SHOULD WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE CHURCH?
I get nervous every time someone asks me what I do for a living. I hate this question because telling a stranger I am a pastor invites all kinds of responses. And, at times, these responses have been negative.It is believed Mahatma Gandhi said, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." Statements like these have been made millions of times, and with good reason. Many of us live unlike Jesus.What I heave learned is that negative responses to my line of work have nothing to do with who I am, because most of these people don’t know me. They are just responding to Christians in general.+ Read More
HERE TODAY, FORGOTTEN TOMORROW
Chances are good you do not know the names of your great grandparents. Perhaps you do, but do you know the names of your great-great grandparents? Most do not. Truth is, they are long forgotten. And one day the same will be true of you and me.
One day we will die, someone will sprinkle a bit of dirt on our grave, and the few who knew us will mourn our passing, until they one day pass on as well. Within 120 years everyone on who is currently alive on this earth will experience death.
So far, this is a cheerful blog, isn’t it?
It’s not often I ponder death, and even less frequently dwell on my own death. When I do, I consider not just my death, but the one life I have been given. I ask questions like, “What, for me, is success?” and “What am I really after?” and “What do I want people to say about me when they stand over my grave?”
For many of us we live for such short-term goals - things that will never give us what we truly long for. Consider our culture that is deeply obsessed with fame. I am in the midst of reading The Beckham Experiment. It outlines the glory and struggle of David Beckham coming to the United States to play in the MLS. Central to the story is our fame-obsessed culture. In fact, that’s what made the Beckham coming to America thing work.
And I do not believe any of us are immune to it.
We obsess over famous people, and down deep inside have hopes of getting there ourselves. But for what? A few minutes in the midst of life when people tell us we are great? Then what? Let’s not forget there are few people who transcend time and become lasting icons. In fact, there are millions of famous, great and wonderful people who have been totally forgotten.
I told you this was a cheerful blog.
Looking at life this way can give us much-needed help to understand how cheap fame, success and fortune really are. When this happens we are freed to live fully in the present. We are freed to not entangle ourselves in the climbing the ladder of glory of fame and fortune. We can live each day, and do the next right thing. It’s tremendously simple, but unbelievably difficult.
When we pursue the glory of fame and wild success in this world we run the risk of only inheriting the things that we have gained here on this earth. There are those who have had it all, but, in the end, they are forgotten.
Which raises the question for each of us that’s worth asking often: “How would you live today if you knew that tomorrow you would be completely forgotten?”
THE GREAT THING ABOUT THE FLU
A couple of weeks ago, around 6 PM I told my wife I didn’t feel “right.” I wasn’t sick, but I knew something was wrong. Four hours later, I was laid out with a 102º fever. The flu had finally caught up with me – big time.
Until then, I had never had the flu, at least not like this. This is why whenever someone would talk about how terrible the flu is, I’d roll my eyes thinking they were soft. What I didn’t know was all these years I had mistaken a bad cold for the flu.
Then I spent three days laid out and beaten down. It was then I realized those who spoke of the terrible flu were not soft; they were right. At one point I wore a t-shirt, a long sleeved t-shirt, a hoodie, flannel pants, wool socks and a bathrobe while on my couch under two blankets. I was both sweating and shivering. Then there was the back pain that caused walking to be a chore, and made getting off the couch an ordeal.
While all of this sounds miserable, don't be fooled. There were great things about having the flu. I slept more in three days than I have since I was an infant. I watched several films, documentaries and even an episode of ABC’s Wipeout. I lost nearly ten pounds (everyone wondered how I, already skinny, pulled that off). And, I kept thinking, "At least this isn’t a terminal illness!"
It was actually quite wonderful when I think of it this way.
Now, at this point you may be saying, “Yeah, but you had the flu. How wonderful can that be?” And if you are thinking this, that is exactly my point. Nothing about the flu was anywhere near wonderful; even if I try my best to make it so. Because there is not one thing that can change the fact that for three days I was miserable.
