Repaso: May 17, 2013

May 17, 2013 — Leave a comment

coffee-beans-1

1. Buying social justice
Rachel Pieh Jones (@RachelPiehJones) lives in Djibouti, and the activism of some fellow Americans scares her:

If my generation cares so deeply about global issues of justice and poverty that they are willing to change eating, clothing, and living habits, where are they? A significant challenge for nonprofits and ministries remains recruiting people who will commit to serve long-term outside the United States. I know there are a plethora of good reasons that concerned American Christians can’t just uproot and leave the States, from family to health to finances. I know I simplify. But I have a theory about what is partly contributing to the dearth of young Americans willing to spend their lives on behalf of others. They think they are already are.

2. Christians and immigration
World recently published essays by two evangelicals with different views on the immigration debate. Unfortunately, it’s not really a conversation as the title suggests, but it sure is better than nothing. Here’s an excerpt from Danny Carroll, a Guatemalan-American professor who teaches at Denver Seminary, and whose views on this issue I mostly share:

One of the reasons Christians disagree about the Bible and immigration is that we speak from diverse perspectives that define in different ways how the Bible can be used for societal issues. Our starting points differ, as do our arguments. We should not be surprised, then, that we differ on things like immigration. We talk past each other without realizing we are speaking different “theological languages” from various church traditions. Our disagreements, though, do not disqualify Christian input into the national discussion, but we need to be wiser about how we speak out and be more aware of our theological and church backgrounds that may lead us in contrary directions.

3. DFW on empathy
During a 2005 commencement address, the late David Foster Wallace said this, among other things:

Most days, if you’re aware enough to give yourself a choice, you can choose to look differently at this fat, dead-eyed, over-made-up lady who just screamed at her kid in the checkout line. Maybe she’s not usually like this. Maybe she’s been up three straight nights holding the hand of a husband who is dying of bone cancer. Or maybe this very lady is the low-wage clerk at the motor vehicle department, who just yesterday helped your spouse resolve a horrific, infuriating, red-tape problem through some small act of bureaucratic kindness. Of course, none of this is likely, but it’s also not impossible.

4. On saving the world
Jamie Smith (@james_ka_smith) interviews Tyler Wigg-Stevenson (@tylerws) about responsible activism and social change, drawing on Tyler’s recent book The World Is Not Ours To Save (which I loved). Here’s an excerpt on the relationship between activism and discipleship:

I think discipleship is the comprehensive posture of living a life that seeks to follow Jesus. Of seeking the discipline of the confession that Christ is Lord, of the living person of Christ. It seeks that discipline over every aspect of our lives. Activism, on the other hand, is a posture toward social realities that presupposes that coordinated activity can make a difference in the social realities that we live in. One’s discipleship might very well lead one into acts of activism or to a career as an activist or to times spent in activism, but discipleship can never be evacuated into activism. Activism is never a substitute for discipleship. It’s at best a subset of the sort of activities that one might do as a disciple of Christ.

5. Modern Motorcycle Diaries
Alex Chacón (@ExpeditionSouth), of El Paso, Texas, recently spent 500 days riding his motorcycle from Alaska all the way down to Argentina. You can read an interview with him here; better yet, watch this video.

[Photo: msu.edu]

In Repaso , , , , , ,
permalink

Faith and political leadership

May 14, 2013 — 4 Comments

riosmontt

Following the historic ruling in the genocide trial of Guatemala’s former dictator Rios Montt on Friday, it’s been fascinating to watch the varied reactions on social media, especially from Christians with very different interpretations of the character of the man now sentenced to 80 years in prison. They also differ widely in their understandings of who bears responsibility for the events of the war, and how Guatemala could best heal from the (relatively undisputed) wounds of the past.

I respect those with differing viewpoints on this issue, and I affirm the overwhelming complexity of the matter. Everyone interprets these events through the lenses of their experiences, values, and allegiances, and I’m no different. But amidst the tweets ranging from jubilation to disbelief, I was reminded of a story I’d read several years ago that offers us a different vantage point. It’s not a comprehensive account of the war’s atrocities, to be sure, but rather a glimpse of a moment in time – an eerie one at that – which sheds light on Rios Montt’s faith and the extent to which it impacted his political leadership.

