Godspell

This post is not about the film, nor the Broadway production per se, but last night I did attend a rendition of Godspell put on by the Huntington University Theatre Company.  They updated the show with contemporary pop-culture references (Pirates of the Caribbean, Spongebob Squarepants, Survivor, Lost, Cast Away, etc.).  The original Godspell featured Jesus as a Harlequin, surrounded by a following of clowns, something that has been highly controversial, and it did take me just a little while to get used to a hippy/pirate Jesus.  I think what did it for me was the first act, which was the entire sermon on the mount.

As I was sitting in the audience listening to the words of Jesus, and seeing them taught and acted out, I got to thinking about Jesus’ most famous sermon.  You know what?  I don’t know that I have ever heard a sermon on the Sermon on the Mount.  In fact, Jesus’ words are taught infrequently in the churches I have been attending, at least in comparison to the words of Paul, John, Timothy, and some of the Old Testament books.  The Sermon on the Mount seems to be a good summary of the bulk of Jesus’ teachings, so why wouldn’t that be taught all the time?  And, considering that the great commission includes teaching everything Jesus commanded, wouldn’t the Sermon on the Mount be a great place to start?  Why is a theatre troupe more bold with Jesus’ teachings than the church?

Returning to the show last night, I think one of the greatest strengths of the production was the tonal shifts.  The humor, pop-references, quirky voices, excellent music, and the thrilling physicality of the choreography really captured the audience.  Then, all of a sudden, especially in the second act, the audience would find itself caught off guard completely by the gravity of some of Jesus’ words.  The second act really bounces the audience around, and when it is time for the last supper and the crucifixion, the bouncing leaves you just a bit shocked.  The rendering of the Crucifixion last night was powerful and moving, eerie and electric (literally).  The use of the arts, especially in a humorous way, can really break down a person’s barriers and defenses.  Some might consider this manipulative, but I think if this power of the arts is used in a positive way it can really help to create critical awareness and help individuals become better people.

If you are interested in checking out Huntington’s tour dates or reading the Theatre Company’s blog, you can check it out here: http://godspell08.blogspot.com/

“I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

Every one has those things in their life that they are passionate about. For some it is sports, or a particular sport, for others it is music, or any number of things. We form a connection with these passions to the point that, when they are rejected by others, we sometimes take the rejection personally and feel the need to defend ourselves and our passions.

So when I mentioned to one of my professors my dismay that I hadn’t found a single evangelical peacemaking organization, my disappointment in his response was certainly a normal reaction. “That’s because Jesus said that he didn’t come to bring peace but a sword,” was his reply, as if that was the end of the issue. I was probably visibly shocked, but I decided not to argue just then.

 

My disappointment in my professor’s response goes beyond a personal feeling of rejection as a result of someone rejecting a personal passion. I think my professor’s response is indicative of an overarching problem in evangelical Christianity, namely, a poor understanding of the social aspects of the gospel. It is attitudes represented by my professor that have prompted certain accusations that evangelicals only care about the soul and spiritual salvation and care little or nothing for the body and social justice.

The gospel seems to self-evidently concern itself with justice. In fact, the entire Bible is riddled with the issue of social justice. The Israelites are constantly being reminded to care for the alien, the fatherless, and the widow. The prophets repeatedly condemn rulers for exploiting the poor. The first chapter of Isaiah addresses the rulers of Sodom and Gomorrah and pleads with them to cease their vain spirituality and exercise justice and end oppression. Jesus specifically mentions that those who feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit prisoners are performing those very actions for Jesus himself! Social justice and oppression’s end is close to the heart of Jesus.

