Repaso: MLK’s “kitchen encounter”, multi-ethnic transformation, U2 paradox, evangelical powerbrokering, nuns at the Super Bowl

1. MLK’s God-with-us world
Skye Jethani, author of With: Reimagining the Way You Relate to God (which I reviewed here), on King’s “kitchen encounter” as a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement.

2. Mission on our Doorsteps
If you’re in the Chicago area, you may want to check out this event on March 16 & 17, put together by World Relief. Here’s the mission statement:

Through a movement of prayer & collaborative mission, the body of Jesus Christ in and beyond Chicagoland will emerge multi-ethnic, united and Christ-centered and become an instrument for transforming our churches and neighborhoods.

3. The U2 paradox
Eric Hynes makes an interesting argument that “never has a band been more mockable, never has a band been more successful” than U2. After analyzing every album in the U2 catalog, Hynes concludes:

The problem is how ultimately these records lack everything that makes rock roll, that makes pop crackle, that makes soul. It’s not about coolness—it’s about desire. I can’t get no, you can’t always get, I can’t quit you, I put a spell on you, I still haven’t found, please, please me, why don’t we do it, wouldn’t it be nice, I saw her standing, how could you just leave me standing, burning, desire.  At its best, U2 doesn’t merely satisfy our desires, but takes us somewhere, marching into the shadows, exploring spaces within and without, risking failure and greatness, and giving us something worth confessing in the end.

4. The danger of being evangelical powerbrokers
Christianity Today’s editor-in-chief David Neff has a critical take on the meeting that took place last weekend in Texas with 150 evangelical leaders to pick a presidential candidate to support:

I believe that Christians have an urgent duty to engage the social, economic, and moral threats to a healthy society. That requires a wide variety of political action. However, one thing it doesn't call for is playing kingmaker and powerbroker. By conspiring to throw their weight behind a single evangelical-friendly candidate, they fed the widespread perception that evangelicalism's main identifying feature is right-wing political activism focused on abortion and homosexuality. In truth, it is hard to imagine the Religious Left in 2008 doing something similar: holding a conclave to decide whether they would throw their collective weight behind either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, unwilling to leave the Democratic primary results to the voters.

5. Nuns fighting trafficking at the Super Bowl
With the Super Bowl coming up in Indianapolis on February 5, a group of nuns is working hard to fight human trafficking and prostitution, which generally happens during large sporting events like this.

"The hotels are going to be busy and we want them to be able to do what they have to do," Sister Ann Oestreich told the Catholic News Service. "The Super Bowl is a celebration, but we don't want exploitation to be part of it."

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!