Christians don't need heroes: Rick Warren and "Chrislam"

I'm way removed from Christian pop-culture. Like, way removed. Removed to the point where, right now, I'd like to make a reference to a band that someone mentioned and I was completely unaware of, and I can't. In all seriousness, DC Talk was the last "big" group I was aware of on the White side of American Christianity. On the Black side...Mary Mary and Donnie Mcclurkin, and I only knew about those because I dated a guy who was into them.

I'm a bit of a Luddite when it comes to pop-culture in general. I'm not up on reality TV, or car models, and as much as I like jewelry and fashion, I care more about what I'm expressing personally than I do any trend...which is why the (apparently year old) freak out over Rick Warren and "Chrislam" is difficult for me to relate to.

I sometimes feel I should be more up on trends in Christianity...I sometimes feel guilty for staring blankly at someone's excitement at getting tickets to see the newest big pastor or Christian super-group. I know Shaun King and Carlos Whittaker, but only through my personal followings of their Twitter accounts. I'm starting to feel less guilty for my distance, because I don't feel I lose much connection to other Christians by being off-trend. And watching the Rick Warren deal, I think there is more to be lost by following them too closely. The disappointment I read in just a few blog responses was, well, disappointing. It reminded me of my recent disappointment in reading up on G.K. Chesterton's treatment of African's and Jews in his work. That was a good reminder though...if I'm feeling disappointment at realizing that another human is, well, human, I've started losing perspective.

I've been struggling with this a lot lately. Watching my Facebook feed and the stark contrast of the reactions of leaders and friends to the striking down of DOMA...it makes me sad...sad and tired...not because these things shouldn't be addressed or discussed by the church, but that I know that it is issues like these that give birth to denominations in the church...something I think we should be anything but proud of.

Christians don't need heroes or flags or teams. We have a savior. I'm coming to believe that the Tim Tebows, Rick Warrens and T.D. Jake's of the world are just crutches-important and useful when you need them, but for the most part are just distractions from a deeper and richer perspective of Jesus. 

Ethics and Business

The talk of business ethics is a strange one. You have to believe that cold, nebulous organizations can carry human traits to believe that a business can be ethical. I personally don't in the same way I don't believe a country can have a faith.

I mull over the concept of America being a Christian nation a lot...mostly because I hear the phrase so much. Every day, I believe it less...not because of what's going on today, but because I simply cannot see how a nation founded on the murder of natives and theft of Africans can ever call itself Christian while taking any genuine consideration for what being Christian actually means...and that's regardless of how many copies of the 10 Commandments are posted on school walls.

Seth Godin recently wrote a piece on business ethics that really hit home for me...not just in the discussion of America as a Christian nation, but in the more personal and applicable realm of my work and purchasing life. You can read it here, but here are some of my favorite quotes.

"It's not business, it's personal."

"only people can have ethics"

"You either do work you are proud of, or you work to make the maximum amount of money."

"Business is too powerful for us to leave our humanity at the door of the office."

...and I thought it was just Mark Gungor

My mother told me about this show she heard on Moody today. She endures the "Family Life" segment to listen to Chuck Swindoll.

I thought it was only Mark Gungor encouraging people to marry ASAP because of their urges. Looks like I was wrong. I don't even know what to say to this. The glaring straw man of career-hungry women who are actively putting off marriage and family to establish themselves is just insulting. I can say this honestly and after knowing a lot of women in different kinds of churches...I haven't met one woman who wasn't open to the prospect of marriage to a decent man when God brought it into her life. Not one woman have I met has turned down a relationship because of school or work or fun or whatever. I'm calling straw woman.

I...can't...the logic is so glaringly backwards I'm almost at a loss for words. I do not see the sense in teaching teenagers abstinence-only sex education but then telling them, as they get older and more in control of their hormones, that they should marry the first thing they see sitting next to them. That's the very definition of mixed messages.

Perhaps the scariest part though, is the lesson it teaches. To tell someone to marry as early as possible teaches them not only that you cannot grow as a Christian in the strength to manage sexual desires, but actively gives them an excuse to cheat when, 10 years into their marriage, they meet someone they find more attractive.