 

At a time when many evangelical denominations were focusing only on the spiritual aspects of the gospel in a reaction to the social gospel, A. B. Simpson presented a balanced approach to the gospel of Jesus. He argued that Christianity must seek to minister to both body and soul. To quote Simpson:

 

“There is room not only for the worship of God, the teaching of sacred truth, and the evangelization of the lost, but also for every phase of practical philanthropy and usefulness. There may be, in perfect keeping with the simple order and dignity of the church of God, the most aggressive works for the masses and the widest welcome for every class of sinful men; the ministry of healing for the sick and suffering administered in the name of Jesus; the most complete provision for charitable relief; industrial training and social elevation for the degraded classes, workshops for the unemployed, homes for the orphaned, shelter for the homeless, refuges for the inebriates, the fallen and helpless; missions for the heathen; Christian literature for the instruction of the people and every agency needed to make the church of God the light of the world and the mothering of the suffering and the lost. And there is no work that will be more glorifying to God than a church that will embrace just such features and completeness.”

(Simpson Body and Soul, 5)

 

It is easy to see, at least in the tradition of the C&MA that social justice was seen by some evangelicals as central to the church’s mission.

 

So, why the aversion to Christian Peacemaking?

 

In defense of my professor, I’m guessing that the misconception is that Christian peacemaking is viewed as social activism instead of social welfare work, and indeed it can often take on an identity of social activism. The Christian peacemaking I would like to see, however, is peacemaking that is service oriented. I think Christians need to place themselves in fractured, violent, and war-torn communities in order to be a peaceful presence, and demonstrate the Christian alternative to this world’s ways of dealing with conflict.

 

What would happen if Christians devoted as much effort to waging peace as nations do to waging war? This is the question posited by the Christian Peacemaker Teams (www.cpt.org). Would this effort not be an incredible witness to armies on both sides of conflicts? Picture Christians moving to war-torn Iraq, helping widows and orphans and those injured by conflicts, providing medical care to victims of collateral damage and food supplies for the poor who cannot get access to food due to embargos, etc. What a powerful witness that would be, and a demonstration that we are not afraid to love in the midst of physical danger.

 

I think there is a responsibility on the part of Christian peacemaking organizations to make sure they emphasize the social welfare aspects of their ministries in greater proportion than their activism aspects. There are several reasons for this. First, it would be in beneficial in creating a united Christian support for peacemaking from both pacifists and just-war theorists alike. Even Christian proponents of just-war theory should hate war as much as pacifists due to its obvious and unavoidably destructive nature. Consequently, if peacemakers focused on alleviating these destructive effects, while offering the victims of this destruction hope in Jesus Christ, rather than just picketing wars, perhaps their just-war counterparts would be in full support of their efforts. Perhaps just-war adherents would even JOIN in peacemaking. What I am suggesting is, rather than only fighting war by trying to change policy (still an honorable task, in this man’s opinion), work to alleviate the effects of war and prevent war through peaceful ministry. We can create peace through presence much more readily than we can through policy, and we might get some of our just-war friends to join us. There is no reason we cannot work together to alleviate the ill effects of war; even if we disagree on the justice of war, we all agree that the ill effects of it are tragedies. And even if there will always be wars (as there will always be poor amongst us), that does not diminish our responsibility to minister to war-torn regions.

 

I’ve many more thoughts on this subject, and this is certainly not a comprehensive look on the issue. This is a brief survey of the issue and some of the ideas I’m toying with. I think I will be expounding on some of these ideas in the future, but wanted to get this out there initially. I welcome critiques and further ideas on these subjects.

Florida

Florida might be one of the worst states in the union, in my opinion at least, and goodness knows I have plenty of opinions. I’m down here in Orlando visiting my older brother and sister for a couple weeks before I head back to my final semester of college. It has been nice, but it is still Florida. Here are some things that stink about this state:

• It is flat–no hills = ugly
• The grass is as smooth as sandpaper–For a rural New Yorker who grew up in bare feet during the summers, this is just plain unacceptable.
• Fire ants–they are everywhere and they bite everything. Another reason bare feet are right out.
• Florida drivers–As bad as any drivers I have ever seen. They speed like the dickens and don’t use their blinkers. They also honk like there is no tomorrow and try to kill bicyclists whenever they can.
• Don’t even get me started on their voting systems…

Speaking of voting systems…I watched a documentary two nights ago about how corrupt the Diebold company is, a company that supplies many of the voting machines our country uses in major elections. The documentary, entitled “Hacking Democracy” explains how easy it is to manipulate today’s technology in order to alter American votes. Americans espouse one of the things that makes our country great is our free elections and the right every citezen has to cast his/her vote.  Its pretty scary that your vote might not really mean anything.

