Waving or Drowning?

A New Way of Being Human

One more for you from the God's Politics blog...

Jesus-Following vs. Social Activism (by Derek Webb)

Claiming to follow Jesus is a ridiculous thing to try and do. He's a really hard guy to follow, especially when he talks about loving the poor, loving our neighbors, and loving those who hate and oppose us. Loving people who love us is sometimes hard enough, but loving our enemies is just counterintuitive. It goes against every instinct in my body. When someone does or seeks to do harm to me or my family, it's my knee-jerk reaction, my default, to return violence with violence. I am violent to the core. To confess anything less would be a dangerous land mine to sneak over.

This is why it's so important to know who Jesus is and what he's asking us to do. And luckily, for our benefit, we have his answer recorded in a historical document. When asked point-blank, "What are the most important things we're commanded to do?" it's curious what Jesus says. And what he doesn't say. He doesn't mention all of the overwhelming issues of morality that we seem to obsess over in the Christian ghetto. He doesn't mention any of the countless issues that are dividing our churches left and right. He says, "Love God and love your neighbors," that, in fact, all of the law and prophets hang on these two commands, and that these are literally the context for all other commands we keep.

This is the work of following Jesus -- to love and care especially for those whom it is difficult. It is therefore never a political position to be on the side of the poor. Working for justice in all areas of society is not peripheral to the proclamation of the good news of Jesus; it is central. His message was not that of the individual salvation of men and women, but of the "being made right of all things." While this certainly includes the stories of men and women, that is such a small part of the whole. It's a story about our families, our environment, our governments, our neighbors, about the whole of what God has made. And proclaiming half the truth as the whole truth is no truth at all.

How do we tell the whole story of the coming reign of God, a new way of being human and relating to God and God's creation? We put our hands to it. We proclaim a day coming when there will be no more thirst by giving water to the thirsty. We proclaim a day coming where there will be no more disease and death by caring for the lives of those whose bodies are broken. We proclaim a day coming where there will be no more war by preemptively sowing the seeds of peace.

It's true: The Bible does say that there is a time to build up and a time to tear down, a time to rejoice and a time to weep, a time for peace and a time for war. But we live in anticipation of the day coming when there will be no more time to tear down. There will be no more time for weeping. There will simply be no more time for war. Soon we're going to run out of time for these things. This is the day we work for. This is the day we pray into today.

Derek Webb is a singer and songwriter. His latest album is Ampersand EP, a collaboration with his wife, Sandra McCracken.

I love the opening line of the piece. When you think about it, following Jesus is almost impossible. Almost. That we've made it relatively painless and easy should tell us something.

Girl Power

I just scored a copy of Jen Lemen's very limited zine for Delta House. Read about it all over her blog, and read more and buy one here.

I'll be seeing Jen (hopefully) in a few days in Rwanda!

Whatever

I love this quote (via the God's Politics blog):

I don't care if you're dead! Jesus is here, and he wants to resurrect somebody.
~Rumi

Food & Africa

A large percentage of the world is facing a food crisis, while another large percentage struggles with obesity.

When is the church going to start talking about this?

'Act to end Africa food crisis'

Action is needed to prevent the current food crisis in Africa from becoming a disaster, the official heading a new UN food task force has warned.

Sir John Holmes told the BBC the solution to food shortages would be different for each country but there had to be a co-ordinated approach.

Escalating prices and shortages have sparked riots in more than half a dozen African states in recent months.

He said vulnerable children, pregnant woman and the old would be prioritised.

"We'll be trying to put together a comprehensive plan of action, but of course that needs to be translated into a local plan," he told the BBC's Network Africa programme.

The United Nations task force brings together the UN, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and other agencies.

Much of the focus appears to be on the need for some kind of "green revolution" among farmers - especially in Africa.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently said the world would need to find $1.7bn (£860m) to help them buy the seeds and fertilisers they needed.

Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/7400073.stm
Published: 2008/05/14 08:33:55 GMT

The Neural Buddhists (UPDATED)

David Brooks has a fascinating column in this morning's NYT.

In their arguments with Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins, the faithful have been defending the existence of God. That was the easy debate. The real challenge is going to come from people who feel the existence of the sacred, but who think that particular religions are just cultural artifacts built on top of universal human traits. It’s going to come from scientists whose beliefs overlap a bit with Buddhism.

Read the rest here.

UPDATE: Reformed thinker Jim Schaap shares some thoughts on the same column here. Thanks to Matt for pointing it out to me.

This is Home

John La Grue posts on his friends Jon and Tim Foreman who have written a song for Prince Caspian. First is the video for the song, and second is Jon introducing it and giving us some insight into its writing.

McLaren in the Post

The Washington Post has a brief interview with Brian McLaren:

Q: You reject the word liberal to describe yourself.

