August 29, 2010

I have never reposted a blog of another writer before.  It is highly unlikely that I will again, however Dr. Moore's perspesctive on this matter is spot on with my heart and concerns.  To read more from Russell D. Moore you can find him at http://www.russellmoore.com/2010/08/29/god-the-gospel-and-glenn-beck/ .  Dr. Moore is the Dean of the School of Theology and Senior Vice-President for Academic Administration at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  I'm glad to see that people are willing to stand up and speak to this issue.

"Mormon television star stands in front of the Lincoln Memorial and calls American Christians to revival. He assembles some evangelical celebrities to give testimonies, and then preaches a God and country revivalism that leaves the evangelicals cheering that they’ve heard the gospel, right there in the nation’s capital.

The news media pronounces him the new leader of America’s Christian conservative movement, and a flock of America’s Christian conservatives have no problem with that.If you’d told me that ten years ago, I would have assumed it was from the pages of an evangelical apocalyptic novel about the end-times. But it’s not. It’s from this week’s headlines. And it is a scandal.

Fox News commentator Glenn Beck, of course, is that Mormon at the center of all this. Beck isn’t the problem. He’s an entrepreneur, he’s brilliant, and, hats off to him, he knows his market. Latter-day Saints have every right to speak, with full religious liberty, in the public square. I’m quite willing to work with Mormons on various issues, as citizens working for the common good. What concerns me here is not what this says about Beck or the “Tea Party” or any other entertainment or political figure. What concerns me is about what this says about the Christian churches in the United States.

It’s taken us a long time to get here, in this plummet from Francis Schaeffer to Glenn Beck. In order to be this gullible, American Christians have had to endure years of vacuous talk about undefined “revival” and “turning America back to God” that was less about anything uniquely Christian than about, at best, a generically theistic civil religion and, at worst, some partisan political movement.

Rather than cultivating a Christian vision of justice and the common good (which would have, by necessity, been nuanced enough to put us sometimes at odds with our political allies), we’ve relied on populist God-and-country sloganeering and outrage-generating talking heads. We’ve tolerated heresy and buffoonery in our leadership as long as with it there is sufficient political “conservatism” and a sufficient commercial venue to sell our books and products.

Too often, and for too long, American “Christianity” has been a political agenda in search of a gospel useful enough to accommodate it. There is a liberation theology of the Left, and there is also a liberation theology of the Right, and both are at heart mammon worship. The liberation theology of the Left often wants a Barabbas, to fight off the oppressors as though our ultimate problem were the reign of Rome and not the reign of death. The liberation theology of the Right wants a golden calf, to represent religion and to remind us of all the economic security we had in Egypt. Both want a Caesar or a Pharaoh, not a Messiah.

Leaders will always be tempted to bypass the problem behind the problems: captivity to sin, bondage to the accusations of the demonic powers, the sentence of death. That’s why so many of our Christian superstars smile at crowds of thousands, reassuring them that they don’t like to talk about sin. That’s why other Christian celebrities are seen to be courageous for fighting their culture wars, while they carefully leave out the sins most likely to be endemic to the people paying the bills in their movements.

Where there is no gospel, something else will fill the void: therapy, consumerism, racial or class resentment, utopian politics, crazy conspiracy theories of the left, crazy conspiracy theories of the right; anything will do. The prophet Isaiah warned us of such conspiracies replacing the Word of God centuries ago (Is. 8:12–20). As long as the Serpent’s voice is heard, “You shall not surely die,” the powers are comfortable.

This is, of course, not new. Our Lord Jesus faced this test when Satan took him to a high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the earth, and their glory. Satan did not mind surrendering his authority to Jesus. He didn’t mind a universe without pornography or Islam or abortion or nuclear weaponry. Satan did not mind Judeo-Christian values. He wasn’t worried about “revival” or “getting back to God.” What he opposes was the gospel of Christ crucified and resurrected for the sins of the world.

We used to sing that old gospel song, “I will cling to an old rugged cross, and exchange it some day for a crown.” The scandalous scene at the Lincoln Memorial indicates that many of us want to exchange it in too soon. To Jesus, Satan offered power and glory. To us, all he needs offer is celebrity and attention.

