Summer Reading

I love summers. I also love that there are so many good books to read. And sometimes, when I am lucky, the stars align and I am able to enjoy both at the same time. Hooray!

I have a few thoughts on some books I have been reading but before I get to that, I would like to share a few thoughts on reading:

I have two friends who in the span of two days, or maybe it was on the same day, said to me the following things: "Ben, you read too much!" and, "I don't understand how people read!" (Disclaimer: I have large amounts of care and respect for both of these people. I admire them and am inspired by them in many ways. Just not when it comes to reading.)

I think a little piece of me died when they said those things. But good thing Jesus is in the resurrection business! It really isn't as dramatic as I made it sound just there.

I have now started five paragraphs in a row with "I." Self-important much?

If I kept a list of things that were vital to my growth as a human being, reading would be in the top five because I wouldn't count necessities and there have to be at least four other things that are more important than reading, I just can't think of them right now. Reading helps me learn what I didn't know I didn't know. It opens me up to entirely new worlds of possibilities and ideas.

Sometimes it borders on obsession. Like I have some compulsive need to constantly fill my brain with words that other people wrote. Sometimes one isn't enough. I will read like 4 or 5 books at a time. They will all be in various stages of completion based on how important I feel they are to finish. I will be reading one and really enjoying it and see another book that looks interesting and then put the first one down, start and finish the new one, and then finish the first one (see the post below with Culture Making and The Reason for God).

But how can you think that reading is weird or that people who do it are weird? Come on!

Ok, on to the books.

One of my goals this summer is to read books by minority authors. These books have typically been about the topic of multi-ethnicity. Having said that, the first book I want to talk about is by two really white guys.

Jesus Wants to Save Christians by Rob Bell and Don Golden

Remember that preaching conference I went to back in July? No? Read this post and then come back to this one. Done? Ok. Well, at said conference, the Zondervan publishing table was giving away free ebooks and audio books of this book. I gladly accepted the free offer (who wouldn't?) and proceeded to download the audio and burn it on to 3 CD's. So I guess if we want to get super technical about it, I haven't actually READ this book. I have listened to it twice.

This book (And the next one I will talk about) most certainly falls into the category of books that are re-shaping my theology and views on my faith and the role of the church and stuff like that. And all in a good way. I feel like my understanding is getting bigger and more compelling.

Jesus Wants to Save Christians is essentially a "New Exodus Theology for Dummies" book. The authors walk the reader . . . er . . . listener in my case, through the Bible viewing it through the lens of this perspective. New Exodus theology, as I understand it, mostly from this book, states that the main narrative of Scripture is that of God bringing all of his creation out of slavery and bondage. This is a very interesting reading of the Bible and I like it. I had heard whisperings of it in different places but this was the most developed I have seen it. The Exodus found in the book of Exodus serves as a precursor to the big exodus that is happening right now. Jesus was the passover lamb for all creation and following him allows us to "escape from Egypt" so to speak. Wow, that doesn't make any sense when I explain it here but it does in the book. Probably because they use the whole book to develop it.

One of the things I liked most about this book was how they called out America and the American church on a lot of things. America is an empire. Make no mistake. The Bible was written by people who were oppressed by a foreign empire. This perspective is crucial to understanding Scripture but often gets lost to those of us who are children of the empire. Here is one of my favorite quotes.

"Jesus was a middle eastern man who lived in an occupied country and was killed by the superpower of his day." There is something to think about . . .

The Next Evangelicalism: Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity by Soong-Chan Rah

I was first introduced to Soong-Chan Rah (Prof Rah) at a conference called "Shalom." It was an InterVarsity conference dealing with the topics of race, ethnicity, and reconciliation. Prof Rah brought the thunder that weekend. He said some really challenging things and I have had an enormous amount of respect and admiration for him ever since. So I was very excited to see that he had written a book. I bought it with a sweet IV Staff discount. BOOYAH!

Rah's basic premise is that the church in America has been held captive by western culture. Because of this, American Christianity resembles Biblical Christianity less and less. This is becoming a problem because the demographics of the USA are changing dramatically, as are the demographics of global Christianity. Multi-ethnic, minority, and immigrant churches are thriving while predominantly white churches are declining. How will the white church respond to this?

This book was super challenging and super important. Each chapter brought up new things that I had never really thought about but know that I need to now. What has been the impact of globalization when the Christianity that is exported to the world is dominated by western culture? That one was troublesome.