The bottom line seems to be that human beings are corrupt.  Our founding fathers did understand that when they created checks and balances in the US consititution.  But there is only so far checks and balances can go.  Our current system has decayed into corruption.  Capitalism has destroyed democracy.  There is no part of our system that is above the corruption of Mammon.  As long as there are lobbyists, there will never truly be free elections.

These thoughts seem to be pessimistic or cynical at best.  If my hope was in humanity, these would be thoughts full of despair.  But there is hope, in Jesus Christ and his coming kingdom.  As Christians we await a day when our good king will usher in a kingdom far above our corrupted earthly kingdoms.  A kingdom where the lion and lamb lay down with one another, where there is no hunger, thirsting or the shedding of tears.  No there is a kingdom I could pledge allegiance to.

Musings on Art, Stasis, Determinism and Hope

I’ve been reading Taking it to the Streets by Dr. Corbitt of Eastern University. The book is an inspiring introduction to arts-based community-development, a subject I’ve become recently fascinated in for several reasons. Just by way of background, I grew up as an art lover. I remember early childhood gifts of paint brushes and paint; I remember time passed over homemade easels and rolls of butcher paper. Throughout high-school I took as many art classes as I could. For parts of my Sophomore and Junior years I dreamed of studying at art school in the visual arts. Unfortunately, where I grew up there were no real examples of faith-integrated arts programs, or art-based evangelism. I had a hard time reconciling my love for drawing/painting and my desire to share the gospel to the unreached. I saw the two concepts in a false dichotomy, art or evangelism.

Stasis is stagnation. Stasis is things remaining as they are, unchanged. When something is static, it is cemented, fixed in stone. Stasis, in its essence, is a lack of change. When we see the world around us as static, we perceive the world as incapable of change. Seeing the world as static is a hopeless, cynical and desperate (full of despair) way of looking at life. It is also blatantly anti-Christian and anti-hope. Seeing people, churches and communities as static is seeing them as hopeless. We say it all the time in Aliquippa: the Christian faith is not compatible with hopeless people, hopeless churches, or hopeless communities.

I’ve often expressed to Joel and others that I have hard time believing in determinism of all kinds. In fact, I would go so far as to argue that determinism is evil and wrong. What do I mean by determinism? Determinism is the belief that our actions, lives, feelings, etc. are all somehow determined by something. We live in a society that embraces many forms of determinism. Anthropologists suggest our actions are governed by cultural determinism. Scientists suggest that our thoughts, moods and impulses are governed by biological determinism. Psychologists suggest that our thoughts and actions are governed by chemical determinism. Sociologists believe our reactions are governed by social influences, upbringing and demographics. Reformed theologians suggest our fates are theologically determined (predestination). I am not arguing that these different areas (biological makeup, chemicals, upbringing, etc.) do not have any effect on the way we think and act. What I am suggesting, however, is that when we limit these things to determinism, we are essentially believing in stasis. Determinism inevitably leads to a belief in stasis, a belief that things are determined and fixed. Determinism and stasis stand in direct opposition to hope. When we see the world as static, we see the world as beyond the hope of transformation.

My Life as Delivery Boy

Well, here I am back in Toccoa for my senior, yep SENIOR year of college. The semester is officially on its way as the second week of the semester approaches its midpoint. My classes this semester turned out to be easier than those most recent, and so I’ve decided to try and work this semester. I applied at Wal-Mart, decided not to follow up, and ended up getting hired as pizza delivery man at Pizza Hut. I’ve only worked three days, but so far I love it. I make decent money with tips, and I get to drive around listening to music. Aside from that, I’ve met some interesting people on deliveries and at work.