A: What do you mean by the term? If liberal means you believe ... you should help the poor, and your bias should be toward peacemaking rather than war-making, then I'm a liberal. But if liberal means that government can solve all of our problems and that secularism is better than faith, and that it doesn't matter what you do in your personal life and that morality is up for grabs, then I'm not a liberal. And I could say the same thing about conservative.

There's not a lot there, but it's worth a read.
(h/t to Dave)

Readin', Ritin', and Rwanda

Being sick this week hasn't done my writing much good, but it has allowed a lot of reading time. I've plowed through C.S. Lewis' Space trilogy, and my already immense respect for the man's abilities continues to grow. He was a literary genius. The 3 books are incredible; each very different, and very wild. Creatively and imaginatively, Lewis was a man before his time.

Now I'm left to figure out what reading material to bring with me on my trip to Africa. I've got some long flights, and some long layovers.

Here's what's in the pile already:

1. Jesus' Plan for a New World: The Sermon on the Mount (Richard Rohr)
2. Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism (Muhammad Yunus)
3. Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet (Jeffrey Sachs)

That may not be the end of the list, but I definitely need a novel too. I'm thinking about World Without End (Ken Follett), which is apparently the sequel to the astounding The Pillars of the Earth. (Hopefully there's a paperback edition out there---this stuff adds up in space and weight, and I'm only taking one bag.)

Anybody want to suggest anything else?

Good News?

Some days you just can't hide from it.

Photographer Gary Chapman has a short video up on his blog.

Miriam Wanjekeche is 26 years old and giving her life to 10 adoptive children. In this 3-minute video she speaks about her children and the hope she has for them. The still photos were shot at her home as well as three other homes we visited.

Click here to watch the video, then come back for a moment.

Here's the thing we can't hide from. If the gospel you and I are representing doesn't have something to say to Miriam (beyond, "Its OK, Jesus knows your pain" and "Hey, don't worry, you and the kids will go to heaven when you die), if it isn't good news for Miriam, then it's just not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Most days we can pretend this isn't the case. Most days we can pretend that the gospel is about being nice people, believing the right things, living a good life, and going to a good church. Most days though, we don't have to face Miriam.

I'm going to think about that for a while.

Thanks

Brian Walsh has a post on gratitude we all need to read.

...Now I know, you might be thinking, “well this is all nice and sweet, but nice and sweet is not what we have come to expect from Empire Remixed.” And you’re right. Nice and sweet hasn’t got a snowball’s chance in hell in the face of empire.

But gratitude … that’s something different.

Read it here. Please. And thank you.

Africa-Bound

9 days and counting until I'm off to Africa... can't wait!

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the pot. I've set the widget up to close on May 11, so there still a few days left for you to participate if you would like to. To reiterate, All my expenses to and for the conference are already paid for - that is not what this is about. I know when I'm there I'll run into opportunities to help... there will be no end to them. (For instance, while I'm in Burundi we'll be visiting an orphanage. And when I say orphanage, I mean someone who has taken in about a dozen orphans out of the goodness of their heart, and now is faced with the daily challenge of making ends meet. These are the kinds of needs I'm talking about.)

If you'd like to join in, PayPal will take as little as $1, so there's no such thing as "too little." Just click on the ChipIn widget to the right. I promise to put your money directly into the hands of someone who needs it, and when I get back I'll let everyone know where and how their money is helping.

Thanks.

Caputo in Toronto

Speaking of summer school, a friend has alerted me to some great courses being offered this year by the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto. Sylvia Keesmaat's class is on right now... I would have loved to be there for that, and John Caputo will be in town later this summer.

There's some great stuff there, so take a look.

Christianity and the Political Economy of Capitalism

Time to continue the ever-so-slow march towards the Masters degree...

I've signed up for a Summer School course at Regent College, and I'm really looking forward to it. Since Paul Williams came to Regent a couple of years ago I've heard him lecture a few times, and I've been waiting for a course like this to come along.

This course aims to explore the relationship between Christianity and capitalism. It will consider capitalism both as an economic system and as arguably the dominant ideology of our age. The course is designed to meet four major objectives for students:

1. To develop a deeper understanding of capitalist economic thought and its historical and ideological origins in both the Enlightenment and the Christian faith;
2. To appreciate how compelling the logic of capitalism is even in the face of the widespread criticism that has been directed at it in recent times;
3. To explore the ways in which capitalism functions ideologically in modern culture and as such seeks to colonize and influence all areas of culture, beyond the commercial realm, including the church, the family and the polity;
4. To consider and develop what a transformative engagement of the gospel with modern capitalism might be.

INDS 583: June 30-July 11, 8:30-11:00 am
2 or 3 graduate credit hours

For the keeners in the audience you can download the full syllabus and check out the extensive reading list.

