Tag: theology

  • Apocalypse Now – Life and Theology in Haiti

    24 hours into my second trip to Haiti and I started crafting this phrase:

    Theology and culture always co-mingle. You just hope that theology and culture never conspire against the goals of the church.

    In America: Theology and culture conspire to destroy the church through our belief in the American Dream and pursuit of happiness.

    In Haiti: Theology and culture conspire to over-spiritualize everything.

    At least that’s my opinion after my second visit. The first go-round, I was doing my best to look past all of that so I could focus on evaluating the needs of the people. But this time, it became clear to me that the desire to blame everything on the spiritual world was seriously hampering rebuilding.

    God may have been in the earthquake. But there were certainly human factors at play as well.

    Walking around Carrefour, the epicenter of the January 12th quake, is like a scene out of a movie. Not the beginning and fun parts. And not even after the credits roll. It’s like that sense of curiosity you have when you watch a movie like I Am Legend. What would happen if people re-inhabited the set? That’s the feeling you get walking around the effected areas. You are on the set of a movie about the end of the world.

    “The world has ended.” These are the words of some church leaders. Most Christians in Haiti seem to believe that January 12th was the beginning of the tribulation. And who can blame them? On a single day half the cities people became homeless. Almost 10% of the cities population was killed. Countless homes, business, churches, and government buildings either collapsed or were severely damaged. If this isn’t tribulation than the real tribulation is truly something unimagineable.

    Last week I documented some signs of hope in Haiti. This time I wanted to be fair and share some signs of despair. (And evidence that you need to be involved!)

    • Some rebuilding has begun. But with no building codes, horrible materials, and skilled labor lacking… people are just making the same mistakes that lead to so many deaths. It’s easy to blame God, but one major contributor was faulty construction practices.
    • Billions of dollars in foreign aid will be distributed mostly to wealthy oppressors. Joel spoke with a Spaniard on his way out of Haiti. He had been in the country for 3 years and is leaving because he can’t handle the corruption anymore. “Want to know where all the aid is going? The Haitians the NGOs are hiring are selling it out of the back door.” Enough money has been given to Haiti to completely level and rebuild Port-au-Prince. Unless people intervene all of that money will be squandered away bit by bit. Sorry if that’s shocking to you.
    • While there are thousands of NGOs on the ground, very few have camp managers like Sean Penn. Like it or lump it, each camp needs a foreigner who will go to the various NGOs and leverage social currency selflessly on behalf of people. Spiritual needs are great to meet. But there are still plenty of physical needs unmet too. A camp manager who checks in 1-2 times per week isn’t going to cut it. It takes people who make running the camp their life mission to make things happen.
    • The earthquake shook the people, but a culture of dependency is hard to loosen. Americans have a “fix-it” mentality. It’s in our cultural DNA and we exhibit it everywhere we go in the world. As the recipient of generations of this, Haiti (and other places in the world like Haiti) have a “foreigners fix-it” mentality. Our cab driver in Ft. Lauderdale was the perfect example. His wife is a doctor in Haiti and he sends home money to support her. When I asked him when he would move back to his country he told me, “I will move back when I find a white man willing to partner with me on my water and ice business.” When I told him that, in my opinion, the only hope from Haiti was if the Haitian people lead themselves and stopped depending on outsiders… he just laughed. “I wish that same thing, but the Haitian people just like to buy and be given things by white people. It means it is a better gift or business than a Haitian can create.”
    • The government of Haiti is dragging its feet. A major problem facing rebuilding efforts are the myriad of 18th century property laws that govern ownership. You need a permit to remove rubble. And if you are renting you need to get the owners permission. The owner might live in another country, and he may only have a share of the ownership with dozens of cousins. And, of course, to prove you own the land you need to go to a government building which collapsed. Round and round you go. Months go by and nothing gets done. Unless you pay a bribe, that is.

    Is there hope for Haiti? Obviously. I believe to the core of my being that Jesus brings renewal of the soul and the land. While this is an incredible time of spiritual revival in Haiti it is also the greatest opportunity in our lifetime for Christians to get involved at the grassroots levels and help root out corruption and see the best interests of the people served.

    If not you than who? Want to change the world? Think you are crazy enough?

    Step one.

  • Adventure as a Discipline

    For the last few weeks I’ve been thinking about how wimpy people are.

    There is something strange to me that people allow the most remote possibility of getting hurt, lost, robbed, missing a meal, missing a flight, or even not a clean place to pee define their lives. What a boring life they live.

    I want my life to be full of adventure.

    Not just big adventures– day-to-day adventures too!

    It seems to me that people who like to plan everything, take as little risk as possible, and pre-think too many details are really missing something in life. With an entire ever-changing planet to explore it is inconceivable to me that people like to eliminate discovery and adventure.

