Sinful Thoughts: An Introduction
Sin is an interesting thing to say the least. To be honest, I am traditionally a little hesitant to speak about such a subject.
Some have chosen to use sin, and all they believe it is, to create “in groups” and “out-groups.” They do this by carefully crafting exactly what they believe sin to be. Then they point at people who are not like them and accuse them of what they have carefully crafted. Identification then becomes easy. There are “sinners” and us.
This kind of narrow thinking is often spurred on by pastors and ministers, and absorbed with little thought by many of their followers. Few would subscribe to this kind of thinking, especially when stated in such a harsh way (as it is here).
But let’s be honest, most of us have an opinion about sin. In my experience our opinion about sin usually involves what others are doing wrong - rarely does our opinion of sin start with ourselves. As soon as we begin to use sin to differentiate ourselves from anyone (and I mean anyone) we err.
While sin is a small word it has been transformed into a massive weapon. A weapon used to divide, to belittle, to puff ourselves up, and to dismiss many.
Much rhetoric about sin has been used to exclude. Most dialogue has devolved into a monologue, and the subject of sin is used as a soap box for the self-righteous to climb up on to preach damnation to the wandering masses. Given this, I feel that there is a lot to overcome to even begin speaking about it.
These are a few of the reasons that I do not like to talk about sin. Not because I do not think that it exists. Not because I want everyone to like me. Not because sin is not very trendy. Not because I am a relativist. Not because just saying the word “sin” sounds punitive. The reason I do not like to speak much about sin is because of the way sin has traditionally been spoken of.
As I sit and talk with people I have noticed something. Whenever the subject of sin arises in conversation I frequently sense a tension enter the conversation. A tension, mind you, in them and in me. Don't get me wrong, I do talk about what is going wrong in our lives and our world, but I often find myself using synonyms for sin that just sound a little nicer. Words like mean, broken, dark, Boston Red Sox, etc.
So then, why do I now wish to write about sin and talk about sin as "sin?" Truth be told I have had a lot of sinful thoughts lately (don’t judge, this simply is a poetic way of saying that I have been thinking about sin – which also sounds a tad off). As I have contemplated sin, what it is, how we go about sinning, how we approach it, and many other facets I am learning a great deal.
More and more I am optimistic about sin. In many ways I am warming up to it and liking the idea of sin more and more. So much so that sin may just edge its way back into my conversations and teaching. For now however, it is relegated to my blog.
Over the next space of time I will be writing some thoughts about sin. Feel free to chime in. This, as always, is intended as a place to begin conversation – not end it.
Two Sides of the Same Journey (Part Two)
Last week I sat in a 9’ x 9’ home (think sheet metal fastened to scrap wood – more like a shack) in Mathare. Mathare is a slum in Nairobi. I was there with Dave, Kara, and Moses. Moses works in Mathare caring for the children there who otherwise would have no one to care for them. Shortly before being in the home, the four of us were on a riverbank watching more than thirty men brew Chang’aa.
Chang’aa is what we would call “moonshine.” It is a brew that can cause blindness and in some cases it causes death. It’s literal translation is, “Kill me quick.” In our context we might compare chang’aa and its addictive qualities to meth.
After our spectating was done, we walked into this home where three people were seated. All of them live in Mathare. They poured a glass of chang’aa for us. If the brewers of the chang’aa were the ones making the meth - then these people were the ones dealing it. Nearly 10,000 miles away from home and there I was - in the home of a drug dealer.
Immediately we could begin parsing out the right and wrong of this story.
We could speak about the illegal trade of brewing chang’aa. How those who brew it are responsible for the death and blindness of many. We could observe that those who sell it (like the women who poured us a glass) and say they are lawbreakers, and are guilty of supporting a dark addiction. Some, no doubt, would even pride themselves on how quickly they could break it all down into categories of right and wrong or good and evil.
But there in that home with a glass of chang’aa on the table in from of me, it was not that easy. I realized that often we are seduced into thinking that we can make statements about one thing or another that are true for all times, all places, and all people. But it is not always that simple.