Prof Rah claims that the church in America is captive to western culture in three main ways: Individualism, consumerism and materialism, and racism. It is tough to argue with his points as he has done a ton of research and has personal experience with all of them. These things have a broad effect on the church and eh spends much of the book filling those out.

A section I found particularly interesting and engaging was his take on the "emerging church." Why is it that the only people who are seen as leaders in the emerging church are white men? Why is that church noticed but the Korean immigrant church (which has been very successful and is growing very quickly) is totally overlooked?

I highly recommend this book for anyone who has had a feeling lately that something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Be prepared to wrestle your way through it but to come out on the other side with a much wider perspective.

Invitation to Lead by Paul Tokunaga

This book topped my list of ones I wanted to read this summer. I help to lead a college fellowship and there have been a number of gifted young Asian-American students who have become leaders in our group. I see this as a huge gift with a lot of potential and I wanted to do everything I could to learn how to lead them well and train them to be the best leaders they can be. This book seemed perfect because that is what it is about: Asian-American leadership.

Paul Tokunaga (Tok, as people call him) has been a pioneer in Asian-American leadership in InterVarsity. He has blazed a trail that many have been able to follow. I have little doubt that he will go down in IV history as one of the most significant leaders of the movement. The book is basically a simultaneous journey through his own development as a leader and what he has learned about AA leadership over the years. I found it to be very enlightening, fun, and powerful. He is a very accessible writer who connects with his audience well. Even though the book was primarily written TO potential AA leaders, a white guy like me can still enjoy it thoroughly and learn a lot. I have recommended it to my AA students and I look forward to discussing it with them when they finish.

Too bad they are the ones who don't like to read. Ugh.

The Word Became Flesh

I have been thinking about that phrase a lot lately. I have been thinking about it in a way that I honestly believe will change everything if I am not careful. But first, let's play with an idea for a second:

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the spirit of God hovered over the waters. And God said, 'Let there be light,' but nothing happened and it was still dark."

"know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and memorize his commands . . . Therefore, take care to memorize the commands, decrees and laws I give you today."

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Boil it down into propositions that can be easily learned and repeated."

"This is love for God: To remember his commands."

"The Word became text and dwelt in our books and in our statements of faith."

You are correct in noticing that something is not right. Something is VERY not right. Because in Genesis, God speaks into darkness there is light. In Deuteronomy, God keeps his covenant with those who love him and obey his commandments. In James we are deceived when we listen to it but fail to do what it says.

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

It gets me thinking. Is it possible that all along, God's words and the Word were always supposed to become flesh? Were they always supposed to be lived out in blood and bones and skin people?

Am I going too far to say that the ideas and truths that Christianity tells are worthless if they never become flesh? Think about this for a second: (this is not my idea, but it really got me thinking so I am just passing it along) If a biologist or a physicist or an engineer or a computer scientist has a significant moral failure, does it discredit their work? If Isaac Newton was shown to be a drunken womanizer, would you think that his second law was a silly outdated rule? If Stephen Hawking, through his awesome and kind of creepy electronic voice emulator said a racial slur, would it take away from his theories on the universe? Well, no, it wouldn't.

How many students at OSU would want to hear the Gospel if they found out that I got another student pregnant? If I spent all my money "pimping my ride?" If I was addicted to alcohol? Nobody would! In fact, even when I find my life is normal with no huge failures, the Gospel STILL doesn't seem that powerful. I think that is because the Gospel isn't normal, it is revolutionary.

I can yell from the mountain tops until I am blue in the face, "GOD LOVES YOU!" I can whisper to every single person I cross paths with that there is a God who sent his son to die for them. And if I lose my voice, I can hold up a sign for all to see. But none of those will ever be as powerful as someone living like it is true.

Mother Theresa picking a sick man off the road in Calcutta and allowing him to die with dignity.

Spending the day in a orphanage simply holding babies because no one else will.

Taking a few afternoons a week to mentor and befriend an at-risk youth.

Submitting to the leadership of someone who most of the time has no power.

Inviting the new kid over to play.

Giving that guy a ride to the social security office.

Who are you going to believe? The guy with the sign, or the couple who cooked you dinner when you were sick?

The Word must ALWAYS become flesh.

I think we have put a little too much faith in propositional truths. "Jesus my Lord and Savior." "The Bible is the inspired word of God." And if I may be so bold, "Homosexuality is wrong."