Yet, as obvious as this is; I often see us do this exact thing with our emotional pain. We all have moments when we lose control of a relationship, circumstances, employment or a habit - this causes pain. In the midst of times like this, I’ve heard many say, “Well at least I still have a roof over my head!” Or, “It’s okay, now I can finally move on.” Or, “When I consider the pain of others, mine is not really that bad.”
In a very subtle way, comments like these dismiss our pain. What we forget is that pain hurts, and pain was never meant to be compared. If you break your arm it hurts. If, while in the ER someone comes in with a broken femur, you may think, “At least I only broke my arm!” True. But it still hurts and needs time to heal.
In times of suffering, pain, disillusionment or frustration the best thing we can do is stop and admit that life is difficult. Pain is a great teacher, and we are often guilty of ignoring what it wishes to teach us because we pretend it’s not there. What a shame. The best thing we can do is admit that, at times, we don't feel "right." Then we can address the wounds that so desperately need healing.
Thoughts on Remembering 9/11
Looking ahead to this day I thought of what I would write on this, the 12th Anniversary of 9/11. One of the most horrible days in history.
However, between not feeling well and swearing off the internet on weekends, I never got around to writing anything. Thankfully this was not the case for everyone.
This morning I came across two blogs that were exceptionally thoughtful, compassionate and reflective. I thought I'd share them with you. One is from Sarah Bessey the other from Glennon Doyle Melton.
Sarah begins her blog saying:
Make a bit of room in your day for the remembering, for the grieving, for the praying. America, we are all praying for you and loving you today. How has it been twelve years since we all beheld the sight of towers crumbling, planes against a blue sky, unflappable news man Peter Jennings unable to speak?
+ Read MoreGlennon writes:I’ve been trying to add more ritual to my life, just to remind myself that an ordinary day is something quite holy. That certainly isn’t hard to remember today, though.+ Read MoreMay these blogs speak to all of us on this, a day for remembering all who suffered because of, and as a result of, those terrible acts.
THE NEED TO ACCEPT THE REALITY OF EVIL
There is no place in this world for a criminal like Ariel Castro. This is what Judge Michael Russo told Castro at his sentencing after he pleaded guilty to over 900 criminal counts.
The charges against him stem from his abduction, rape and assault of three women he kept imprisoned in his home for 10 years. His crimes are the kind of insidious evil that cannot be imagined. Today, Castro is in the news again, because on Tuesday night, in his jail cell, he committed suicide. +Read More
When I read the article I had a strange feeling that whoever he was had been dead for a long time. And I wondered how we should feel about his death. It’s easy to say, “Good riddance.” If anyone deserved to die it is that guy. It wasn’t an execution; he chose it - so be gone. Understandably, this is the response some had.
Others have said the right response is to remember that this is a loss of life. And any loss of human life is a tragedy. No matter what Castro did in his lifetime, his death should be mourned.
I can understand the sentiment of both viewpoints – and feel torn between both myself. But both seem to be rooted in denial. More specifically they appear to deny, maybe even ignore, the reality of evil in our world. This should come as no surprise, we are great at practicing denial. We do all we can to keep the dark realities of our world at arm's length so we do not have to deal with them.
But then a person like Castro is all over the news, and we don’t know what to do. Perhaps this is why we do what comes naturally … we rage. I’m not talking about the righteous anger we should feel in a situation like this. I’m talking about the kind of unhealthy anger that causes us to make idle threats about what we’d do to a guy like him if we ever got our hands on him.
All the while we fail to see that anger is only fear coming out. Which raises the question, “What are we afraid of?” It’s possible the answer has to do with our inability to accept our world as it is – with all of it’s evil and darkness. When we are confronted with wickedness in our world it terrifies us, and we act out of that fear.
It may do us well to recognize the evil that is in our world, and do so armed with the confidence that even the smallest light is more powerful than the greatest darkness. We must remember that we were not given a spirit of fear, but one of strength and love.