Often our rules, regulations, norms, behaviors, political viewpoints, and social constructs limit the vast expanse of the Kingdom of Heaven – and often God himself. Even our theology can do this. Many make sweeping statements laced with a lethal amount of dogma, and compound the problem by tacking a bible verse or two on it to support what they are saying.
Over time these constructs become accepted, collective thinking. Through this certain behaviors and rules become normative and (worse yet) authoritative for us in the way we live. We do this all the time in our world, especially, it seems, in religious circles.
The problem with this is that many of our norms, behaviors, and even our theology is not rooted in the Text but in our culture. Our cultural norms and expectations often become more foundational to us than Scripture. We ignore context and assume that our statements can exist outside of it. But this is never the case.
Every assertion, statement, and belief comes from the mind and heart of a person who is situated in a particular context. Like it or not, our zip code often influences much of the way we see the world. There is nothing wrong with this - as humans we always speak from a point of reference. The danger however is when we live as though we are beyond context.
There are few things that are abundantly clear in the Bible. Those things can serve as pillars for us; they are foundational. There are many more things however, that are hard to understand. While we tend to feel more comfortable living in black and white; the Bible invites us to live in a world of vibrant color.
Which brings us back to the house in Mathare, where a glass of chang’aa was in front of us. Moses asked us, “How do you preach the gospel to these people? Do you start by telling them selling chang’aa is wrong? If they stop selling it they will starve and not be able to pay rent. If I start by telling them they are wrong, then they will stop listening to me. So what do I say? How do I preach Jesus?”
Dave, Kara, and I had no response. I mean, what do you say? I thought of my wife and my three children. If I was desperate what would I do to feed them? Is it right to break some rules to save their life? How far would I go? Sitting on a couch next to this woman I realized these are the questions she is forced to ask everyday.
After a moment of silence and contemplation, Moses said, “I’ll tell you how you preach the gospel … incarnation. Simply being the hands and feet of Jesus in this place.” With that he stood up and paid them for the glass of chang’aa and we walked out.
I had this sense that I was in the midst of scandal, which is right where Jesus was much of the time. With Jesus, it was not so much that he was breaking God given rules, but more that he was breaking the permissible guidelines that many had created - boundaries that were a construct of humans. In the event that God showed up outside their box, then they presumed that it could not be the work of God. This is why they accused Jesus of being a part of the kingdom of darkness.
I am learning that we tell our story trying to place God in it. But we are called to tell God’s story, to discover where God is working, and find ourselves in God’s story.
I am learning that we live in a creation of our own making and invite the Creator to live within it. But we are called to live fully in God’s creation and discover the Creator in the most unlikely of places.
Places, like a shack in Mathare where chang’aa is poured out. The kind of places Jesus sat when he was on this earth. The places he still sits, present in people like Moses, embroiled in the scandal of grace.
Two Sides of the Same Journey (Part One)
On November 3, I, along with Dave Neuhausel - DCC’s Pastor of Outreach - and Kara Hamblen boarded a plane in Denver. As we sat waiting to board, all the talk around us and on television was seemingly about the elections that had happened the day before. The newspapers and news websites showed pictures of certain candidates with their hands raised in exalted fashion – victorious over their vanquished opponent.
Facebook and Twitter were no better. Every other update had something to say about the elections. Some posts griping, others expressing excitement, and others giving glib advice. Our country was passionately enthralled in the political scene and Christians were right in the middle of it all (and sometimes the loudest).
I have to be honest, it was nice to fly away and leave all the chatter far behind. Hours after take off we landed in Nairobi. We met, and spent time with Pastor Steve. A man, who had a position of privilege, and gave it all up to work 135 Kilometers outside of Nairobi in a small village called Eburru.
We sat with Pastor Steve and listened to him share his passion, and speak of how the Gospel was transforming the lives of so many in Eburru.
We met Mary, who is the Chief OR Nurse in Kijabe Hospital. On weekends she gives all her time working Camp Bretheren Clinic in Eburru – giving medical care to anyone who comes. No one is ever turned away – and most medical care is given for less than $2.00.
We met Chege, a 25-Year-Old visionary who lives in Eburru. Chege is in school and plans to finish in two years. He told me, “I have fifteen young men that I am mentoring, teaching them about God. We are going to work to solve many of the problems in Eburru so that this place will be better when I am gone.”
