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Repaso: November 9, 2012

November 9, 2012 — Leave a comment

1. What’s so great about the common good?
Andy Crouch has an essay in the November issue of Christianity Today calling for a revival of “common good” language:

All by itself, “the common good” is as vague as fine-sounding phrases tend to be. And being fine-sounding and vague, it easily becomes political pabulum to promote whatever policies the speaker wants to advance. Not surprisingly, it arises at times when politicians want to justify imposing costs on some part of society, as when Hillary Rodham Clinton told a group of donors in 2004, “We’re going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.” To some ears, “the common good” echoes communism’s demands that all lesser goods yield to the construction of a people’s paradise. At the least, when we hear that some sacrifice will serve “the common good,” it’s reasonable to ask, “Sez who?”

2. A post-election prayer
My friend (and remarkably prolific blogger) Paul Burkhart shared a great prayer on his blog for President Obama, other newly elected/re-elected government officials, and those who lost their races.

3. Principled pluralism
The video of Gideon Strauss’s talk from Q earlier this year went online this week, and it’s wonderful. For those made nauseous by the political rancor on Facebook leading up to and following the election (and for those causing the nausea), I commend this talk to you. Here’s the blurb:

From debates about the hiring practices of churches to rumors of community adherence to Sharia law, Americans have long been facing questions regarding the role of various religions in public life. As our nation grows increasingly diverse, can we coexist without compromising those principles we hold dear? Gideon Strauss says the answer lies in “principled pluralism,” a paradigm that allocates enough freedom of conscience, worship, and practice that all faiths can flourish rather than compete.

4. Guatemala earthquake
Guatemala suffered its worst earthquake in 35 years this week, with San Marcos in the western part of the country hit especially hard. A family friend in the town where we used to live nearby let me know things were fine there, but many in other towns weren’t as fortunate. The death toll is up past 50, and these photos show some of the structural damage. Please keep victims in your prayers.

5. DC without people

Repaso is intended as a thought-provoking compilation of news and commentary from the past week related to the intersections of faith, development, justice and peace. As always, I welcome your thoughts on any of the links and ideas in this roundup!

[Photo credit: theblaze.com]

In Repaso Andy Crouch, common good, DC, earthquake, election, Gideon Strauss, Guatemala, Paul Burkhart, politics, prayer, principled pluralism, Repaso, video

Repaso: November 2, 2012

November 2, 2012 — 2 Comments

1. Hurricane Sandy Relief
We’re all saddened and sobered by the devastation caused by this week’s storm in the Caribbean and northeastern U.S., and the photos of the aftermath are overwhelming. We’d do well to remember the victims in our prayers, and as Brian Fikkert from The Chalmers Center put it, we should help without hesitating. Tim Keller shared a couple of good ways to get involved, including donating to Hope for New York’s relief fund.

2. One church’s immigration journey
Tyler Johnson and Jim Mullins at Redemption Church here in the Phoenix area write about the “incredible opportunities and complex questions” the immigration issue has presented for the church:

Much of the affirmation we receive and the gospel transformation we witness is actually coming from within our congregations. The gospel-motivated love for our neighbors is pushing us across the boundaries of culture, comfort, and convenience. We frequently hear testimonies of how prejudice is being crushed, idols are being confronted, and joy is being made full. The people who serve these communities are finding that when they interact with members of the immigrant community—face-to-face in relationship—it personalizes the immigration issue. We, as a church, are learning the meaning of these words from our Lord Jesus: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).

3. CPJ’s Election Series 2012
In a few short days, the election season will be over. Many of us are looking forward to that. But in the meantime, it’s important that we weigh our voting decisions thoughtfully, considering all the issues. I recognize there are a million places to turn for opinions and commentary on the candidates and issues, but for me, the non-partisan Center for Public Justice’s election series has been especially helpful. It doesn’t cover every issue, certainly, but it does provide analysis from a variety of contributors on education, foreign policy, religious freedom, healthcare, abortion, immigration, and more.