One of the hardest things about attending school for me the last three years has been the lack of real human interaction. Over the course of my years here at Toccoa, I probably spent on average an hour a week off campus. Its nice to be interacting with people off campus on a regular basis. It helps me keep things in perspective and gosh I’m going to learn a lot.

Take my co-worker Billy (not his real name) for example. Billy is 26-28 years old, a Georgia native, grew up right around here. He’s been working at Pizza Hut for a couple weeks now, so next to me he is the newest employee. He is a fellow delivery man. My first day at work he was asking me where I was from and over the course of the conversation I revealed that I am senior at Toccoa, originally from New York. The conversation began as small talk but then Andy asked whether Toccoa Falls College was Christian college. I quickly responded that it was, but not everyone there is a Christian. It was as if I needed to defend the fact that I went there by explaining that not EVERYONE there is a Christian. It was a distancing, defensive response, and I recognized immediately how uncomfortable I felt with him and my other coworkers knowing that I am a believer. I’m a very analytical person, and even to this moment I am not sure whether I was worried about revealing my faith, or just worried about revealing my faith so soon. I think I envisioned my coworkers learning about my faith, but gradually and over time. But this was not the case. The conversation didn’t really go to much further that first night, we were both engaged with different tasks and so things were left essentially at that.

After analyzing things a bit more afterward, I realized my need to repent. My faith is a part of my life, a big part of my life, and people like Billy are the people I want to live among, serve and build relationships with. I prayed over the next day or so that I would have the opportunity to expound a bit more, and to be more honest with my beliefs. That prayer was answered today. Billy brought up matters of faith tonight at work and was very open with his beliefs and convictions. He revealed to me that he was baptized as a Pentecostal, had a bizzare, far out (his words), experience that sort of freaked him out and scared him from the church. Since then he goes to church occasionally but not really regularly. He confessed that he doesn’t really think that God has one name or that God is exclusively Christian. He mentioned that perhaps sincere Buddhists go to heaven as well. It was an interesting conversation and I felt really comfortable with him. I felt like my role tonight was more as listener, so I didn’t give my convictions about things, though I hope to sometime in the near future. I want to make sure I have the right to share my beliefs. Anyway, all that to say…I’m excited about this process, and I admitedly have a lot to learn.

People in this world are seeking something. Billy’s story is evidence of that. Why was I so shocked to here someone interested in matters of faith? Billy said something very interesting to me tonight about the church. Since working in Aliquippa, I’ve had a lot of time to think about the institutional church, and in diologeing with Pastor Joel, Pastor Jim, and Pastor Paul about the subject, I’ve had a lot of time to think about how distant it has become from society. Tonight Billy told me that he doesn’t get church. He doesn’t understand it and he doesn’t really like it. Some of the things there bother him, make him feel uncomfortable, and seem extra to him. Tonight as we were discussing this he said something profound…he said, “I think this is the church right here, Billy and Dean talking, that is the church.” How amazing that this seemingly naive redneck Toccoan who told me tonight it took him ten years to get his GED (I’m being deliberate with this description to prove a point) understands the church better than most “Christians” do! Jesus said wherever two or more are gathered in his name, there he is also, there is the church…This guy GOT it. Anyway, all that to say, I’m excited to begin forming relationships like this. I’ll be posting more about work in the coming weeks I am sure. Some might be lighter than this, I’ve got some great stories about deliveries…

Summer 2007

I did not blog this entire summer. I’m now paying the consequences for it. How do you explain an entire summer without being reductionistic or interminable? Thats the dilemna I am facing at present, and my proposed solution is the following eclectic summary of the summer’s events in Aliquippa. This is certainly not a holistic picture of my summer, but it is an attempt to cover those things most formitive, or at least of initial significance after this summer. In many ways processing the summer’s events.

