theological rant Archives - Page 18 of 23 - BenandJacq in the Browser

July 21, 2010

The Terrifying Absurdity of the Supreme Court.

Recently, in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, something happened that I never thought would happen in America. The Supreme Court upheld a ruling by a university to refuse to recognize as a student organization a group (the Christian Legal Society) because in order to be a member in the group you have to agree to a statement of faith that the university claims is contrary to their policy that all students be allowed membership in any group, regardless of sexual orientation, religious belief, etc.

In the ruling, Justice Kennedy (the “swing vote” that decided things 5-4 in favor of the university) compared the statement of faith to “loyalty oaths” of the McCarthy era, saying that “the era of loyalty oaths is behind us.”

Here’s what’s profoundly absurd: he simply traded one loyalty oath for another. As a Justice in our land’s highest court, how can he not see the policy of “tolerance” and “openness” that the University has as a loyalty oath? Student organizations have to agree to abide by this oath: anybody can join.

The wording is unclear regarding leaders in groups, but imagine a die-hard liberal wanting to join and become president of the Young Republican club on campus. Or imagine a member of the KKK wanting to become a leader in the NAACP chapter on your local campus. That’s absurd. But that’s precisely the precedent set by this ruling.

You can’t get away from the fact that eventually, everyone is taking a loyalty oath in life. We all bet the farm on something. For Christians, we bet the farm on Jesus, as revealed in Scripture. He’s our bottom line. Secular humanists bet the farm on there not being a God. Atheistic socialists bet the farm on the ability of the government to take care of them. Bill Gates bets the farm on money being able to satisfy him.

Anybody is welcomed to join our group on campus, sure. We don’t have members sign a statement of faith. But we do have leaders sign things like that. And just like the pagan group on campus would be super uncomfortable having me (as a person who believes in Jesus as the only way to heaven, and therefore not pagan in any sense of the word) as a leader, we all have standards, statements of faith, loyalty oaths.

It is terrifying that a Justice of the Supreme Court would be blind to the ramifications of his own worldview. He’s taken a loyalty oath (to secular humanism) and he doesn’t even know it.

July 26, 2010July 25, 2010

The Profound Implications of Social Media for Christians.

Right now, using just a smart phone and mobile data signal, you could reach more people with the gospel than Charles Spurgeon, Martin Luther, and the Apostle Paul did.

Combined.

There’s more gospel potential in your pocket than in all the pulpits of all the churches in your town. The contact list on your mobile phone is a direct gateway into people’s lives. They trust you more than they do a TV preacher or a tent revival screamer.

There are three types of folks when it comes to technology:

Early Adopters: This is the dude who had the 1st generation iPhone, the girl who had a blog back when they were called web logs, and those of us who can remember when it was called www.thefacebook.com.

Cautious Adopters: These folks aren’t anti-technology, but they also aren’t going to go out and get the first generation device. They’re quick learners, for the most part, and willing to give gadgets and new services a try, after others have. With the right training and time, these folks become the driving force that causes technology to become mainstream. This group comprises the vast majority of the population.

Never Adopters: These are folks who think that somehow technology is evil, or the problem in society. I’m not really worried about them commenting on the blog. They say things like “kids these days are staring at screens and rotting their brains” and see little (if any) positive side to developing new technology and/or changing the way they do things. The interesting thing is that all of them have adopted certain technologies, unknowingly. Even Amish folks are using things like wheels, metal tools, and other technological advancements. The fun fact is that they are all cautious adopters who eventually thought it best to stop adopting. Some stopped at the industrial revolution, some later (and some earlier!). This group is a very small percentage of the population, and unless somebody printed this out and handed it to you, you’re probably not in this group.

The third group of folks are rare, but their ideology has sneaked into the church–and Christian subculture–in a lot of subtle ways (hymns are better than praise choruses, organs are better than guitars, door-to-door witnessing is the best way because it used to work really well, rural life is more biblical than living in the city, all smart phones and laptops are a waste of resources, after all, couldn’t we be feeding the hungry with that money?)

I’m not encouraging every Christian to become an early adopter. But the Church and the parachurch ministries alongside her need folks who are pioneering new technology for the cause of Christ. Those folks could do without the assumption that because we are early adopters, we are being frivolous and wasteful with our money. (as an aside, we welcome folks helping us to check our motives when it comes to a gadget or technology purchase–we tend toward gadget-idolatry, and at times money would be better spent on feeding the hungry. There’s a balance to be struck.)

The real power of social media (that corporations and brands are scrambling to harness) is that not only are we able to get a message out to you, but we can do it with the “thumbs up” of your friends. How many of you want to see (or went already to see) the movie Inception purely because you’ve heard friends (most of them on facebook) rave about it? That’s the power of social media. People I trust telling me things they believe.

It’s my dream to see the gospel preached (and Liked) in one pocket of every pair of pants on every college campus in our region.

July 27, 2010July 27, 2010

My Critics are Correct. Are Yours?