In this, we can be honest about the darkness, and by doing so we are freed from anger and freed to grieve - even for the life and death of people like Ariel Castro. We can grieve over the reality of evil in our world. It’s possible that if we can accept the presence of evil, we will come to the place where we pray, cry out and work all the more toward that glorious day when there will be no place for evil in our world.
MY SON WAS DEAD AND IS ALIVE AGAIN
“This son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!” These are the words the father spoke upon his son's return in what is commonly called the parable of “The Prodigal Son.
No other story in story in Scripture grabs my heart like this one. The whole scene that Jesus created in that story is overwhelming to me each time I read it.
Now, a video has gone viral that shows a father being reunited with his son. A son he believed to be dead. It’s beautiful, and like Jesus’ story, overwhelming. Here is the story and the video.
A ROCK STAR PREACHER
Sometimes rock stars step into the pulpit and we need to pay attention. Recently, Billy … ahem … William Corgan gave an interview on CNN. (Watch the clip here.) In his interview he made several humorous comments about Christian Rock Music. But that was not what captured my attention. Rather it was his comments about suffering and rock ‘n roll.
Here is what he said: “There's a long established concept that gets bandied about, which is ‘Misery makes for great art’ … you're basically saying, ‘Suffering's good for business.’ And I don't think suffering's good for business … I think suffering or the gestalt of, ‘Here I am, ripping my heart open’ - I think that lasts for about two or three albums. At some point, you have to mature into the deeper work … constantly posing an existential crisis, either through fantasy or oblivion, really has been pretty much explored in rock and roll.”
His comments could well be about Christians and the Church too. Over the last several years there has been a needed and renewed emphasis on being honest about suffering without trying to explain it away. We have moved toward embracing it, speaking openly about our, and admitting how messed up we all are. This is good and needed. But let’s remember, it only “that lasts for about two or three albums.”
I say this because there are some who seem to be more than okay with stopping in the pain, suffering and brokenness of life. I once had someone say to me, “We just need to sit with people in the crap of life.” And I agree, but we also need to be willing to - at some point - move forward together.
And Corgan gives us such a direction. When asked about the future of rock ‘n roll music he replied, “I think God's the great, unexplored territory in rock and roll music.” His insight has much to teach us: he moves from suffering toward God. And we must take that second, most important, step.
This is exactly what Jesus did. He did not stand by wincing at the mess we’ve made of our world and ourselves. He entered it fully and sat in the crap, but he did not stop there. He proclaimed good news. What was good about his news was that we did not have to sit in the crap forever.
Suffering is where we have to start. This is one of the unfortunate truths about life. All of us will experience suffering. If you think that is not the case that’s because you haven’t suffered yet. But the good news of Jesus said the story doesn’t have to end with suffering. He not only spoke of this, he is living proof of it.
Jesus took upon himself the suffering of the world. While on the cross he shouldered the suffering, pain, scorn, shame and sin of the world. He was tortured, nailed to that instrument of execution, bled, died and was buried. We call this tragic day Good Friday.
But the story did not end on Friday. It ends (and begins) with resurrection. Life, not death, has the last word. And this is our future.
The good news of Jesus is that we don’t have to sit in the crap forever. When he encountered broken people he offered healing. When he sat among sinners he told them, without judgment, of forgiveness. When he met those who were suffering, he joined them in it, and showed them a way out of it. Jesus was insistent that we can experience the transforming power of grace.
His message was to tell all of us about a God who loves us exactly as we are and exactly where we are – in all of our mess, shame, sin and pain. This same God is one who loves us so much, he can’t bear to keep us in that place. But invites us to move into healing and wholeness and new life.
Suffering has it’s place – as a starting point. But we must never forget our future – the God who who entered our suffering to show us the way forward. Thanks for the sermon, William.
IT TAKES TWO TO TWERK
Clad in nothing more than a tight fitting, flesh colored vinyl bra and underwear while grinding and dancing all over the stage Miley Cyrus was more popular than the Super Bowl - at least for one night.
Her performance at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMA’s) astonished millions. So much so that there were more tweets per minute than the Super Bowl receives. The morning after the show millions more learned about her performance that left Will and Jada Pinkett Smith with their mouth’s agape.