We met Wanjungua (she is to the right in the picture) who owns Neema Café. Neema, in Swahili, means grace. Mary renamed her café neema after she learned about the grace of Jesus.
We met 25 pastors from Eburru, Naivasha, and Kasaroni. Some of these men had been pastors for more than 30 years. Their deep understanding of God’s love and how they continuously gave that to their people was moving.
In Nairobi, we had lunch with Dr. Caleb Kim. He is from South Korea and is a brilliant theologian. As we ate lunch together I enjoyed sitting at his feet and learning from him – from his deep knowledge and wisdom. Then he said, “The more I learn about God, the bigger I understand him to be, which then teaches me how little I know.”
We met Gideon. He works with Center for Transforming Mission(CTM). CTM is working in 22 schools in Nairobi mentoring students and teaching them about life decisions. Through their work many are staying in school and receiving a proper education. The work they do is far too vast to even begin writing about it.
In all of our time spent with all of these wonderful people one theme has emerged over and over. The Kingdom of Heaven – expressed in love, grace, hope, mercy, joy, compassion, and justice. The Kingdom of Heaven – made tangible by our brothers and sisters who perform the Gospel every day in Kenya.
In all of this we have not spoken about government, elections, candidates, or politicians. It seems that these men and women know that the our hope is not rooted in our Empires, but in God’s Kingdom – and they live out this reality in this world. This has provided a striking contrast to me.
On one side of our journey were men and women bound by the political scene of America. On the other side of our journey we met men and women gripped by the Kingdom of Heaven who were making it a deeper reality here on earth.
This contrast has caused me to question where the allegiances of many lie in America. Allegiance is exclusive – there is no such thing as dual allegiance.
When I see the often misguided passion many who claim to follow Jesus give to the American political arena (often expressed through angry rhetoric, disparaging remarks about candidates, with a dose of fear-mongering and sarcasm) I wonder if we give the same passion to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Time in Kenya
Like Toto I, along with Dave Neuhausel (our Pastor of Outreach) and Kara Hamblen (an elder here at DCC) are “gonna take some time to do the things we never have” (I am now finished with the Toto references) – and by that I mean that are going to Kenya together.
Several have asked about our travel schedule, what we will be doing while we are there, and how they can be praying for us. I wanted to take some time to answer each of those questions for you, and thank you in advance for praying for us as we are gone.
First: Travel Schedule
We leave Wednesday evening from Denver with a direct flight to Heathrow Airport where we make our connection direct to Nairobi. We will arrive in Nairobi Thursday night, and on Friday morning travel to Eburru. We will be in Eburru until Monday morning and will then head back to Nairobi, and arrive back on Monday afternoon.
We will be in Nairobi until, Thursday, then it is time to head home. We will go back the way we came, connecting in London, and arriving back in Denver at 3:30 PM on Friday, November 12.
Second: What We Will Be Doing
While in Eburru we will meet with several pastors and churches, exploring ways to partner together. While there Pastor Steve, who has started a school, a clinic, and has networked several pastors, will be our host. We will visit his clinic and school, and have the opportunity to spend a day with several of the pastors in that area of Kenya.
We will continue to explore partnerships in Nairobi as well. We are excited to see firsthand how our friends The 10/10 Project provide empowerment and education to those living in Kenya. We will also visit and spend time with those who are a part of the Center for Transforming Mission in Nairobi – a wonderful group of Kingdom minded people.
Clarity for us, specifically ...
Our time with Pastor Steve and Eburru. That we'd be able to see what God is up to and sense what's going on, and that we'd be able to discern well if this is a fit for DCC or not.
Our connection with our friends The 10/10 Project and experiences that would allow us to discern our future role with 10/10 and their business education and microfinance initiatives in the slums of Nairobi.
Our time with those who are a part of the Center for Transforming Mission.
Travel, not so much for safety (which we would love for you to pray for as well) as for making the connection in London on the way over. We have a small time frame in London to get on the Nairobi bound plane.