Brian Barela, a friend and social media guru within CCC, commented on yesterday’s post:

i’m an early adopter and i DON’T expect others to be what i am.

my experience in the church w never adopters is this:

i’m a never adopter and i EXPECT you to be what i am.

I heartily agree with him: you don’t have to be an Early Adopter, like I am. There’s no need for everyone to push the envelope, to try all the new technology, to constantly be changing, adopting new strategies, and the like.

It’s even ok with me if you are a Never Adopter. I know folks that are being fruitful, obedient, and God-honoring by doing the same things they were 30 years ago. That really is OK. It’s more than OK, it is necessary.

Here’s what every Christian should be: OK with the presence of the other two categories. The honest truth is that we all have blind spots. As an Early Adopter, my blind spot is a tendency to throw out a technology or method while it is still useful, in favor of something shiny. Never Adopters have a blind spot centered on an aversion to change. Ministries that have no Early Adopters become totally irrelevant. Ministries that have no Never Adopters lose their core identity.

We need each other. So we need to stop shooting at each other.

Our critiques of each other are correct. Let’s learn from them.

August 2, 2010August 2, 2010

Have You Ever Agreed With an Atheist?

Last night, my favorite atheist, Nick Wood (seriously, apart from the whole Jesus thing and the fact that I can get a suntan–redhead low-blow–we are pretty much the same person separated by ten years and a landmass called “the bulk of North America”) liveblogged his trip to a “Christian MegaChurch” in WA.

Here’s my favorite of his updates (well, it’s a tie between this one and the one where he made the “high five, Jesus!” joke about a lady lifting her hands in worship):

“Quotes from Rocky Balboa: 2-3. Verses from the Bible: 0”

If the atheists in attendance don’t hear scripture at your church, something needs to be shuffled. I’m just saying. God didn’t say that the praise music is God-breathed and profitable. God’s Word is powerful. The electric guitar is emotional at best, and fake at worst. The lights, the sound, the cool graphic behind the words on the screen, the sweat running down the faces of people excited for Jesus–NONE of them have the power of God like the WORD. It’s weird enough that we believe in a living book, there’s no need to add fuel by being fake and electric-lights-showy at the expense of reading from that living book.

I am not attacking this one church. (If I were attacking it I’d have linked to it or called it by name) I wasn’t there, and their webcast didn’t work–when I tried to view it in Safari, it said something about Internet Explorer. (insert appropriate jab about not caring to reach people like me who are allergic to Microsoft) I am confronting the “evangelistic” mindset that we need to get excited for Jesus, then people will see how excited we are and come to Christ.

You didn’t win Nick over. You scared him off. His last tweet from the building:

“OH GOD I’M OUTTA HERE THIS SH** IS SCARY”

People being excited for what appears to be no reason is not winsome. It’s really weird. Give Nick a reason to be excited. Tell him that all of his striving to be known and loved can end with Jesus, who fully knows us (even our really dark, twisted thought lives), but still fully loves us. Read to him from Paul’s letter to the Galatians, and then apply that ancient document to his passionate, urban, technologically saturated life. He’s dying to hear just one Christian make sense without being a total fruitcake. But he’s pretty jaded. Your message is going to have to head him off at the pass, a bit. You’ll have to respond to his objections lovingly. You’ll have to actually listen when he makes good points, and respond to them.

But you have to start by not scaring him away by speaking a language that is totally foreign, and giving no indication that his point of view is at all valid, or prevalent. There are a lot of folks like Nick that aren’t going to be ignored away.

I wholeheartedly agree, Nick, we Christians can be some scary, weird folk. But let’s not toss out the Bible. Like you said, they didn’t even preach from it. Might wanna give it a shot. And as I said last night on twitter, if you are game to discuss Jesus with a guarantee that I won’t at any point bust out a streamer or speak in tongues*, holler at me.

*this is not a jab at the practice of speaking in tongues. It’s a jab at using glossolalia as an evangelistic tool. Nick and I both speak English. So I’ll just use English to explain the gospel to him.

August 10, 2010

God is not a Carny on a Smoke Break.

Here’s the thing about roller coasters: how well you do on them only affects you. The same coaster that makes some people scream with excitement makes others shriek with horror.

One person laughs.

Another pukes. (fair enough, in that case how well you do also affects the people directly behind you…)

There’s that neat story in Mark 4:35-41 that others have pointed to where we see this principle at work. There’s a storm that has professional fishermen scared for their life (read: really bad storm), and Jesus is ASLEEP in the stern of the boat. The thing is literally falling apart, and Jesus is sleeping.

His perspective on the roller coaster was right. He knew who made the thing, and was supremely confident in it’s construction.

As we have buckled ourselves into this current coaster (leaving staff, click-click-clicking up the hill toward unemployment), I’m so confident that God is the one who pulled down the safety bar and gave the thumbs up for the cart to begin up the hill. But as analogies go, this one is falling apart quickly. God is not a carny, going on a smoke break while I fly upside down across the theme park. He made the coaster, holds the coaster up, controls the weather, etc, etc.

But I think he enjoys us experiencing the mystery of the click-click-click. Let’s hold our hands up and enjoy the ride!