Overnight, Cyrus became, for many, an easy target, and a punching bag for those who were outraged by her risqué act. But there seems to be something that nearly everyone has forgotten. Miley Cyrus was not alone on that stage.
With her was Robin Thicke. He is a 36 year-old husband and father. For many years he was not well-known until his song, “Blurred Lines” turned him into a smashing success.
The lyrics to “Blurred Lines” speak about the vague line of a girl being either a good girl or “an animal.” And the lyrics do not stop there. They move into the arena of sadism and, some have claimed, speak about the line between consensual sex and rape.
Two highly sexualized videos were made for the song. One featuring topless women, and the other featuring women clad in nothing more than a tight fitting, flesh colored vinyl bra and underwear. The same outfit Cyrus wore at the VMA’s.
MTV has promoted these videos, and many others like them. MTV provides of never-ending, sexualized vision to women. Their message constantly says the most important thing is the appearance of their body, and whether or not they are willing to give it up.
Let’s not forget it takes two to tango, or, in this case, twerk. Sure, a few comments here and there have been made about Thicke, but he has largely gone unscathed amidst the vitriolic criticism since Sunday night. Meanwhile, we are outraged only at Miley.
This ought to raise some questions for us regarding the way we have responded to the VMA performance. From Facebook to Twitter people have condemned Cyrus, the former Disney Kid, for what she’s done. But it’s worth asking why we have said little about Robin Thicke, and ignored MTV who set the whole thing up?
Perhaps it’s due to the fact that we have become exceedingly comfortable with the exploitation of women. It’s commonplace and it’s everywhere.
A few days ago I walked into a store in my neighborhood. Hanging on the wall were two large photos of women wearing skimpy bikinis leaving little to the imagination. No, it wasn’t that kind of store. It was a beer display in a city corner store.
And this is normal.
Women are objectified because someone, somewhere concluded that the naked female body is good for sales. And we have largely accepted it. This constant exploitation of our mothers and sisters and daughters has led to a slow, continual degradation of women in our culture. So much so, that when a husband and father like Thicke sings about injuring a women during sex no one is appalled. Rather, the song turns him into a star.
And it’s not just the overt sexualized images that lead us to demean women. It happens in much more subtle ways too. Ask yourself, “When was the last time you heard a snide comment or a joke about women?” This is more commonplace than the images on a beer display, far more accepted and it’s alive and well in the Church.
Sexism, chauvinism and misogyny are not just tolerated; they are embraced. These attitudes, possessed by many, lead to the same view of women. What is subtly taught and caught is that the existence of women is on a different, lower plain than the existence of men.
These attitudes run so deeply in our minds that when a 20 year-old young woman prances around on stage grinding teddy bears, we fail to notice or comment on the husband that was on stage with her singing about a brutalized form of sexuality. Our society has so lowered the innate value and worth of women that the one who receives nearly all blame for the whole scene is Miley Cyrus. We have judged the exploited, yet said little or nothing of the exploiter.
It’s high time we change our tune.
It’s time that we speak up about the constant exploitation of women in our world. It is destroying all of us. It’s time that we cry out against chauvinism that is embraced and championed in our society, and, even worse, in our churches. It’s time to fight against misogynistic teaching, preaching, writing and thinking that continues to teach women they are second-class.
Perhaps the best place to begin is with a sorrowful repentance. So many rushed to judge and criticize Cyrus, but how many of us were truly saddened by what we saw? Many of us are guilty of sitting back, saying nothing and accepting these attitudes toward women. We need to turn around and think differently. We need to repent.
We must return to the beginning which reminds us, “God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
It’s easy to throw rocks at Cyrus. We can do better. Before we rush to judgment we may do well to examine our own attitudes that we harbor toward women. Only then can we properly address the influences and cultural norms that lead to songs like “Blurred Lines”, and performances like we saw at the VMA’s.
Perhaps, if we commit ourselves to honoring our sisters, millions more will be astonished for all the right reasons.