There is a time and a place for propositions. They can be good things to hold on to when we begin to lose our way. But I think that a truth about God or Jesus or Scripture or spirituality is only as good (and as true?) as the amount that it is made flesh in you, in us.

So we say that Jesus is our Lord and Savior. That proposition is nothing unless it becomes flesh. Do we submit to him the way that the Romans submitted to Caesar? That is what it means to call someone "Lord." You do what they say. Do we look to him to save us from the things that are destroying us or do we run to those very things? Do we look to our money, our success, our girlfriend or boyfriend, ourselves, our possessions? Why should anyone believe us if we don't? if they can't see it in us?

The Bible is the inspired word of God? Really? Do we study it? Do we mine the depths of Scripture to find the invaluable treasures contained therein? Do we tenaciously search them? Shoot, have we read the whole thing? (I haven't)Or are we content to cling to a few passages and verses that give us comfort? Are we satisfied with what we know and feel no need to put things in their immediate and big picture context?

Do we do what it says?

Do we forgive like our own forgiveness depends on it? (it does) Do we actually love the poor and let justice roll down like waters? How hard do we try to be the light of the world?

If homosexuality is so bad, and if allowing gay people to get married is such a huge threat to the sanctity of marriage, then why aren't our relationships and marriages the greatest thing the world has ever seen? Wouldn't the best case for "traditional marriage" (whatever we mean by that. Arranged? Polygamy?) be to have an amazing marriage?

Because the Word must always become flesh.

It is easy to hide behind a proposition. It is harder to live it out. Especially if the word becoming flesh takes you where you are uncomfortable, where your preconceived ideas don't hold up to the reality of what you are seeing and experiencing. If humility and service does not come easily to us. If we don't like how homeless people smell. If loud black men make us uncomfortable and intimidated. If we don't understand the language or the culture. If it is not the way we were brought up. If your dad was an evil man. If I am addicted to this thing.

If propositions are enough, then why did God not just send us a list? A 12-point propositional treatise explaining what humanity should believe in order to be saved. He didn't. He sent Jesus. A human being. A person.

Jesus was not and is not a proposition. And neither are we. We are people. We are flesh and blood. How could we possibly think that the world will be changed with words? They are powerful. But they are only powerful if we do something with them.

Because the Word must always become flesh.

I am putting on a retreat for college students before this new school year starts. I am hoping to do it in town so that I can be near to the campus. This is good for a number of reasons. I also don't have a lot of money to fork over to pay for a retreat so I decide to send an email to about 10 churches in town asking if they will let us use their building for the retreat. 3 respond. 1 says they can't and I appreciate them letting me know. Another has space, but they are going to charge us what could end up being quite a bit of money to do it, and they guy who knows how much never gets back to me. But then the third church says they are interested. I go over to said church (Crossroads Christian Fellowship in Corvallis) and talk with the pastor. He tells me that the Church has a heart for being beneficial to the larger community and not just the people in the church. So they would love to partner with a campus ministry. He tells me that we will basically have the whole church to ourselves for the retreat. He will give us a key. He will give us access to the office so we can make and print fliers. He will let us be in the sanctuary and we can move the chairs around to play games in there. He says that we are welcome to use the church anytime we want.

And you know what that does to me? It makes me feel like there is hope. The Church (universal) can be the light of the world. Churches (local) are not always consumed with their own programs and too busy to be a blessing to their community. Maybe this Gospel I preach is real. Maybe Jesus can transform people. Our ministry is valuable and worth investing in. As are the students at Oregon State.

A church doing what the Church is supposed to do? Woah. That is something.

Because the Word must always become flesh.

And that time, it did.

The Case for Early Marriage

So I stumbled upon this article in Christianity Today . . . today. I would talk about it but why don't you just read it for yourself and then post some of your thoughts.

Do you agree with the author?

What should we do in response?

Where are all the single Christian men? (Writing blogs in their living rooms!)

Let me know what you think. Let's have a conversation.

Choose Your Own Title

I have 5 working titles for this blog and they are all so good that I can't choose. Yay for humility!

1) Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
2) My Hilarious Life Part Deux
3) A Face-Melting Good Time at the Epicenter of Progressive Culture
4) In the Land of Thick-Rimmed Glasses and iPhones
5) Peter Rollins is a little Irish Fireball

Actually, looking at them, 3 is the best. On with the story!