It comes from Ruth Padilla DeBorst (the daughter of René Padilla) who gives leadership to the Latin American Theological Fraternity (FTL) in addition to her more recent work with World Vision. This story first appeared in an interview with Andy Crouch in Christianity Today in 2007 as part of its Christian Vision Project:

My husband was part of a group from Calvin College that personally interviewed many of these political leaders. They sat with Ríos Montt, who had been president of Guatemala in the early 1980s, in his office in 1987. He welcomed them effusively and gave an impassioned speech about brotherhood in Christ and about how blessed he was in receiving these guests from North America. He knelt in front of them and led them in prayer for his nation, with great passion. And then they started interviewing him.

They asked about the condition of the people in his country and how he viewed the statistics on malnutrition and poverty. They asked, “How do you see your government bringing light to these situations?” When they began pressing these questions, he worked himself into an absolute fury and threw them out of his office. They were afraid for their lives. They had to get out of Guatemala in a hurry.

He had the jargon. He was the founder of a church. Only God knows what was in his heart. But there did not seem to be any connection between his faith and his political leadership. Some of this is simply symptomatic of a young church—Christians who have had very little exposure to public policy and administration of public affairs.

That’s why the core of our proposal in the FTL is that Christian mission is, or must be, “integral mission.” God is Lord over every last corner of the world. And that has to do with interpersonal relations and with our relationships with him, but it also has implications for the way society is organized—who gets favored and how.

You can read the rest of the interview here.

[Photo: Jorge Dan Lopez/Reuters via guardian.co.uk]

In Justice , , , , ,
permalink

“I find that cultivating a sense of place as the exclusive and irreplaceable setting for following Jesus is even more difficult than persuading men and women of the truth of the message of Jesus. Why is it easier for me to believe in the holy (because God inspired it) truth of John 3:16 than the holy (because God made it) ground at 570 Apricot Lane where I live? …

God’s great love and purposes for us are worked out in the messes in our kitchens and backyards, in storms and sins, blue skies, daily work, working with us as we are and not as we should be, and where we are… and not where we would like to be.”

– Eugene Peterson, in the foreword to Sidewalks in the Kingdom: New Urbanism and the Christian Faith (Brazos)

 

Cultivating a sense of place

Posted on May 13, 2013 In Culture , , , , ,
permalink Leave a comment

Repaso: May 10, 2013

May 10, 2013 — Leave a comment

guatemala-forensics

1. The view from below
John Stackhouse (@jgsphd) shares a poignant passage from Bonhoeffer’s Letters and Papers From Prison and concludes:

I almost never, ever, thank God for setbacks, disappointments, frustrations, and injustices in my life that would let me, for once, see things the way so many people see them all the time. I almost never, ever, reflect on what I have learned from those experiences…except how to do all I can to control the world (!) such that they cannot recur. I have, that is, learned nothing from the Desert Fathers, nothing from Benedict or Francis or the Jesus Prayer mystic, nothing from the Mennonites, nothing from the missionaries or activists or front-line relief & development workers. But Bonhoeffer—like me, a well-educated and successful scion of a physician’s home in a prosperous modern Western society—warns me about, and welcomes me into, a new vantage point from which so much (more) can be learned. Alas, Providence likely will have to teach me the way it taught him: the hard way.

2. Secrets in Guatemalan soil
With the genocide trial against Rios Montt appearing to be nearing its end, PBS NewsHour ran this story about the remarkable men and women who have courageously and carefully uncovered the forensic evidence being used in the historic trial.

3. Prohibiting the free exercise thereof
Last year, the Kuyper Lecture (sponsored by the good people at the Center for Public Justice) was given by Miroslav Volf, who made a compelling case that religious exclusivism provides a solid basis for political pluralism. This year’s lecture was given by Stanley Carlson-Thies, a religious freedom advocate, who challenged the recent HHS contraceptive mandate, arguing:

The government must honor institutional religious freedom, and not just individual religious freedom or freedom of worship. It needs to have a policy of institutional pluralism rather than a policy of uniformity. It should acknowledge a general right for organizations to be distinctive in moral vision and religious conviction and practice, rather than expect moral uniformity with only the occasional exemption.