    There is something spiritual about adventure. We are hard-wired to explore, discover… and depend on the goodness of others. As children we dream huge dreams! We devour books about adventure. Every adventure we hear about we want to go on. We wanted to go to the moon and mars. We wanted to go Africa. We wanted to live in Central Park in New York City.

    Stepping into an element of the unknown provides an incredible feeling. It acknowledges how God is in control and we are not. When we make adventure the enemy we lie to ourselves– God is in control of every detail all day, every day anyways!

    I love stepping into the unknown with nothing more than a feeling that everything is going to be OK. I even like pressing through the fear of “um, maybe this isn’t safe” and then the joy of laughing at myself when it all works out.

    I like depending on the kindness of strangers when I get lost. I like meeting new people in full recognition that there are no accidental meetings. I like discovering little things and big things. Those that look at these things as failures seem to think that life is meant to be sanitary.

    When we start removing this from our lives we take control. When I hear people tell me that they don’t like to be surprised, that they need to know when they will arrive, where they will eat, and what every detail is– it makes me wonder what is wrong with them.

    A spirit of adventure is not the lack of ability to plan. It is the lack of a need to plan every detail or measure every risk in life’s journey.

    Adventure and Recklessness

    There is a difference between the a spirit of adventure and a spirit of recklessness. It would be reckless to go on a 3 day hike up a mountain with no gear, no food, and no real plan. It would be reckless to jump off of a cliff into the ocean without knowing how deep the water is. It would be reckless to drop off 10 high school students for a homeless experience with no training.

    But embracing life’s adventures is not reckless. There’s always a risk assessment. A general idea of a safety plan. On and on.

    The goodness of others

    I really think one of the things that holds people back is a belief, deep in our soul, that all people are out to hurt us. We think everyone is a potential ax murderer or rapist.

    Hogwash. People are generally good. If you have a smile on your face and an honest question… you can go anywhere in the world and probably find someone who will help you when you get lost, give you a meal, find you a place to sleep, and give you good advice.

    Adventure is an attitude. When you embrace it the world opens to discovery.

    Questions: Do you see a spirit of adventure as a spiritual issue? Do you still dream about the same adventures you dreamt about when you were a kid? What is it in you that draws you to stories/movies/television shows about adventure?

  • Ministry Beyond Behavior Modification

    Photo by philippe leroyer via Flickr (Creative Commons)

    How do you know if Jesus is changing a person’s life?

    How do you know if “your seeds” have landed in “fertile soil?”

    How do you know if the faith a high school student exhibits will stick into college and beyond?

    How do you know if a student is ready to be a student leader?

    We all want something to measure and we tend to measure the easy and obvious stuff.

    Confession Time

    Most youth workers label behavior modification as spiritual growth. That’s how they measure success. “The kids in my ministry sin less than kids who don’t attend.”

    Of course, that’s a load. You’ve probably merely succeeded at making kids religious so that they repress. Which is hardly helpful for development.

    If you’re new in youth ministry let me offer you this little fast forward on your growth as a leader. Behavior modification/sin management doesn’t change hearts. Don’t believe me? Just read the Old Testament. Jesus’ incarnation wasn’t to teach us how to manage sin among religious people. Jesus’ ministry gave up on sin management in order to win hearts.

    Your youth ministry should be about winning hearts for the long haul– not short term behavior management.

  • The Bible is Dangerous, But are You?

    This message by Francis Chan will mess with you.

    A trip to a third world country, in my case Haiti, will show you just how much syncretism we practice in America.

    Here are some of the gods we mix with our faith.
    – The safety god
    – The comfort god
    – The performance god
    – The money god
    – The staff god
    – The building god
    – The schedule god

    I don’t point those things out to bring judgement on anyone. In fact, these are my gods, too. As I’m re-entering my culture I need to wrestle with these gods in light of the teachings of Moses in Deuteronomy.

    The thing that God (the real God!) kept hitting me over the head with while in Haiti is that I live a life of dependency and faith avoidance. Before the trip, as I wrote about, I felt like God was calling me out and asking if I truly believed the things I told people I believed in.

    I hope I lived up to the challenge.

    And it turns out, coming home presents a new challenge of faith.

    As Francis points out in this message, dangerous things could happen if we would just be obedient to what God teaches us in the Bible. Our faith can change things. But so much of that is conditional on whether or not the people are lifting God up above these false gods.

    The fact is that believing the Bible is actually true is a step of faith.

    But putting your complete faith in Christ and living as though the things of the Bible will happen in your midst… now that is dangerous.

    The reality I am trying to reconcile is that I know God is calling me to live a dangerous life. But the life I know isn’t all that dangerous.

  • Affirm One Another in Christ

    We live in divided times. In particular, those of us who love Jesus are more divided than ever. A trip to the “church” section of the yellow pages or Google is heart-breaking.