Flashback: Early June. Location: Qdoba, Corvallis, OR.
I was getting some delicious burritos with my housemates when my friend from Idaho, Jeremiah, calls me up. He asks me if I would like to accompany him to a preaching conference put on by Rob Bell in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I was already going to be in Madison, WI for an InterVarsity Staff conference. The preaching thing would start the day after the staff thing ended. Of course I said no. That would be too much. But I told him I would think about it. 10 minutes later I changed my plane ticket and called him back saying I would go. That is how I make decisions. So if I tell you no, just give me ten minutes. I'll come around.

Flashback: Last Wednesday. Location: Inn on the Park, Madison, WI
Upon my arrival in Madison, I meet up with Jeremiah only to discover that I have no way to actually get to Grand Rapids. This would seem like a big deal to some people. But for me, it falls in the category of, "It may be happening in 3 days but something will work out. Don't worry about it." The staff conference was great. I ate at my favorite noodles place in Madison. Yummy!

It was the night before I was supposed to leave and I still hadn't figured out how to get to grand rapids. I tried to buy a train ticket from Madison to GR, but there wasn't one. So I bought one from Chicago to GR. I had solved 1/3 of my problem. I now needed to get to Chicago AND get to a place to stay once I got to GR. The next morning at breakfast, I asked some other staff if any of them were going to be driving through Chicago. The first person I asked referred me to his room mate who was driving by himself to Indiana and had a spot in his car. BOOYAH!!! 2/3 done. Right before I left, Jeremiah called me to let me know that some other staff in GR were going to pick me up from the train station and let us stay at their brand new house that they hadn't even moved into yet. To quote Hannibal from the A-Team, "I love it when I plan comes together."

Great car trip, great train trip, awesome hosts in GR.


And this conference . . . Daaaaaaaaang. It was called "Poets, Prophets, and Preachers: Reclaiming the Art of the Sermon." Jeremiah and I very liberally used the term "face-melting." It was great. So many great ideas. There was seriously so much that blew my mind that I can't even begin to describe it.

One thing I noticed very quickly, Rob Bell kind of draws a certain crowd. Namely, the thick rimmed glasses crowd. I think only 1 in 4 people there DIDN'T have them. There was a moment when Rob was using a chair as a prop illustrating the throne of God and he put his glasses on them and then forgot about them. I didn't notice but then a few minutes he remembered them and said, "Oh, this won't do." I almost died. Thick Rimmed glasses are at the center of the universe. Awesome. Also, every time there was a break, I would look forward and notice a whole bunch of people all take out iPhones. It was also hilarious.

A quick word about Rob Bell. Lot's of people have different opinions of him but there is something I noticed: Homeboy talked about the Resurrection of Jesus and its Earth-shattering implications more than any other pastor I have ever heard. So do with that what you will. I was encouraged and challenged by it. Do I do that?

Also: Peter Rollins is a little Irish fireball.

Books!!!

Hey everybody!

Why do I feel the need to write on this thing so late at night? I have no idea. Well, actually, I do have some ideas but they aren't that important.

Tonight's entry will be some book recommendations. I was going to say "reviews" but honestly, I liked all of them so I will just tell you a little about them and then you can go read.

The Reason for God by Timothy Keller

Ok, I heard about this book a little while ago and actually watched a seminar the author did at Google headquarters last year. I wanted to read it but never wanted to drop 20 bucks on it. So imagine my joy when I went home for winter break and my mom just comes up to me and says, "oh, I just bought this book. It looks interesting." And there it was. So naturally, I read it in two days.

Keller spends the first half of the book dealing with common doubts about God and Christianity and spirituality that people have and does it with a lot of respect for the doubters. He knows his stuff, people. If you are at all familiar with the arguments he mentions, which I am, it makes the book that much more readable. the next half of the book is his reasons for why he thinks Christianity is true. I thought the best chapter in this section was "The Knowledge of God." In this chapter he proposes that everyone "knows" there is a God but they just don't acknowledge it. We all know what is right and wrong, but why? what is our moral standard? There is a lot more to his argument than that but I will let you read the book for it. If you want some good brain food, pick this one up. Speaking of brain food . . .


Culture Making by Andy Crouch

Hot diggity dog this was a fun book. I am on staff with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and every so often they send me a chunk of new book that IV Press is releasing. This one just came in the mail. I read it about a month later. It was probably the most interesting book I have read in the last two or three years. I was glued to every page.