Mormonism and Mammonism are contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ. They offer another Lord Jesus than the One offered in the Scriptures and Christian tradition, and another way to approach him. An embrace of these tragic new vehicles for the old Gnostic heresy is unloving to our Mormon friends and secularist neighbors, and to the rest of the watching world. Any “revival” that is possible without the Lord Jesus Christ is a “revival” of a different kind of spirit than the Spirit of Christ (1 Jn. 4:1-3).

The answer to this scandal isn’t a retreat, as some would have it, to an allegedly apolitical isolation. Such attempts lead us right back here, in spades, to a hyper-political wasteland. If the churches are not forming consciences, consciences will be formed by the status quo, including whatever demagogues can yell the loudest or cry the hardest. The answer isn’t a narrowing sectarianism, retreating further and further into our enclaves. The answer includes local churches that preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, and disciple their congregations to know the difference between the kingdom of God and the latest political whim.

It’s sad to see so many Christians confusing Mormon politics or American nationalism with the gospel of Jesus Christ. But, don’t get me wrong, I’m not pessimistic. Jesus will build his church, and he will build it on the gospel. He doesn’t need American Christianity to do it. Vibrant, loving, orthodox Christianity will flourish, perhaps among the poor of Haiti or the persecuted of Sudan or the outlawed of China, but it will flourish.

And there will be a new generation, in America and elsewhere, who will be ready for a gospel that is more than just Fox News at prayer."

                                                                                                               August 25, 2010

Well, I’m back at it again after taking some time to adjust to a new season of ministry here in Hawaii. Many may think that living in paradise is all anyone could ask for, but what the common tourist fails to understand is that this is a community unlike any other. It’s different. To the common mainland perspective it is a bit strange or even dysfunctional at first glance, but that does not detract from the fact that genuine community exists within this unique cultural paradigm.

You see a “Community” is defined by the group of people, who have common cultural, ethical and religious beliefs, living together in a particular local area. The people can also form a community if they have any other virtues in common, like a common profession, a common language, common goals of life, etc. the term Community is widely used to evoke a sense of collectivism. It’s no different here. The culture thrives on community here at a rich and deep level. Matter of fact the Hawaiian language expresses a strong sense of community. A term that resonates with me is one that plays out in the community beautifully and that term is ohana.

From an outsiders perspective they would see ohana as simply meaning family. However, here ohana carries a sense that family is a place to feed each other and to be fed, as well. One of the Hawaiian proverbs recorded by the venerated Mary Kawena Pukui is ‘Ike aku, ‘ike mai, kōkua aku, kōkua mai; pela iho la ka nohana ‘ohana -- "Recognize others, be recognized, help others, be helped; such is a family relationship." Yet there is a deeper understanding that you will quickly grasp if you spend time with people here. Ohana is more than just family. It’s an understanding that within the family or a community of families no one get’s left behind. There is value placed in each and every member of the family or community unit. It’s a beautiful display of how God sees us.

Scott Peck says it well when he wrote, “There can be no vulnerability without risk; there can be no community without vulnerability; there can be no peace, and ultimately no life, without community.” I’m staggered by the understanding that this is the very sentiment that encapsulates the original intent and design of the church. Not just the church here in this small part of the world, but globally. The church was commissioned with this sense of understanding that we are to bring the gospel to the least of those within our community or family. That takes risk and vulnerability. Have we lost our way? Have we become willing to leave certain people behind for the sake of our agendas or our unwillingness to be vulnerable?

Groucho Marx was recorded as saying, “I would never belong to a group that would accept someone like me as a member.” My prayer for our time here would be to reach into a culture and communicate the love of Christ in such ways that the Groucho Marx’s of the Pacific Islands would find a place to belong. I’m still a firm believer that people don’t have a problem with our God, they have a problem with our churches. Lord help me to lead with the conviction and tenacity to create a deeper understanding of ohana in the life of your Bride. May I be vulnerable enough to take the risks that would allow us to see Your glory displayed here and beyond. Lord help me to understand that the life I touch for good or ill will touch another life, and that in turn another, until who knows where the trembling stops or in what far place my touch will be felt.