From Kara: On a personal level, that her heart would be filled by seeing her friends in Eburru again. That she would listen to what God is speaking into her heart. Please pray too that she would listen to what God is speaking into her heart about moving to Eburru someday, as she is still trying to process through what that actually means and how to make that happen.
From Michael: On Friday, I learned that I had bronchitis. Please pray that my health clears up well as we go over. For my wife and kiddos as I am away.
From Dave: Prayer for his wife and son as he is away.
Wrestling with God
Today I was looking for something on my computer and I came across the following incomplete blog from a few years ago. Here it is still unfinished, and given the topic it probably always will be ...
The writer of Genesis tells a story of about a man named Jacob. Jacob was the son of Isaac, and in his early years was a swindler and a liar. Even his name, Yaakov (in the Hebrew), means a person who deceives or takes advantage of others, a liar. He was the younger of two twins, and his older brother was named Esau. In Jacob’s time and culture the older brother was the son of privilege. It seems that even from birth Jacob knew this and it drove him crazy.
When Jacob and Esau were older, Esau had grown into quite a hunter, and Jacob had turned into quite a cook. On one occasion Esau comes in from a hunt and is desperately hungry. He asks for some stew that Jacob was cooking. Jacob sees an opportunity, and tells his brother that he first wants the birthright.Stew for the birthright. After Esau had eaten he realized his mistake, and grew bitter.
The rift between the brothers only grows. As their father Isaac grew older he lost his eyesight. Once again Jacob jumps on the opportunity to exploit someone in their weakness. He disguises himself as Esau and goes into his father’s tent to receive the blessing before Isaac dies. This blessing, was reserved for the oldest son, but with the help of his mother, he lied to his father and stole the blessing.
First the birthright and now the blessing. Jacob was a liar and swindler. Esau figures out what happened and wants to kill his brother. Jacob runs away from home. He and his brother live for years estranged.
Years later Jacob has grown up, he has married, has children, has herds of animals, and an established household. He leaves his father-in-law’s place and wants to return home. He is preparing to meet his brother Esau.
On that journey Jacob sends his family ahead of him, and there the writer of Genesis tells us, he wrestles with a man. They wrestle all night, and at daybreak the man realizes he cannot overpower Jacob. The man tells Jacob to let him go, but Jacob wants the man to bless him.
Then this stranger asks an interesting question. He asks Jacob, “What is your name?” This question was deep and penetrating. A name in the Ancient Near East had deep meaning. It tied you to a people, it spoke of your reputation, it spoke about your deep identity. Jacob answers quickly. Another way of phrasing this question could be, “Who are you?” He answers, “Jacob.”
What is he saying about himself? The stranger says, “Who are you?” He replies, “I am liar, a deceiver, one who takes advantage of others.” Where did this answer come from? What informed and caused him to view himself like this?
He is asked, “Who are you?” And he responds by telling the stranger about all the stuff that he was when he was younger. Hadn’t he grown up? Had not God been with him? Jacob is a husband and a father, a man who received a vision from God in which God extended to him the promise he gave to his grandfather Abraham,he has established a household, and yet he still goes back to who he was.
It is at this point that this stranger, who we learn is God, gives him a new name. He says, “That is not who you are anymore, you are now ‘Israel’ because you have wrestled with God and humans and have overcome.” God says to Jacob, “You are someone new.”
It seems from the story of Jacob, that the question “Who are you?” is a difficult question to answer. Like Jacob, our past, all the things we were, what people told us we were, it just keeps getting in the way of who we have become and are becoming doesn’t it?
We want to grow up, grow past it, but people just keep dragging us backward and reminding us of who they believe we “really are”. In a world like this it can be so difficult to cut through all of that and answer the question that God asked Jacob, “What is your name?” “Who are you?” for Jacob he had to wrestle with God and humans to learn the answer that started him on a new journey.
This question of who we are is so essential. Yet, the longer I live the more I see that few people engage this question. Few take the time to wrestle with God, and hear him say we are new.
In the Native American tradition, young men would go on a vision quest. They would stay in the desert for days - fighting hunger, thirst, sleep, and a wandering mind - until The Great Spirit would give them a new name. They fought to find out who they were.