Now that I am done qualifying…

Responsibility
This summer I was the Assistant Program Coordinator for Aliquippa Impact’s summer day camp program. I was the immediate staff supervisor to six full time staff members and six interns throughout the course of this summer. I was also, at times, responsible for the safety and order of day camp (45+ kids grades 1-6). Without going into detail, this was more responsibility than I have ever had in my life. I’ve never been in a real leadership position before. I liked it, but it was a huge challenge for me. Leadership is taxing. Just the mental burden of having so much responsibility can be a monstrous mental strain. I often found myself mentally asphixiated.

Teaching
Aliquippa Impact exists to help serve at risk youth and their families in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. One of the ways in which A.I. goes about this is by attempting to supplement the local school district with additional educational opportunities. Aliquippa Impact primarily focuses on acedemic areas in which the school district has been unable to pour money into, namely, arts and cultural literacy. This summer I tought the fifth and sixth grade class during the A.I.’s summer day camp program. Again, the thrust of this summer program was cultural literacy. Each week of camp focused on a specific region of the world. My job was to teach about these specific regions, as well as about some of the various countries and cultures located therein. It was a challenge to creativly educate students without turning summer camp into summer school. THere were times that I feel like I succeeded, and there were certainly times which I failed.

Perhaps the week that I will remember the most was the week that we focused on the continent of Africa. Even the most ethnocentric American is aware of some of the complex and tragic issues surrounding the continent of Africa including genocide, HIV/AIDS, malaria, starvation, etc. Even though many of our kids are from less than desirable economic situations, the students in my class really latched on to the idea of suffering in Africa. It was amazing to see our kids filled with compassion, frustration and anger at the world’s problems. They wrote letters to Representative Jason Altmire expressing their concern. They talked about and interacted with complex issues. As a class project we made a video to raise awareness about genocide in Africa. I hope to have it up on YouTube soon, when I do a link will be posted.

Without going to much longer, I thoroughly enjoyed my time as a teacher. I loved researching these issues and teaching them in a way that 10 and 11 year old children could understand them. Making things fun was a huge challenge, but all in all, I think the kids really learned this summer. One thing is for certain. I love teaching and I want to continue when I can. Starting in fall 2008 I’ll be co-directing an after school program with A.I. focusing on Global Education. I’m sure I’ll be posting more on that as research continues.

Center for Leader Multiplication
The CLM is a new non-profit emerging in Aliquippa Pennsylvania. You can read more about it at the CLM website www.leadermultiplication.org. Starting June 1, 2008 I will be working as a CLM associate in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. Each CLM associate is responsible to plant an organic, self-replicating church in Aliquippa over the course of their tenure with the organization. I will be working in conjunction with Aliquippa Impact starting art-based community programs while working as a church planter with CLM. I’ll be writing about this a lot more as time progresses as well. One of the first things I will be working on is art-based street presence. I’ll be defining that in a subsequent blog.

The Holy Spirit
The most misunderstood, and mentally challenging aspect of Christianity might just be the work of the Holy Spirit. Over the course of my time with Aliquippa Impact I’ve had the great opportunity to dialogue with people about the work of the Holy Spirit. While this is certainly not something I have reached total understanding of, I have become certain of two thing: (1) The Holy Spirit empowers Christians to live everyday and (2) the Holy Spirit manifests in the believer in supernatural and sometimes miraculous ways for the sake of the gospel.

“The age of youth was created for heroic service and not for pleasure.”

This quote hangs in the living room of our staff house on 829 Franklin Avenue, Aliquippa, PA. Although it has been there all summer, it hasn’t always held significant meaning for me. As the summer began, five weeks ago for me, I was excited to be here in Aliquippa doing something familiar. Working with the summer day camp (which currently constitutes Aliquippa Impact, Inc.’s main ministry) last summer was a joy and a challenge. Despite the summer’s vast challenges, on the whole I thoroughly enjoyed myself. It was a pleasure to be with the kids most of the time. It was in the anticipation of this joy that I was looking forward to City Camp 07.

Well this summer has been different. I’m working a similar position with a bit more responsibility. Staff has changed, but everyone is totally reliable and competent. There are a lot more kids involved in the program this summer, and that has definitely added to the challenge of day camp.

