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Repaso: May 17, 2013

May 17, 2013 — Leave a comment

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 activism, discipleship, empathy, immigration, Repaso, social justice, travel

Repaso: February 1, 2013

February 1, 2013 — 1 Comment

1. Hugo Chávez, slumlord
Jon Lee Anderson, perhaps best known for his massive biography on the life of Latin American revolutionary Che Guevara, has written a piece in The New Yorker on how Hugo Chávez, who has been MIA with uncertain health for more than 50 days now, has failed Venezuela generally and its capital city specifically. For those of us who don’t subscribe, there’s just a summary of the piece available for free (plus a related photo essay), but the abbreviated part is telling enough:

Hugo Chávez has said that he wants to remake Venezuela into “a sea of happiness and of real social justice and peace.” His pronounced goal was to elevate the poor. In Caracas, the country’s capital, the results of his fitful campaign are plain to see. For decades, as one of the world’s most oil-rich nations, Venezuela had a growing middle class, with an impressively high standard of living. Hundreds of thousands of immigrants from the rest of Latin America and from Europe helped give Caracas a reputation as one of the region’s most attractive and modern cities. That city is barely perceptible today. After decades of neglect, poverty, corruption, and social upheaval, Caracas has deteriorated beyond all measure.

2. The gospel of immigration
Over the past week, a surprising range of figures from across the political spectrum have come together in support of making immigration reform a high-level priority for this year. Sure, there’s a lot of political pandering going on, and yes, building a true consensus on the nitty gritty details will be a real challenge, but it’s at least an encouraging step. RELEVANT reposted a timely blog post from Dr. Russell Moore of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, which he originally wrote in the summer of 2011. Here’s the opening paragraph of the piece:

I’m amazed when I hear evangelical Christians speak of undocumented immigrants in this country with disdain as “those people” who are “draining our health care and welfare resources.” It’s horrifying to hear those identified with the Gospel speak, whatever their position on the issues, with mean-spirited disdain for the immigrants themselves. While evangelicals, like other Americans, might disagree on the political specifics of achieving a just and compassionate immigration policy, our rhetoric must be informed by more than politics, but instead by Gospel and mission.

3. Two kinds of politics
Religion and politics is an explosive mix, as we all know. You don’t have to look far to see politicians seeking to co-opt people of faith, or people of faith seeking to baptize a particular brand of partisan politics. But those who claim the gospel is apolitical must deal with their own share of problems. Daniel Camacho, a Junior Fellow at The Colossian Forum, writes on the significance of our worship itself being political:

Separating our worship from our politics neglects the way in which our worship is a form of politics, and the way in which it can inform our involvement in our government’s politics. From this vantage point, a Christian is always involved in two kinds of politics. To borrow from Augustine’s The City of God, Christians are simultaneously involved in the politics of the heavenly polis and the politics of the earthly polis. Our participation in the Body of Christ gives shape to our involvement in society at large.

4. Beyond state and market
Matthew Kaemingk writes for Fieldnotes about the irreplaceable importance of the third sector, on the basis of who we are as human beings:

Instead of simplistic descriptions of human beings as either clients of the state or competitors in the market, the Christian Scriptures present humanity in a refreshingly complex way. We find a complex creature with a wide variety of gifts, abilities, interests, aspects, loyalties, and solidarities. Created in the image of God, human beings in the Bible are anything but simple. They are musical, communal, religious, artistic, familial, charitable, scientific, literary, moral, athletic, fun, and funny. The robust anthropology found in the Bible depicts a creature that could never be fully defined, controlled, content, or nourished by the market or the state alone—thank God.

5. The art of restoration
Nate Clarke, the filmmaker behind all of This Is Our City’s short films, has done it again with this one, rolled out this week as part of the project’s coverage of the ways Christians are seeking the flourishing of Detroit.

Repaso is intended as a thought-provoking compilation of news and commentary 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: Man lifting weights on a rooftop in Caracas, Venezuela via morethangreen.es]

In Repaso Caracas, Detroit, Hugo Chavez, immigration, Jon Lee Anderson, market, Matthew Kaemingk, Nate Clarke, politics, religion, Repaso, restoration, Russell Moore, state, third sector, This Is Our City, Venezuela, worship

Repaso: January 26, 2013

January 26, 2013 — Leave a comment

1. Johnny Cash and prison reform
Johnny Cash is well known for his live record At Folsom Prison and for his (mostly fictional) song lyrics about doing time. But the BBC has a piece on Cash’s campaign for prison reform, asking whether his appeals to Congress were ultimately successful:

Cash not only outlined to the senators on Capitol Hill what he thought was wrong with the American penal system, he also told them how he believed it could be improved. His proposals included the separation of first-timers and hardened criminals, the reclassification of offences to keep minor offenders out of prison, a focus on rehabilitation rather than punishment, and counselling to prepare convicts for the outside world and reduce the possibility of them reoffending. At a time when countries around the world are still wrestling with the question of how to handle those they incarcerate, many of the issues Cash raised that day feel just as relevant today. The fact that we are still debating them 40 years later suggests Cash failed. But did he?