Crouch's thesis is that Christians have typically taken four postures towards the larger culture (never mind the four chapters he spends defining culture!): condemning it, critiquing it, copying it, and consuming it. None of these are inherently bad, but they fall short of what God intended for us. He argues that we are called to cultivate culture, that is, to develop that which is good and make it better, and create culture. This is a book I will almost certainly be reading again. I HIGHLY recommend it.


I Once Was Lost by Don Everts and Doug
Schaupp

Another book that was just sent to me. I know both of the guys who wrote this book and have an enormous amount of respect for them and the work they do and who they are as people and Jesus followers. This is a book about what it looks like for "postmodern" people to come to faith in Jesus. They have, through interviewing over 2,000 college age people who have become Christians in the last decade, discovered five thresholds that people go through on their journey to faith. The first is simply learning to trust a Christian. Anyone who interacts with non-believers these days knows who big that is. The second is becoming curious about Jesus. The third is being open to letting Jesus change and challenge them. The fourth is seeking hard after answers to their questions. The fifth is actually becoming a committed Jesus follower.

For each stage they offer stories and practical advice for people coming alongside their friends. This book is SOOOOO helpful in learning about where different people are and what might be helpful to them. Again, I HIGHLY recommend this one. I recommend it even higher if you work in ministry with young people.


And now for some fun reading. Once or twice a year I dive into wonderful escapist fiction. This last year, I took a stab at some authors who were new to me. These are both fantasy books that deal with magic and wizards and dragons and such. I will review the trilogies as sets and not the individual books.


The Liveship Traders by Robin Hobb





I had never read anything by Robin Hobb but some good friends of mine were pretty keen on these books so I thought I would give them a try. The three books in the Liveship Traders series are Ship of Magic, Mad Ship, and Ship of Destiny. The basic story revolves around a family of traders who work on ships made of a special wood that actually comes to life after three generations have lived aboard the ship. It is a pretty interesting concept. Think "Pirates of the Caribbean" only way less confusing and with better characters. Of course, no story about ships and sailing would be complete without pirates. And oh, are there pirates in this one. The villain, Kennit, is a wonderfully complex character. I never knew whether to root for him or hate his guts. There is a side story involving a group of sea serpents that I didn't really like until I figured out where it was going. These books were pretty stinking good. I loved the characters. That was probably the best thing about them. I can read just about any story about anything as long as the characters are real and believable. All that to say, these are a good summer read. Enjoy!

The Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind



I am saving the best for last here. I have only read the first three of a twelve book series, but wow, these were so much fun to read. It was the beginning of winter break and I wanted some good fiction. I went to Borders and almost picked up another Robin Hobb book, but then the Terry Goodkind shelf caught my eye. I will admit, I was drawn to the books not only because of their sleek cover art, but also because the books were thick. I thought I would get more for my money with a thicker book. I was not disappointed. The books I read were Wizard's First Rule, Stone of Tears, and Blood of the Fold.

The story, like most fantasy stories, begins with a guy from a middle of nowhere place who lives a normal life. Unbeknownst (that is a great word to write!) to him, he is a man of great destiny and importance. He is the Seeker. A true seeker. One who seeks the truth in all circumstances. He is called upon to fight against a man named Darken Rahl. How's that for a scary name? I won't get too much into the story here because it was just so much fun to discover it all as I went. There are so many twists and turns here. The characters are so alive! The bad guys are REALLY bad and the good ones all have serious flaws. These stories are very adult. What I mean is, they don't sugar coat anything. There are some really disturbing scenes here. Not for the faint of heart. For me, they just upped the realism, which is helpful in a story where people use magic and talk to dragons. The books also touch on themes that are very common to us all: friendship, loyalty, love, good vs. evil, and a lot of others. There are also great political questions raised. One of the most compelling parts of the story is where the heroine, Kahlan, must lead a group of 5,000 young men into battle against an army of 50,000 who are hell-bent on killing anyone in their path. I pretty much sat in my room all day and never stopped reading these. If you like fantsy, you will LOVE these books.

I Have a Hilarious Life

She came in at 4:45am.

She said calmly but firmly, "Ok, it's time to wake up."

Then she held up an alarm clock that began playing a very pleasant (but loud) wake-up song.

I lifted my head from my sweatshirt pillow and smiled.