Challenge. Challenge is probably the best way to describe this summer. Last summer was a challenge for me, but somehow I think if this summer had been just like last summer, it would not have been a challenge for me. It would have been to predictable, to comfortable. Prior to this summer I never knew what it felt like to be tired, exhausted and hopeless. It seems like challenges are at every turn, like there is always something else to remember or to do. It seems like there is never enough time to get everything done, let alone sleep and rest. I’m wiped out most of the time.

But somehow, there is no other place I would rather be. This is the most fulfilling thing I have ever done with my time and life. But, I hate it most of the time. It doesn’t make sense at all, but somehow through this hardship there is joy, peace and contentment. But those things are not feelings. Somehow my feelings are the exact opposite of what we often think of as joy and peace and contentment.

Somehow this is what is meant by heroic service. There is no feeling of pleasure associated with it. Granted, sometimes my feelings do seem to be pleasure when I am working at day camp, but those feelings come and go just as quickly. This summer, most of the time my feelings are quite the opposite of pleasure. But, I know I am still serving, and I know somehow God is still using what I am trying to do. Most of the time God is using me even when I don’t want to be at day camp. Its as if just by being present at day camp God is using me. Some days I feel like all I can do is show up, I don’t have the energy to do anything else.

Is what I am doing heroic service? I don’t think so. I don’t think we are really doing anything spectacular here. But God is working through us, and in spite of us. And I’m more content here than I have ever been even though I am more tired and more miserable some days than I have ever been…

As I browse the Facebook’s of my friends from high school I am reminded of how rare this idea is. Its easy to see that many of the kids who sat with me in class are pursuing pleasure. They may even find it sometimes. But those feelings are so fleeting. Feelings come and go so rapidly that I know there must be more to life than them. Somehow true peace and joy are choices that go beyond our temporal feelings. Somehow heroic service IS what we were made for.

Back in Aliquippa

I’m back in Aliquippa again for summer 2007. Actually, I guess I’ve been here three weeks now. The staff for Aliquippa Impact City Camp 2007 has just finished our second week of training, and I think we are all itching for day camp to start. But we don’t have to wait very long, it all starts Monday.

Since writing my last post, I’ve discovered something new about service. I mentioned that last summer was the first time I was ever involved in service that really required something from me, that required real sacrifice. I was expecting this summer to be similar, that is, I was expecting to be doing the same things this summer as I was last summer. But this summer I know what to expect. I’m familiar with day camp; I’ve been there, done that, so to speak. If I just did the same things I did last summer, worked in the same way, encountered the same challenges, would that still be sacrificial service? It certainly woulnd’t be as sacrificial, or “over-my-head-ministry” as last summer was because I am familiar with it, comfortable with it.

But God has a way of making things uncomfortable for those who wish to serve him. Isn’t that interesting? So this summer I have found myself in a place of discomfort. I’m once again in a place where there are challenges I did not anticipate. I still am doing many of the things I did last summer, but now there are additional challenges that I did not anticipate.

Without going into details about these challenges (I’m still processing them in my own mind), I think that this is part of what it means to

Christians and Government

Today in my History of Theology class a discussion concerning the separation of church and state came up, in the context of an introduction to dominion theology. It was an incredibly interesting discussion, and the subject has been on my mind for most of the day. I found myself disagreeing with my prof and about half the class. Overall I would guess our class was 50/50 on the issue, half thinking that Christians in the government can effect morality via the governing authority, the other half rejecting that notion.

To me, the notion of affecting a nation’s morality via the ruling authorities is a proposterous idea. This “top-down” mentality doesn’t work with morality any better than it does with economics! (The trickle-down theory just doesn’t work practically!) The movements that have had lasting effects on our country’s politics and morality have been bottom-up, grass-roots movements. Look at the temperance movement, the women’s suffrage movement, and the civil rights movement…In each case, it was the little people making the change.