2. Solving the immigration puzzle
In what seems to be another sign that when it comes to immigration reform the times they are a-changin’, a prominent Republican politician from Florida and a Libertarian from an Arizona think tank (it’s no coincidence that both states have large Hispanic populations) are co-authoring a book called Immigration Wars: Forging an American Solution. They wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal this week, touching on a number of “realities [that] must be faced squarely,” including this pertinent point:

Critics of comprehensive reform often argue that illegal immigrants should return to their native countries and wait in line like everyone else who wants to come to America. But unless they have relatives in the U.S. or can fit within the limited number of work-based visas, no line exists for such individuals. For most aspiring immigrants, the only means of legal admission to this country is an annual “diversity lottery” that randomly awards visas to 55,000 foreigners. There are roughly 250 applicants for each visa every year. The absence of a meaningful avenue of access increases the pressure for illegal immigration.

3. Summoned from the margin
One of the books I’d really like to read this year is a memoir by African historian and missiologist Lamin Sanneh (who teaches at Yale) called Summoned from the Margin: Homecoming of an African. The publisher, Eerdmans, posted a 23-minute interview about his own upbringing in a polygamous family and some insight into the personal history behind his academic interest in Christian-Muslim relations.

4. Young churches, old buildings
Martin Swant explores the trend among relatively new churches (especially “young, restless, Reformed” ones) “undertaking multimillion-dollar renovation projects to breathe new life into historic churches or other structures, instead of building a contemporary big-box.” It’s a fascinating read. Though of course the story would feel a lot different for those belonging to the congregations being phased out, here’s the perspective of one Louisville pastor:

I think it’s a wonderful thing to kind of reclaim, restore, and renew a place. I think it’s a picture of the gospel as well that Christ is making all things new, but at the same time I think people love contemporary. Are people attracted to old? Yes. Are people attracted to the contemporary? Yes. We want to make it really clear that we are not the first to step into the scene. We are just one of many in this larger story.

5. A Tall Order
With the New Year Rate deadline for The Justice Conference simulcast coming up in a few days on January 31 (register now!), there’s a new promo video featuring Micah Bournes waxing poetic on the streets of Philadelphia. It’s amazing.

[Image credit: Sony BMG via cmt.com]

In Repaso A Tall Order, church, Eerdmans, immigration, Johnny Cash, justice, Lamin Sanneh, Martin Swant, Micah Bournes, Phoenix, prison reform, Repaso, simulcast, Summoned from the Margin

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.

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: "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: September 14, 2012

September 14, 2012 — Leave a comment

1. What does justice look like?
Kelli Trujillo explores this question in the latest issue Reject Apathy:

Whatever the specific call ends up looking like for you, a lifestyle of justice is ultimately one saturated in caritas—the all-encompassing, unconditional, grace-filled love of God. It’s a life that sees, knows and loves those in need. It’s a life of passion for a cause that is equally matched with compassionate action. It’s a life in which your own hands and feet and life get dirty as you wade into the messy, painful reality of human need and suffering. And when you do, perhaps even by surprise, you will discover Christ Himself present in the mess.

2. More Phoenix coverage in Christianity Today
The This Is Our City project has continuing coverage of Christians seeking the flourishing of Phoenix this week with a book review about Christians on both sides of the immigration debate, a reflection on what artists can teach us about the importance of people and place, and a video featuring Ricardo, a young undocumented immigrant who was brought to the U.S. by his parents as a child. You may remember I interviewed Ricardo earlier this year for Undocumented.tv (here and here).

3. The dark side of Dylan
John J. Thompson reviews Bob Dylan’s new record Tempest, which comes 50 years and 35 albums after his debut:

Like a master painter, Dylan uses these darker brush strokes to give his songs depth, contrast, and resonance. He may be bending the escapist rules of popular music by constantly contemplating mortality, sin, the dark power of the human heart, and the fallen-ness of the world he calls his temporary home, but his creative DNA is far more informed by traditional blues, country, and folk music than contemporary pop. Thank God.

4. Engaging high and low culture
Katie and I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Richard Mouw on Sunday. We had a nice chat and he signed a book for us (“With Kuyperian best wishes”). Here he answers the question whether Christians need to “choose between highbrow and lowbrow when promoting the life and mission of the church”:

I am not ready to give up the distinction between “high” and “low” in thinking about cultural expressions. But at the same time, I am convinced that the Christian community needs to take both ends of the spectrum seriously… Both explorations are necessary for the life and mission of the church. In each case, we should be motivated by what we used to sing about with much gusto: “I love to tell the story; more wonderful it seems than all the golden fancies of all our golden dreams.” Both the higher and the lower in human culture are motivated by “golden fancies” and “golden dreams.”

5. The Civil Conversations Project
Gabe Lyons (Q Ideas) and Jim Daly (Focus on the Family) shared a stage this week with Krista Tippett as part of On Being’s Civil Conversations Project (more on the project here). It’s nearly two hours long, but certainly fascinating if you have the time.

The Civil Conversations Project: The Next Christians ~ In the Room with Gabe Lyons, Jim Daly, and Krista Tippett from On Being on Vimeo.

[Photo credit: "Palm trees" via soalaurable.blogspot.com]

In Repaso Bob Dylan, Civil Conversations Project, civility, culture, Gabe Lyons, immigration, Jim Daly, John J. Thompson, justice, Kelli Trujillo, Krista Tippett, mission, Phoenix, Reject Apathy, Repaso, Rich Mouw, Tempest, This Is Our City