4. Young Visionaries
Entrepreneur magazine is running a cool series of videos called Young Visionaries, telling the stories of entrepreneurs creating business ventures to address a variety of social, cultural, and environmental issues.

5. An Unexpected Briefing
We all yawn through those safety instruction videos on airplanes, right? Air New Zealand thought they’d change that.

[Photo credit: "A parking lot full of yellow cabs is flooded on Oct. 30 as a result of superstorm Sandy in Hoboken, N.J. (Charles Sykes/Associated Press)" via The Big Picture]

In Repaso Air New Zealand, Center for Public Justice, common good, election, entrepreneurship, Hobbit, Hope for New York, Hurricane Sandy, immigration, Jim Mullins, New York, politics, Repaso, social venture, storm, Tyler Johnson, Young Visionaries

Repaso: October 5, 2012

October 5, 2012 — Leave a comment

1. Thinking as Christians in an election year
Stephanie Summers and Steve Monsma write this timely essay for Q Ideas:

Great are the dangers of dishonoring our Lord and being used by political operatives more worldly wise and cynical than we are. Instead, we must practice slow politics: renewing our minds and making every thought obedient to Christ by careful study and deliberate thinking about our aims before we act. In this essay we focus on two basic, underlying, biblically grounded truths and how they lead to what we term “principled pluralism.” Together, these truths lay what we are convinced is the foundation for a thoughtful, God-honoring approach to the political realm.

2. Creating places where people can flourish
The architect David Greusel was interviewed for the Faith & Leadership blog from the Duke Divinity School:

From ballparks to churches, architecture has a significant impact on people’s lives and should therefore be about the creation of places where people can flourish, said David Greusel, an architect who specializes in the design of public buildings. Unfortunately, much architecture today, both sacred and secular, has not been about human flourishing, Greusel said. Instead, architecture in general has been about originality at the expense of tradition, while church architecture has been marked by mediocrity born of pragmatism.

3. Discipleship for faithful service in the city
David Kim of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York explores how the church can best disciple her people for faithful service in the city:

One quickly discovers that there are, in the geographic space of this one city, two realities representing two very different loves—eloquently stated by Augustine as the “City of God” and the “City of Man.” There is common grace and antithesis in New York City, and it is critical for the church in fulfilling the great commission to prepare her people to engage this fearfully and wonderfully made city. Discipleship, rooted and flowing out of the gospel of Jesus Christ, must find its mature expression in the engagement of our world, taking seriously the sin and grace that pervades every inch of our world.

4. Monkey bars of the kingdom
Kyle Bennett invites us to spend more time at the park:

Parks force us to truly interact with others in and as a community. Those we meet at the park are created in the image of God. We were created and called to interact with them and live with them. Sin doesn’t change anything in this regard. We must learn to live with them as creatures of our God, even if they are morally bankrupt individuals, incompetent parents, obnoxious neighbors, unfaithful friends, or irresponsible citizens. This can be the space for us to practice what we preach. It can be the place for testing, implementing, and applying love of our neighbor or enemy.

5. FLW and PHX in the NYT
Off and on over the past couple months, Katie and I have been doing a Frank Lloyd Wright architecture tour, checking out the many homes and other buildings he created iaround Phoenix. It all began when we learned that one of the homes he designed was in danger of demolition, and we wanted to see it while it lasted. The story got picked up by the New York Times this week:

It’s hard to say which is more startling. That a developer in Phoenix could threaten — by Thursday, no less — to knock down a 1952 house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Or that the house has until now slipped under the radar, escaping the attention of most architectural historians, even though it is one of Wright’s great works, a spiral home for his son David.

6. Skateistan
This is a fascinating nine-minute short film called Skateistan: To Live And Skate Kabul, following the lives of young skateboarders in Kabul (thanks to @talaazar for the link).

SKATEISTAN: TO LIVE AND SKATE KABUL from Diesel New Voices on Vimeo.