All I see is a complete unwillingness to address the problems that young people are bringing to the church. Instead of confronting the difficulties of life today (with advice they'll need in the future if they marry), they're hearkening back to a time when things were "better" ("for whom?" I always wonder) and forcing behavior that was simply a by-product of survival as if it were the root of it all.

Couple all this with Pat Robertson's recent endorsement of male infidelity, disguised in advice on being forgiving and the divorce rate being higher within the church makes 100% sense. Put the two together and I'm beginning to think it's all actively engineered to get men children and wives as early as possible and allow them all the sexual freedom they desire once they've found a woman to be faithful to them and keep their house. 

Why kids leave church...

I love this. I was talking attrition in Brazilian jiu jitsu with a black belt friend the other day (it's estimated around 90% at the lowest level alone) and the conversation turned the way it normally does...two people who haven't quit guessing about the motivations of those who have. Our community does it a lot, but I think churches do it more. That's when I saw this post this morning, I was elated. Someone did the leg work of talking to kids who'd been raised in the church and left. Check out the complete article here, but here is the summarized list.


10. The Church is "Relevant." (too relevant apparently)
9. They never attended church to begin with.
8. They get smart.(groups outside the church treated them as intelligent beings)
7. They were sent out unarmed
6. Faith was represented to them as little more than feelings
5. Kids experience faith as something they "do" and that do "can be found places other than the church"
4. They found better feelings elsewhere
3. They got tired of pretending to be happy
2. Their diet of Law has condemned them
1. Church is presented as a place to learn life principles and "you don't need a crucified Jesus for that"

I'm not Evangelical (though I do attend an Evangelical church), but seeing anyone ask these real questions of the people who know...I find it heartening, especially the comment section.

Christians attacking Christians

Warning...Free flow post ahead...

I need a new title as a Christian...and I mean that. I no longer want to be associated with the cultural norm of Christianity in America. The religion has been co-opted by people who operate on principles that I not only despise, but that I believe are un-Biblical and inherently contradictory. First it was complaints about Easter not being widely recognized enough...you know...the way the way Christmas is...as if they want to start the fight to put Christ back in Easter too. Now, there's an uproar at my alma mater.

Let me start this off by saying that I have little nice to say about FAU's professors. I met some great ones, yes, but when it came to dealing with even non-tenured faculty and some of their ridiculous behavior, it left a horrible taste in my mouth. So...

A couple of weeks ago, a story was reported about a professor telling his students to write "Jesus" on a piece of paper and stomp on it. It was said that the student refused and was suspended. The professor then started receiving threats to his safety from groups, both religious and political.

I understand there is a bias against higher education among Conservatives in this country, but just on the surface, this story was suspect and I don't get the knee jerk reaction...students aren't suspended for not participating in exercises. They just aren't. Failed? Yes, but not suspended. I listened (and watched) people rail against liberal bias in education. I've heard it since my days in a Southern Baptist school...public schools will teach you nothing but evolution in science class and make you hate Jesus in English and History.

...and then I went to a public high school...and a public university. We covered evolution...maybe three times in those eight years. The rest was that huge chunk of science that has nothing to do with our origins. I went to See you at the Pole, sang spirituals in chorus and in college, got credit for a six week study of the book of James run by a minister that included prayer. Jesus was never referred to as "just a great man". Perhaps I would have heard more if my studies were less scientific and more based on the humanities...perhaps. Right or wrong though, I've learned to question the cries of victimization of the American church and their demonetization of an educational system that they once so beautifully participated in and were fundamental in creating.

So today, more information was released about the professor. Turns out he's Christian...not just I-used-to-go-to-church-as-a-kid Christian, but he openly claims Jesus as his "lord and savior". Turns out the exercise was to write "Jesus" on a piece of paper and then step (not stomp) on it. Why? The exercise assumes that the students will hesitate and then discussion begins about the meaning of words. I am sure, that if a pastor asked their congregation to do the same, there would be no complaints. I can see Ravi Zacharias, who constantly speaks on the importance of words having meaning, using just such an illustration and Christians marveling at his wisdom...precisely because the foundation of the exercise is the widely perceived importance of Jesus.

The embattled student? Well, he refused, as was his right. He then confronted the professor after class, punching his fist into his opposite hand, and telling the professor that he wanted to hit him. He was suspended for physically threatening faculty...as he should have been.