    The church is polarized today.

    This is contrary, of course, to what the Bible teaches.

    There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28

    If we contextualize that statement made by Paul to the church today that statement would read like this.

    There is no liberal or conservative, Baptist or Catholic, black church or Korean church, suburban or urban. For we are one in Christ.

    I pray that we lay aside or differences… as real and pressing as they seem… and live in the tension and knowledge that all people who call on the name of Jesus for salvation are one in Christ.

    It’s easy and childish to focus on what divides us, it is mature and difficult to instead embrace the common mission we share.

    Amen?

  • Do Ministry Leaders Need a Social Media Presence?

    Photo by Flickr user hoyasmeg (creative commons)
    Photo by Flickr user hoyasmeg (creative commons)

    Seth Godin answers his own question:

    What is the reason social media is so difficult for most organizations? It’s a process and not an event. Events are easier to manage, pay for and get excited about. Processes build results for the long haul. link

    Why do pastors and other church leaders need a social media presence?

    • The world is full of fakes. Because of the public sin of so many who lead large ministries, there is a general suspicion of all people in church leadership.
    • The people in your congregation want to know if you are a fake. They show up, so on some level they believe in you. They are watching your life to validate what you say.
    • The people in your community already think you are a fake. You need to prove them wrong.

    If you need a biblical justification for investing your time and energy in social media, look no further than the incarnation of Jesus. John 1:14 says, “He came and dwelt among the people.” The way church is run today… pastors do not dwell among the people. They dwell among their flock and their offices. (2-3% of the population of your community is hardly “the people.”) Look at the example of all of the Apostles in the New Testament. They all dwelt among the people. Most of them worked vocationally in the cities they ministered in.

    A public presence, 1 hour per week, preaching in front of an audience, is simply not enough of a presence to know if you are fake or not. The fact is, if that’s all people see of you than they know you must be fake.

  • New TJOSM Article Coming Soon

    social-media-theology-convergence

    I have an article in the upcoming Winter 2009 edition of The Journal of Student Ministries. As you can tell by the title, the article discusses the convergence of social media and theology. I’m stoked about how the article turned out. It’s such an important topic! I’m also excited to publish my first article in the journal.

    This year, I’ve had my first piece in a book and now a piece in a magazine. 2009 has kicked butt!

  • Things I’m thinking about today

    Ever just have a hodgepodge of slush in your mind? Here’s some random thoughts this morning.

    – While I still think of myself as a down-the-middle, maybe even conservative evangelical Christian… I’m finding myself tired of the grey haired leaders.

    – As much as I’d like to say I agree with the complimentarian position of women in ministry, I thinks it’s just a politically correct version of it’s older self. I think you can put me in the egalitarian position of women in ministry, if those are my choices. I think its straight up revisionism, chauvinism, and crazy hermeneutics to say women can’t be elders and pastors in churches. (Conservative brethren allow women to practically serve in these roles, they just call them “directors of ministry” and pay them 50% less. That’s sexism.)

    – Speaking of crazy hermeneutics… I think the rapture was made up by someone who liked science fiction. People argue about a pre-tribulational and post-tribulational rapture of God’s people in revelation. I keep reading the New Testement verses about that, and I have to say I think it was made up. I’m still firmly in the pre-millenial camp, but that whole rapture deal?

    – This year’s American Idol is ridiculous. Paula and that new lady are cheerleaders. Seriously, what is Paula on? Randy isn’t say “dog” nearly enough. And the longer this thing goes,  the more I like Simon. At least he tells the truth.

    – I’m officially addicted to the Travel Channel and the Discovery Channel. I could watch them both 24 hours a day.

    – I’m trying to be more green by taking the trolley to work in April. The mile walk back and forth to the trolley stop won’t hurt me either.

    – I can’t wait for it to warm up a bit more so I can swim at the Kroc Center.

    – The last month has been amazing on the stock market. Seriously, one of my stocks gain 25% just this week.

    – Call me a hypocrite. But I made $1 per share on Ford in the last 2 months. Easy money! I think GM is going out of business in the next 6 weeks. But Ford and Chrysler are going to make it.

    – I wanted to pull an April Fool’s joke on YS, I really did. But after I saw all the online jokes I was glad I didn’t.

    – Speaking of work… I’ve been wanting to run around screaming about how excited I am about new stuff we’re doing. But people there already think I’m nuts so I didn’t.

    – I like my iPhone, a lot.

    – The other day I had dinner with Gary Shell from our church in Romeo. He asked me if I had any regrets about this move. I feel bad about it but I laughed. No regrets. I’m not the kind of leader who second guesses himself much. But I do miss our friends, big time. We are trying to scrape together a plan to go to Detroit in July.