[Photo credit: The David and Gladys Wright House in Phoenix, by Scott Jarson via nytimes.com]

Miroslav Volf on values and voting

September 6, 2012 — 1 Comment

Last week Miroslav Volf posted this on his Facebook page:

In this year of presidential elections, I decided to summarize key values that guide me as I make the decision for whom to cast my vote. It takes knowing three basic things to choose a candidate for public office responsibly:

1. values we hope the candidate will stand for and the order of priority among them;
2. ways in which and means by which these values are best implemented in any given situation;
3. capacity—ability and determination—to contribute to the implementation of these values.

Most important are the values. As I identified each value, I thought it important to (1) name the basic content of the value, (2) give a brief rationale for holding it, (3) suggest some parameters of legitimate debate about it, and (4) identify key questions for the candidate.

I write as a Christian theologian, from the perspective of my own understanding of the Christian faith. Whole books have been written on each of these values, explicating them and adjudicating complex debates about them. In giving rationale for a given value, I only take one or two verses from the Bible to back up my position, more to flag the direction in which giving a rationale would need to go than in fact strictly to offer a rationale. I have identified some 20 such values. In coming days I will post one a day.

He has now posted eight or so of those twenty values, and each is worth serious consideration, regardless of the different conclusions each of us will come to. If you haven’t already, you can see the rest of the values by subscribing to his Facebook page.

In one of his essays in The Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis writes, “He who surrenders himself without reservation to the temporal claims of a nation, or a party, or a class is rendering to Caesar that which, of all things, most emphatically belongs to God: himself.”

It’s imperative, in my view, that Christians think theologically about the political options with which we are presented. If we have surrendered ourselves first and most fully to God, and if we have come to view our other allegiances, commitments, and loves in their proper place under the Lordship of Christ, the way we approach politics will look different than those who find their primary identity in a nation or a party or a class.

The bottom line is this: voting matters, and it matters why we vote as we do.

[Image credit: via aaronfreiwald.com]

In Culture Democrat, election, Miroslav Volf, politics, Republican, values, voting

Resisting manipulation, seeking truth, and acting justly in an election year

May 3, 2012 — 6 Comments

Being an election year, it seems as good a time as any to reflect a bit on citizenship and civility. I plan to read several books along those lines between now and November, and I’ll share some thoughts along the way. One of the ones I’m most looking forward to digging into is Uncommon Decency by Richard Mouw. I’ve heard great things about it, and I wonder how it compares to Miroslav Volf’s A Public Faith, which I reflected on earlier this year. I might also re-read The Case for Civility by Os Guinness as well as unSpun by some of the folks behind FactCheck.org – an essential resource for making sense of “creative” campaign rhetoric.

In the meantime, I want to share a wonderful couple of paragraphs by Marilyn Chandler McEntyre, from her book Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies (Eerdmans). It’s not a book about politics, per se, but it’s packed full of lessons that would serve us well in our political engagement for sure. In this excerpt she introduces a series of really good questions:

Any effort to find reliable reporting needs to start not with questions about the sources but with questions about ourselves. What are my responsibilities as a citizen? As a person of faith? As a consumer? As a leader? As a parent? As an educator? What am I avoiding knowing? Why? What point of view am I protecting? Why? How have I arrived at my assumptions about what sources of information to rely on? What limits my angle of vision? Have I tried to imagine how one might arrive at a different conclusion? How much evidence do I need to be convinced? What kind of persuasion works most effectively for me? How do I accredit or challenge authority?

The answers to these questions are not simply personal. Some of them involve serious theological reflection on the relationship between the Kingdom of God and the state, what it means to give Caesar what is Caesar’s and God what is God’s, and whether and how to participate in the conduct of worldly affairs. If you’re Mennonite or Amish, that boundary is drawn pretty clearly. But most of us, I think, are navigating the murky middle ground marked out between not-so-separate church and state, trying to resist manipulation, seek truth, and act on it justly in the ways that remain open to us. (pp. 59-60)

What have you found to be helpful in discerning how to be civil in the public square while being a good steward of one’s citizenship?

[Photo credit: isoc.com]

In Culture, Gospel Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies, citizenship, civility, Eerdmans, election, Marilyn Chandler McEntyre, Miroslav Volf, politics, public square, rhetoric, Richard Mouw, stewardship