When I pointed out in class that the Jesus and his disciples, and the early church for that matter, were grass-roots, I had a classmate try to tell me that the incarnation was a “top-down” approach. Maybe what he meant by this was that Christ came down to the nothingness of humanity from his place as God, but I don’t think that is what this classmate meant. Christ did make himself nothing, and his example is the PERFECT example of effective change from the bottom up!

Jesus of Nazareth had every opportunity to set himself up as the emperor of the world. The Jews of his day, including many of his followers, were expecting the messiah to come and start an earthly kingdom, a “top-down” kingdom that would change the world. They were looking for political liberation and self-determination. But that is not what Jesus had in mind. Instead he turned the tables, and flipped things upside down. How did he start a movement? With an eclectic group of uneducated peasants from a captive nation! And what was his method for changing the world? Dying. Christ and his gospel are the antithesis of a “top-down” approach.

It was a great day when Constantine made Christianity legal in the Roman Empire. I imagine many Christians were joyful and thankful that they could serve God openly at last. The centuries of persecution were finally over. That peace was a great thing. But, didn’t the church thrive under such persecution? Look at the book of Acts… What about today? Isn’t the church thriving in China and other places hostile to the gospel? Is the church thriving in our present day Constantinian empire (the USA)?

I am not sure that I have fully resolved this next idea in my head, but it seems to make sense to me. The ability for Christians to live and worship freely is a great thing, and not something to be taken for granted. It has not always been this way, and will not, most likely, continue to be this way. But, at the same time, persecution is good for the church. It forces the church to rely on God, it weeds out the nominal, and it is a powerful witness to the world. Maybe tranquility for the church is nice for this world, but maybe it is not beneficial for our spiritual condition. Do not trials develop perseverance, character, and hope?

Apostate churches are not born out of persecution, but are born out of the church growing comfortable. I think there is plenty of evidence for this with the Israelites in the old testament. The entire narrative of the Old Testament seems to be the Israelites sinning and doing evil in the eyes of the Lord, being taken captive (much like persecution), and then repenting and serving God again before the cycle begins again.

So what does this mean practically? I’m not sure… Should we pray for persecution? Maybe… at the very least we need to be careful not to take our comfort and prosperity (read laziness and obesity) for granted. Days of comfort often end abruptly.

When its Hard to be a Pacifist

Its days like today that it is not fun to be a pacifist. I received an email yesterday and this is what it said:

“On Thursday, May 3rd at 10:25 AM a young soldier from Franklin County will be coming home.Ryen was killed serving our country overseas and will be arriving at the Toccoa Airport on Thursday. The college is asking our students who can gather on Big A to support his family and show the community our support for one who was willing to sacrifice his life for his country.”

When push comes to shove, I believe Ryen died for nothing. I believe that Ryen’s life had value, but he was a soldier commanded to fight in an unjust war and the loss of his life for the “defense of this country” is meaningless. But that makes me sound as heartless as a war-hawk…Ryen’s death is a tragedy, as is the loss of all human life. I don’t know why it happened and I wish that it hadn’t. His death was as senseless as those that have died in Darfur, or the shootings earlier this year in Aliquippa. Death, wherever it happens is a tragedy. My honest condolences go out to Ryen’s family. It is the individual lives affected by war that make it so tragic. It is not nations that feel the pain of these losses, but fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers. It is the weak–children, poor, and marginalized–that suffer the most.

There must be a better way to peace.

“Sure as a hammer finds a nail, death is the only way to peace” ~Derek Webb

It is Christians dying for others–socially, emotionally and yes physically– that can bring the world peace. Jesus inaugurated the kingdom through his death, and we are called to follow suite. Only through radically associating, and relating to the hurting can we effect peace in this war torn and restless world.

It is not guaranteed to be successful, but a human history of war has never brought peace: the “war to end all wars” (WW1) led to the “war to make the world safe for democracy” (WW2) which has led to more war, and a world hostile to human life (including democracy!). When will we learn?

“Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” ~George Santayana