I know, very well, that there are powerful swaths of movement in the US to push God and Jesus out of our lives. I know probably better than most who identify as Christian because I spend so much time in circles with bents toward the academic and the intellectual and the foreign...but I will tell you that an atheist comparing God to Santa Claus isn't one tenth as painful or offensive as a Christian who has forgotten his principles for the sake of retaliation. (John 18 and the story of Peter and Malchus has some application here) I will tell you that the lack of peace that so many Christians flaunt is hammering that last nail into the coffin of the American church. Ask people why they don't go to church or why they stopped and I know, from personal experience, that the reason isn't evolution or education or porn. It's us.

I watched comments on the situation at FAU and of course I saw it. I always see it so I knew it was coming...the three or four individuals who were observing the Christians. The three or four who asked, quite calmly, why those claiming to be Christian were the worst behaved in the conversation. Not the caricatures of the bitter, rude atheist or the mocking agnostic. These were people who were just observing. Maybe they had already made up their minds and hearts about Christianity, but I know that not everyone reading those conversations were.

I very firmly believe Christians, in our unwillingness to call out the bad behavior of those we worship with, are the central reason Christianity is becoming less and less relevant in this country. All these issues that we see as the "cause" of God's removing his blessings from us? I believe that they ares symptoms of a country of Christians digging in to its own pride and superiority generations ago, and unrepentantly wallowing in them today. 

Christians: The Popular Kids

It hit me, REALLY hit me today...Easter...that the American church is reeling not from the pain of the loss of holiness of its home country, not from figuring out what it means to be Christian, but instead what it means to be "American". I think I further cemented this realization watching the debate on Gay marriage and the sheer panic that some (definitely not all) Christians are experiencing. There are basically two reasons to freak out in this situation: People haven't accepted that God is in control, or there's a different crisis of public identity going on. I have come to believe, primarily due to the complete absence of the discussion by those against marriage equality of discussing applying Biblical marriage principles to heterosexual unions and couples, that the Bible is not the true motivation behind the religious Right's fight to legally institute semi-Biblical marriage.

 Being what most would describe as a progressive Christian, and one with an intellectual bent at that, I am constantly on guard of trying to rationalize my way to God, be it because of natural tendencies or some latent need to not feel at odds with the smart-kids. There's always a teeny part of me that worries that I'm missing the mark when it comes to public application of morality.

Today, I ran across this quote by Billy Graham, which surprised me a bit (and not just because of its contrast to his son's recent efforts to re-write his father's history).

“I don’t think there’s any conflict at all between Science today and the Scriptures. I think we have misinterpreted the Scriptures many times and we’ve tried to make the Scriptures say things they weren’t meant to say. I think that we have made a mistake by thinking the Bible is a scientific book. The Bible is not a book of science. The Bible is a book of Redemption, and of course, I accept the Creation story. I believe that God did create the universe. I believe that God created man, and whether it came by an evolutionary process and at a certain point He took this person or being and made him a living soul or not, does not change the fact that God did create man….whichever way God did it makes no difference as to what man is and man’s relationship to God.” (from a book that's going on my reading list)

He said this back in 1997 and while I was in college and could have easily missed it, I don't remember any huge uproar over it...but then again, Christianity still felt popular back then and there was much less questioning of what it meant to be an American.

...and I'm just adding this video because it's something I know I'll want to come back and watch later, and blogs are good for that.

Profanity...the next level...

I've never been one to use much profanity. To me, it's like someone giving you little pushes while you're talking...you're not hurt, but you're likely distracted and eventually, it could really tick you off.

When I was little, I received three distinct messages about the use of profanity--1) It's a legitimate part of speech used to convey aggression or anger...if you don't want to convey those two, don't use it. 2) It's frequently perceived as being lower class. 3) It's used by people when they don't know how to properly express themselves. Those three different approaches to the use of a part of a language (emotional, class signals and personal intelligence) very much shaped how I use it today. All in all, I generally don't.

At the same time though, "gosh" and "darn" make me feel a bit too Leave-it-to-Beaverish and are honestly short-cuts to saying what I really feel, so I've been making an effort to actually express instead of just emote...both in my spoken life and on the internet. Gotta up the English game.