4. Playing God
If you’re anxious to read Andy Crouch’s (@ahc) forthcoming book (coming this November), you’ll enjoy this short talk he gave last year at Q. The video can’t be embedded, but here’s a blurb:

The word “power” often brings to mind the image of a mighty dictator or rolling tank, marble floors and wealthy exuberance. Power in our world is synonymous with force, violence, and poorly wielded influence. But Andy Crouch believes that power, as described in the words of Jesus, is creative, not coercive. It calls us to restore God’s image in a world full of broken bearers. In this talk, Crouch calls listeners away from a distorted definition of power to one that can change culture for good.

5. Switchfoot’s “The Sound”
I’m looking forward to seeing Switchfoot tonight at Chase Field after the Diamondbacks game. Here’s a favorite song of mine from a few years ago.

[Photo: Focus Forward Films]

In Repaso , , , , , , , ,
permalink

Book Review: Christ Our Reconciler

May 7, 2013 — Leave a comment

CapeTown2010

When 2,700 Christians from 150 countries gathered in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1974, it was, according to TIME, “a formidable forum, possibly the widest ranging meeting of Christians ever held.” As I wrote in Serving Justice vs. Saving Souls for RELEVANT late last year, that first Lausanne gathering represented a watershed moment for evangelicals, helping us move past the word-and-deed dychotomy that had no business existing in the first place.

A significant part of that initial gathering’s contribution was the Lausanne Covenant, which affirmed (in part): “Although reconciliation with other people is not reconciliation with God, nor is social action evangelism, nor is political liberation salvation, nevertheless we affirm that evangelism and socio-political involvement are both part of our Christian duty.”

In the nearly four decades that have passed since then – through two more full-fledged global congresses and a variety of smaller events – the Lausanne Movement has continued to convene Christians from around the world under the auspices of its audacious tagline: “The whole Church taking the whole Gospel to the whole World.”

ChristOurReconcilerFollowing Cape Town 2010, the third global Lausanne Congress, InterVarsity Press published Christ Our Reconciler: Gospel, Church, World, a wonderful collection of messages from the gathering’s main speakers.

The book is organized based on the themes of each of the six days of the gathering: Truth, Reconciliation, World Faiths, Priorities, Integrity, and Partnership. There are contributions by Christians from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America, and the Middle East, drawing on the diversity represented by delegates from 198 countries around the world. It’s rare to find a book with such diverse contributors, yet all are united around their commitment to the gospel.

A particular highlight of the book for me was reading the testimonies of believers from North Korea, the Holy Land, Nigeria, South Africa, the UK, and Egypt. Being a Christian in any one of those places is a very different experience from being a Christian anywhere else, and each context certainly has its unique challenges, whether outright persecution, or violent conflict, or systemic injustice, or the apathy of an affluent society. For those of us immersed in North American evangelical sub-culture, we’d do well to be reminded that the latest controversial tweet from Mark Driscoll (and the obligatory ensuing blog response from Rachel Held Evans) isn’t necessarily the most important thing to be concerned about. These testimonies reminded me yet again that the church is so much bigger than any particular Christian tribe, and that we have much to learn from each other.

There were other highlights in the book as well. For instance, Ajith Fernando of Sri Lanka on embracing suffering in service; Chris Wright of the UK calling the church back to humility, integrity, and simplicity; Antoine Rutayisire of Rwanda on the gospel of reconciliation; and Ruth Padilla DeBorst of Argentina/Costa Rica calling us to pledge allegiance to the Lord of history, the only true Prince of Peace.

Read this book to be encouraged, to be challenged, and to be equipped to participate more fully in God’s global mission. We have much to learn from the saints who are serving the church in varying degrees of obscurity around the world, and this book is a great way to dip our respective toes in those deep, deep waters.

If this is your first introduction to the Lausanne Movement, I’d encourage you to spend some time studying the Covenant for yourself. You may also find the Cape Town Commitment, which includes a confession of faith and a call to action, to be helpful.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest thoughts.

In Gospel , , , , , , ,
permalink