Scattered amongst the pews and all over the floor of Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church in Long Beach, California, roughly 40 InterVarsity Christian Fellowship staff workers began to stir.

And I remember clearly thinking to myself, this is hilarious!

Cue the Lost flashback woosh.

I had flown to Long Beach with a few other staff from the northwest to do a Bible Study "dig-in" through the first four chapters of The Gospel of John at Campus By The Sea on Catalina Island. We were getting prepared for our big student missions conference, Urbana, coming up this winter. Oh, this is an important detail: It was raining.


In order to get to Catalina, you have to take a boat. I would say ferry, but then you might be tempted to picture a large boat filled with cars, like in Seattle. This was a boat. It was much closer to the type of thing that takes you from Pier 39 to Alcatraz than the thing that takes you from Seattle to Bainbridge Island. Although, come to think of it, those are called ferries too. how about a picture. Yes? Our boat was supposed to leave around noon.

We showed up at 11am and waited. Gradually, more and more staff trickled in. I can always spot InterVarsity staff at a terminal. Yes, this time I was specifcally waiting for them, but it reminded me of all the times I have been at airports and seen people I KNEW were IV staff. There is just something about us. I don't know if I can put my finger on it.

The weather had not changed but I did not expect that to be a problem because I was used to the Seattle ferries and they had never seemed to rocky. But we soon received an announcement that our boat had been canceled. I heard something about "gale-force winds." I am no sailor, but that sounds bad. We waited around for a little while and ate lunch. I led some of my friends through "The Cube" and talked politics. Aren't stimulus packages fun? That's what she said. Moving on!

The next ferry was supposed to leave at 2. aaaaaaaaaand it got canceled. So our leader, Bruce, said we would be moving to a church where we would be for the rest of the day. We had work to do and couldn't let something petty like gale-force winds stop us. IV4Life! So we packed up and migrated to the church. Along the way I learned the difference between GPS and triangulating your position. That is a nice way of saying we got a little lost and the iPhone was not much help, but it was still so cool!

After a few hours of digging in to John, and taking a wonderful little cheap shot at the staff from USC (Go BEAVS!!!) it was time to turn in for the night . . . BUT we had to get on the first ferry out and that sucker was leaving at 6:15 in the a.m. And the really fun thing was that the only place for all of us to sleep was on the floor in the sanctuary. So that was where we slept.

So why was this hilarious?

Come on! How many companies can expect something like that from their employees and receive virtually NO complaining? How many could do that and have everyone feel like it was a normal thing to happen? I can't really think of any. And that is why InterVarsity Staff are awesome.

What's even better is that was just the beginning. I learned a little something about "residual swells" on that boat ride. Apparently when the gale-force winds stop, the waves think it is fun to still be huge and make you want to throw up. Then we went to this crazy island that had wild bison running around. Yes, BISON. We stayed in cabins with no electricity. The camp looked like New Otherton (for all those Lost fans out there). There was even a patch of ground that looked like a hatch had blown up in it. Oh, and my friend got eaten by a monster made of black smoke. Ok, that last one isn't true but wouldn't that have been SO COOL!!??!?!

And then we studied the Bible for two days. Who does that?

That is why I have a hilarious life. And I love it.

We have to go back Kate!!! We have to go BACK!!!!

Thoughts on The Church and Prop 8.

Ok. I am not sure how this one will turn out so bear with me. What you are about to read is a thought process. It is not a well-researched thesis with infallible logic. It is an attempt to sort out the many different and often competing ideas swirling around in my head. This may come off as really random and without flow so I apologize in advance. I welcome any input to the conversation.

This blog was inspired by the passing of Prop 8 in California. The proposition banned gay marriage in the state.

Before I start, I want to make a few things very clear: I am a follower of Jesus. I believe he is the Word made flesh. I believe he died on a Roman cross taking the sins of the world upon himself. I believe he rose from the grave. I believe His spirit dwells within his followers. I believe the Church is his body on earth. I believe the Bible is my authority and when properly interpreted and followed, can change us in a radical way. I believe that following Jesus is the absolute best way to live for both the individual and the world. Ok?

And due to those beliefs, I believe that a homosexual lifestyle is not an appropriate way for a follower of Jesus to live. I also think that a greedy lifestyle is inappropriate way to live as well but no one really talks about that. Ok?