Today, it seems that we are content to let everyone else inform us. We give away so much of ourselves to others to find a label, because it feels better to wear the wrong label than nothing at all. But this is not the way ... we must fight, we must wrestle, we must hear from God what our name is.
Knowing What is Normal
Today, my good friends Joseph and Ashley begin their global move eastward toward Niger where they will spend the next 27 months serving in the Peace Corps. I will miss them terribly, as most anyone who knows them will. It is rare in life to meet people whose daily lives speak so loudly that you can’t help but hear them. Everywhere they go, their mere presence humbly, politely interrupts the room.
This last week at our Sunday gathering I asked the question, “What does your faith lead you to do?” In the Gospel of Mark, Mark tells a story about four friends who (as Mark writes literally in Greek) “unroof the roof” to get their friend who is paralyzed before Jesus. Jesus sees their faith and honors them and their friend.
Some have described this kind of faith as chutzpah. Chutzpah is “headstrong persistence, brazen impudence, unyielding tenacity, bold determination, or what in current English terms might be referred to as raw nerve,” (Brad Young, Jesus, the Jewish Theoolgian, p 171). Faith like this is celebrated in the Jewish faith tradition.
The writer of Exodus tells a story of Moses who stands between God and Israel when God wishes to wipe the Hebrew people off the face of the earth. The rabbis describe this event by saying that Moses grabbed God by the shirt and said, “Sovereign of the Universe, I will not let You go until You forgive and pardon them,” (b. Ber 32a). Moses has chutzpah. So much so that he grabbed God by the collar. After this God “repented.” Moses shows tenacity, and God changes his mind.
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells a story of a friend who shamelessly bangs on the door of a friend at midnight because he needs some food. The friend inside the home finally gives the man outside what he needs due to the “shameless audacity” with which he banged on the door.
All of these actions seem to smack of the kind of impudence, tenacity, determination, and raw nerve that Young speaks of. I suspect however, that if we were to ask Moses or the four friends about their actions they may just shrug them off. Not because they are feigning humility. They would shrug because this kind of shamelessness is what comes with deep abiding faith. The kind of faith that says, “I know God.”
Saying, “I know God,” is much different than someone who can say, “I believe in God,” or “I believe a certain set of beliefs about God.” It is in knowing (and being known) that one is able to live a life that is shameless, unapologetic, centered, and immensely humble. When people with faith like this (those who know God) act; their actions seem to be amazing and audacious – yet for them it is just everyday life.
It is said that when JFK was president, his young children would often walk into the Oval Office in the middle of meetings he was having with heads of state. They would shamelessly crawl up on their father’s lap, put their arms around his neck, and sit with him as he discussed matters of international importance.
This act, while amazing in our eyes, was the simple act of children who were shameless with their dad. They knew him and he knew them. While audacious in the eyes of some of JFK’s guests, it was just another day in the life of the Kennedy family.
Over the last several weeks as I prepared my teaching about faith, and what it leads us to do, my mind was with Joseph and Ashley. They would have been embarrassed if I had used them as an example of this when they were in the room (so now I am doing it on my blog after they have left). Yet when I preached on Sunday, and saw them sitting in our building for the last time for the next two years, I thought to myself, “They do not even know they are audacious.”
When I consider their life, and how amazed people are when they get to know them, I contrast that with the way they view themselves. They only see themselves as a beloved son and a beloved daughter, who - as a married couple - get to be a part of the adventure that is the Kingdom of Heaven. What they do is, in their mind, just normal everyday life. Normal for them, because Joseph and Ashley know God.
It is this kind of faith that leads them to act with chutzpah, which for them, is the most normal thing imaginable. What a compelling life.
*Joseph and Ashley, you will no doubt read this and blush ... please know that Beth and I will miss you, and wait with anticipation to see where this season leads you both. Much love, Michael
My Daily Prayer
Today, may I once again take the radical gospel journey.
May I take this journey with no doubt or apology.
May I not push, intimidate, or play power games common to others,
May I not be opinionated or arrogant,
May I possess my soul,
May I, quite simply, be whole.
Continue to teach me about anger, passion, power, and clarity.
May I be comfortable knowing, and comfortable not knowing.
Nothing Else
You have been given life.