me to take a look at the possibilities and I saw the abundance I have through fresh eyes. The Bible confronts me every day, as it must everyone, with the words of God. One wonders why we don’t always take them seriously.

Gracism and Modesty

Modesty is not a term often associated with discussions of race but David Anderson makes an intriguing point in the next chapter of Gracism. The discussion of modesty derives from the next verse in 1 Corinthians to be applied:

…the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty.

Modesty, in context, is more than just a reference to one’s manner of dress or personal actions. It is a reference to the covering of one’s vulnerable areas. David gives the example of clothing and how it can be alluring and expose parts of our bodies better left covered or it can be a shield of sorts, offering cover for those areas of our bodies that we don’t want seen or that need a bit of protection. As he brings the metaphor to bear on the body, we read the passage as saying that before we express judgement or decide to expose areas of the body of humanity that are unsightly or need covering, we consider the gospel impact of offering a covering first. In others words, there are some issues within the the Body of Christ such as race or culture that are best dealt with behind closed doors, behind a drape of modesty. David is quick to point out that this modesty is not the same as sweeping sin or abuse under the rug.

Special modesty clothes the manner in which we speak about other cultural or racial groups because we place the unity of the Body as our highest priority. Division within the Church, whether it be racial or theological, does nothing to forward the gospel and everything to diminish our Lord and the love he offers. The Gracist is committed to giving our all to contribute to the dignity of others regardless of our differences. We focus our energies on making each other look good rather than exposing our vulnerabilities. Christ is glorified.