Loving Creation

It is not allowable to love the Creation according to the purposes one has for it, any more than it is allowable to love one’s neighbor in order to borrow his tools.
~ Wendell Berry, The Gift of Good Land (via Inward/Outward)

Jesus Wants to Save Christians

I'm sitting here listening to an Off-The-Map interview of Rob Bell talking about his next book, Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile... and the hair on the back of my neck is standing on end.

Good News (Updated)

Another quote for you from Shane Claiborne's Jesus For President.

This one resonates loudly, as I constantly seek the balance (ordinarily a term I despise) in protesting the actions of uncaring governments, and understanding that we are the solution.

Our president is not organizing another political party, nope... not even running with Nader on the Green ticket. Jesus is forming a new kind of people, a different kind of party, whose peculiar politics are embodied in who we are. The church is a people called out of the world to embody a social alternative that the world cannot know on its own terms. We are not simply asking the government to be what God has commissioned the church to be. After all, even the best governments can't legislate love. We can build hundreds of units of affordable housing (a good idea, by the way) and people still might not have homes. We can provide universal health care and keep folks breathing longer (another nice move), but people can be breathing and still not be truly alive. We can create laws to enforce good behavior, but no law has ever changed a human heart or reconciled a broken relationship. The church is not simply suggesting political alternatives. The church is embodying one.

The idea that the church is to be the body of Christ is not just something to read about in theology books and leave for the scholars to pontificate about. We are literally to be the body of Jesus in the world. Christians are to be little Christs--people who put flesh on Jesus  in the world today. You are the only only Jesus some people will ever see. The promise of the church is this: none of us alone are Christ (that's blasphemy), but all of us together are Christ to the world (that's ecclesiology). (p.228, emphases mine)

UPDATE:

It's easy to have political views--that's what politicians do. But it's much harder to embody a political alternative--that's what saints do. (p. 235)

HopeMonger

mon·ger  [muhng-ger, mong-] – noun

Chiefly British. a dealer in or trader of a commodity (usually used in combination): fishmonger.

I'm very fortunate to have a creative friend like David duChemin. On Thursday we were downtown catching up over a tea when I mentioned that I needed some new business cards. When David asked me what I wanted, I said I loved Africa, and I loved the word hope. The rest was up to him.

Here's what he came up with:

The image is his, the design is his.... the guy is a creative genius. He has a great eye, great technical skills, and great design talent. He may be on a blogging break at Fearfully Human, but his PixelatedImage photography blog is off the charts in popularity. Let me be blunt: If you work with an NGO, if you need work done at all you need to get in touch with David. End of story.

This image, btw, brings back a lot of memories. The Koro Abili IDP camp just outside of Gulu, Uganda, last March. Home to over 13,000 displaced Ugandans. I think this camp had been there for at least 10 years, so this guy was likely born there, and this small hut has probably been the only home he's ever known. We split into a couple of groups to tour the camp, and each group of a handful of muzungu's was accompanied by at least 100 kids. This little guy came to his door, undoubtedly to see what the fuss was all about. There's nothing like a parade to bring the kids out. James Pearson was not far away, having just showed us the Invisible Children bracelet work being done in the camp. 16 hours I will never forget, and now I'll relive it every time I look at the cards. And my fancy new splash page too. Can a redesigned blog be far behind?

One more photo for you - David and I in Rwanda. Dude, I am glad to be on the road with you:

Saturday Morning Communication

Sue and Jen are still in Bangkok so Pete and I co-captained the weekly Saturday Morning Delta House Waffle Breakfast & Cleaning. Daniel, L'il Sarah and Andrew (who probably didn't know what he was getting into when he slept over last night) worked hard.

The soundtrack for the morning was U2's Communication, which I think was a freebie for signing up from U2.com a while back.

City of Blinding Lights (Live from Chicago)
Vertigo (Live from Chicago)
Elevation (Live from Chicago)
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (Live from Milano)
Miracle Drug (Live from Chicago)
Miss Sarajevo (Live from Milano)
The Fly (Live from Chicago)
With or Without You (Live from Milano)

Outstanding... Miss Sarajevo is one of my favorites.

Pax Romana

"When the church takes affairs of the state more seriously than they do Jesus, Pax Romana becomes its gospel and the president becomes the Son of God. After all, what is the point of calling anything God if it does not also hold sway in every part of one's life---especially one's politics?

For Jesus and his followers, the central question was, How do we live faithfully to God? But then the church inherited a kingdom. And it wasn't the kind of servant kingdom Jesus imagined and incarnated, not the kingdom of the slaughtered Lamb; it was the dominant and coercive force in charge of the world, even in its pursuit of establishing "justice for all." Instead of faithfulness, the question was, How do we run the world as Christians?
(Jesus For President, P. 166-167)

All I Need

Seems like as good a follow-up to the previous post as any...

h/t to James