Thoughts About Stuff

There's a lot going on right now, in terms of sermon-writing, preparing Bible studies, meetings, along with the added stress of my 2-year-old son's upcoming surgery. So, my blogging has been sparse. I've had some good theological conversations over the last week or so, and perhaps just sitting down to write an entry will get the brain going. Here goes…


For those reading this who have known me for a while and have spent even a little time talking to me about theology, or the Church, you'll know that I tend to be very critical of what we call "American culture." I am increasingly unapologetically critical as I grow older and gain valuable experience. I used to say things like, "I really love my country, but…" or "I'm not saying that America's all bad, but…" as if I must avoid hurting America's feelings or something. Well, I figured something out: I love Jesus. It doesn't much matter how I feel about my country on any given day. Some days, I feel pretty dang upset. Other days, I feel pretty proud. While I was reading John Adams a few weeks ago, I was proud. When I watch the news, I feel angry and depressed. I shouldn't have to say "I really love my country and I'm so thankful to be living here" when I critique American culture from the standpoint of being a follower of Christ. My love of country has little to do with the truth of God Almighty. Now that that's cleared up…

In the book "Conversations with Barth on Preaching" (it feels like I've been reading this book for 20 years, though it is excellent), Bishop Will Willimon states on pg. 112: "We (Christians) are, in our speech, speaking against the presumed world of the majority". The Church is designed to be counter-cultural. Here is the danger of the current political rhetoric that we are seeing today. Equating America (or to use the language of today: "the Real America") with the Kingdom of God is extremely dangerous and is definitely idolatrous. One of my friends said it best: "God has not chosen a nation to perform the work of reconciliation in the world. God has chosen the Church." America is not an agent of God's will. That's the Church's job. And it's downright un-American to make a distinction between those citizens and those regions that you say are the "Real America" or "un-American". But I digress. Willimon is saying here that the Church is not tasked with simply being a shill for dominant cultural mores and expectations. We have a higher calling than being a mouthpiece and foot soldiers for the Republican party. We have a greater purpose than trying to convince people to vote for Democrats. We speak the truth of God, or at least strive to do so, not the sound bites of the moment. Our job as Christians is not to prop up American culture or American values, but to live and proclaim the truth of God.

Willimon continues: "Therefore, in our assertions, we will not find many interpretive allies in the weapons of the world. The world is accustomed to getting its messages from psychology, the vaunted ego, or clear-eyed reason. Our message requires a miracle to make it comprehensible." Wow. That's powerful stuff. And convicting. The Christian message presents a challenge to the way things are in the world, because Christians define themselves by a different set of criteria. We are not neurotics or depressed people or disordered people. We might suffer from those things and many of us truly do. But our identity is rooted in the Creator God, made possible by the grace of God given to us in Jesus Christ, revealed and fulfilled in us over time by the persistent work of the Holy Spirit. We are not our temporary dysfunctions. Nor are we designed to be individuals. Ah, the much-celebrated American individual. Rugged. Hard working. Never needs a hand out. With boot straps used to pull him or her self up. Probably wearing a cowboy hat. Can't you just smell the Stetson cologne? The American myth. Truth is, we do need a hand out. It's called "I'm a sinner. God help me." It's grace. And we are not designed to be individuals, we were made for each other, to love each other (a reality on made possible by the Holy Spirit). And clear-eyed reason? Paul, take this one away: "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart." Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the wise?...For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength." God's weakness was not an abstraction for Paul - it is the cross of Jesus. That's the strength of God revealed. And, to the world, it does not make sense. Which is why Willimon says that it takes a miracle for the Christian message to be comprehensible. Each conversion to the Christian faith is a miracle.

And one last Willimon quote: "Every Sunday we are issuing a declaration of war against some of the most cherished idols of our culture." Yes.

And one more from John Howard Yoder: "If moral discernment is not cultural critical, it has lost its connection with the gospel of grace and has fallen into the ratification of things as they are and choices as I want them."