    – Baseball season is upon us, I’m calling it. Cubs win the World Series. 6 games.

    – The kids Spring Break begins today. I doubt we’ll make it through April without a trip to Disneyland.

    – When Jesus told his disciples, “Take up your cross and follow me” before the crucifixtion… what did they think? Is that kind of like U2’s new song, “Get on your boots?”

    – Stoney still hates the water. He’s the only labrador retreiver in the world who won’t swim.

  • Rock that Quirky Church

    dsc_0211I think some of my harsh criticisms of the evangelical church come from a love of our church. The mission of Harbor Mid-City is one that is quirky by design.

    We have a hyper-qualified staff brought together despite significant theological difference who lean into that tension for the sake of the Gospel in the neighborhood. For my theologically savvy readers (aka Kristen) we have staff people from PCA, Salvation Army, Baptist, pentecostal, emergent-types, traditional evangelical and hard core liturgical backgrounds. In most communities these folks wouldn’t even get together to pray for one another… much less chose to work at the same church!

    Toss on top of that theological stuff the language issues we experierience every week and you will start to see the quirks pop out. We offer the same service in both English and Spanish, meaning there are painfully long times of translation. But this is San Diego and people are used to hearing both languages on the radio and TV… so that’s no big deal. We also have a population of people who speak Korean, Vietnamese, and Swahili. Sometimes our worship music is in those languages. In fact, there tend to be as many non-English songs as English ones.

    Ready for this? It gets more quirky as the design of the church allows minority cultures to have equal voice in our services. What that means is that we’re more worried about celebrating our worship service in a way that lifts up Latin American, Mexican, African American, Southeast Asian, and African cultures above the dominant white evangelical culture.

    OK, one more quirk. There is a huge hodgepodge of socio-economic situations in our church as well. You have working class poor next to college kids from San Diego State. And you have immigrants next to upper-middle class folks who live just north of the church.

    Is it perfect? No. Do I agree with every last bit of the theology? Absolutely not! Are there things about the church I really dislike? Yes! Am I comfortable in the service? Rarely. Are the messages challenging and encouraging to where I am at in my walk with Jesus? Not often. Do they offer all of the things I need for my family? No, children’s ministry is just getting organized. Youth ministry is in a pre-formational stage.

    So why do we go? We go because we believe at the core of our being that there is tremendous strength in that diversity. I am not arrogant enough to believe that my evangelical expression of theology and worship is superior. I love to worship in a place that agrees on the essentials while allows gray areas to be interpreted through the lens of culture.

    Don’t get me wrong. This place is solid theologically. In fact, I’m convinced that Harbor expresses in their worship many best practices of things believed across Christianity. This hodgepodge isn’t just the brain child of idealists. It is the brainchild of idealists who are stupid enough to think that it will work, have the training and experience to make it happen, and have a core of people at the church who are dreaming the same dream.

    In these quirks I see tremendous hope for the Gospel across our country. Lives are changed as they are surrendered to Jesus. And as I think about it, much of what I rebel against here on the blog about evangelicalism is because I see Harbor doing something right while most of evangelicalism is doing it wrong.

  • The injustice of grace

    Define GraceHave you ever thought about what Jesus did and thought, “eh?“ I’ve been having this thought lately and I just can’t shake it:

    It’s a complete injustice that I experience grace.

    First of all, I need to be clear what I mean by grace since there are several definitions for this word… even the Bible uses it 5-6 different ways. By grace I mean “the active communication of divine blessings by the inworking of the Holy Spirit, out of the fullness of Him who is “full of grace and truth,”” (Louis Berkhof, 1949) In other words, grace is the good stuff we are blessed with because of our relationship with Jesus.

    Have you ever been comped on something? You know, you show up to a place and because you are with “him” or “her” you get free stuff. That’s a practical expression of grace… and it’s a total injustice! In my life I’ve gotten comped on some very nice things. Rounds of golf, meals, retail stuff, vacations, stuff like that. It’s always a weird feeling as you of look at the person whom you’d normally pay and then flash a glance over to the “big guy” and the need to pull out your wallet goes away. (Sometimes a half thumb pointing at the big guy helps.)

    Why is that an injustice? Well, you get stuff you can’t afford for free! Other people have to pay big bucks for the round of golf I play for free… that’s really not fair to those who have to pay, is it?

    It’s the same way in a lot of areas of my life right now. God is granting my family a lot of injustice lately. When I look my kids I can’t help thinking… what an injustice, I don’t deserve this awesome family. Even as a family, there is so much good stuff happening to us and all around us we’re kind of left simply shrugging our shoulders and pointing at the “big guy” and admitting… “we’re with Him.” God is comping us on little things (stuff) and big stuff (a family who choses to honor God with what they do) and the only word I can use to describe it is overwhelming injustice.