An overwhelming percentage of Evangelicals (I consider myself Evangelical) supported the prop. No doubt they were motivated by their beliefs in what the Bible teaches about homosexuality.

So that is the current situation we are dealing with here. Before I talk about it any further, I want to reflect on the state of the world that the Church was born into 2,000 years ago.

Rome was the most powerful empire the world had ever seen. The Roman Emperor was the most powerful man in the world. He was believed to be the Son of God, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Christians were forced to be an underground sect because they refused to worship the Emperor. During the reigns of Nero and Domitian, persecution of Christians became state sponsored and totally out of control. Christians who would not bow to the Emperor could be killed on the spot. Nero used the bodies of Christians as tiki torches at his parties. Domitian required people to worship him in order to participate in the economy.

It was in this environment that the early church flourished. Much of the new testament was written during these times. Leaders of the church called believers to perseverance in the face of extreme suffering. They considered it an honor because they could participate in the sufferings of Christ.

They had absolutely no political power. And they thrived. They outlived the Empire.

Fast forward 2,000 years. Christians in the U.S. not only live in a society that allows them to worship without persecution, but they live in a society where they are a significant voting block and can sway the outcome of a presidential election (remember 2004?). Our society resembles Rome only in the sense that we are (or were depending on how you look at it) the most powerful and influential nation in the world.

That, to me, poses some problems for us in the Church. Jesus never sought political power. In fact, he called people to enter the Kingdom of God, something totally unrelated to political power. The Kingdom is where God had rule, where losing your life means finding it, where the servants are the greatest, where the first are last and the last are first. It is a place where sickness is trumped by healing. It is a place where the poor sit at the seats of honor and the rich and powerful are humbled. It is subversive. It is hidden. It is a tiny mustard seed that turns into a tree that blesses all who come to it. It is not of this world and does not operate by the same rules as earthly kingdoms and governments.

If anything, Scripture teaches us to be at the very least skeptical of governments. A common image for them is that of a beast.

So what does the Church do when we actually have political power? How do we use that power? DO we use that power? These are questions I have been wrestling with. Hasn’t history shown us that when you combine religion with political power, bad things happen? To be fair, officially removing religion form public life also has bad results.

I also think that when the Church becomes too powerful (politically) it begins to move away from the teachings and life of Jesus. His power came from God, not form being legitimized by the government. Remember, they were the ones who wanted him dead.

Many Evangelicals think that allowing gay marriage to be legal threatens the sanctity of marriage. Does it? What about people who get married and don’t believe in God? Is their marriage ok? Is the greatest hope we have for the world that everyone would be married to someone of the opposite sex? That feels like setting the bar really low and also sounds virtually nothing like what Jesus preached. What about people who get married in Las Vegas in a drunken stupor only to get divorced the next day when they realize how stupid they were. Is that marriage still sacred?

More questions:

Why does the church need to be legitimized by the Government? The church in China is illegal and it is exploding with growth. India is not super friendly towards Christians and the government often turns a blind eye towards persecution, but it is spreading like wildfire there. Why do we need to be different? Maybe if we had a little hardship and suffering, we might see our faith deepen and we might be forced to get back to what Jesus taught rather than try to legislate our version of morality.

If gay people can’t get married, should we also not allow greedy people to get married? Should people who have cheated on their spouses not be allowed to visit them in the hospital because they violated the sanctity of marriage? We just aren’t consistent. We want the government to protect something that we don’t even have a good track record with. Everyone knows the divorce rate amongst Christians.

Here is a situation that I think could work. Make gay marriage legal and allow churches to not have to do it. Why wouldn’t that work? There is a clear separation of church and state and first amendment freedom of religion. Yes, we would take a lot of heat for it but so what. I don’t get the feeling that the early Church stood outside the Roman senate and demanded that the temples where male prostitutes would go be closed because it violated their beliefs.

The American church has had a TERRIBLE time reaching out to the homosexual community and a terrible time addressing the issue in their own congregations. I am fortunate enough to be in Christian communities where I could wrestle with the issue if I needed to, but I don’t think that most people feel like they could. If you were struggling with homosexual feelings and longings, would you go to the church for help? I am just going to go guess that you wouldn’t. That is sad. How did we get to the point where the people who loved to hang out with Jesus now feel like they can’t go to church?

Again, this is a jumble of thoughts, unorganized and incomplete. I know I have more to say but I am tired and need to go to bed.

Thoughts? Leave a comment.