intersections

Who is left to love life?

"Whether people throw themselves into the pleasures of the present or flee into the next world because they either cannot or will not withstand the threats, they destroy the love for life and put themselves at the service of terror and the annihilation of the world. Today life itself is in acute danger because in one way or the other it is no longer loved but is delivered over to the forces of destruction."

--Jürgen Moltmann

Resisting and Anticipating

I am frequently asked how my involvement in issues of justice and peacemaking relate to the gospel. People have said to me, "It's great that you're creating opportunities for the working poor/advocating for affordable housing/developing a community garden/working to change predatory banking practices/fill in the blank, but don't forget about the gospel." I shouldn't be, but I'm still surprised by these reactions. I invariably say, "This is the gospel. We want people to be saved." Often what's enslaving them is various forms of economic and racial injustice, even though inside of that is what you and I might call sin.

Questions about the church's involvement in justice initiatives usually comes back to eschatology and without fail I find myself referring to Jurgen Moltmann. This quote is from the first chapter of his most recent book, Ethics of Hope, and it expresses as clearly as I could hope to the theology behind our work in Los Angeles to create a more just and equitable social order.

Commenting on 2 Peter 3:12 he writes:

Waiting: that doesn't mean a passive waiting-it-out; it means an active expectation.

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The ability to wait also means not conforming to the conditions of this world of injustice and violence. People who expect God's justice and righteousness no longer accept the so-called normative force of what is fact, because they know that a better world is possible and that changes in the present are necessary. Being able to wait means resisting the threats and seductions of the present, not letting oneself be brought into line, an not conforming.

The ability to wait means not giving oneself up, not capitulating, either before the supremacy of the powers of this world or before one's own helplessness, but living with head held high. The 'upright walk' Kant commends is deserving in every respect. It is the heroic stance of the unbowed back of the free. But 'the head held high' is a result of the approaching redemption (Luke 21.28).

<snip>

Hastening: to hasten is really to go swiftly in space from one place to another. To hasten 'toward the future' transfers this movement from space into the time of history. The present becomes the transition from what has been to what will be, to the future. To 'hasten' in time means crossing the frontiers of present reality into the spheres of what is possible in the future. In crossing these frontiers we anticipate the future for which we hope. With every doing of the right, we prepare the way for the 'new earth' on which righteousness will 'dwell'. If we achieve some justice for those who are suffering violence, then God's future shines into their world. If we take up the cause of 'widows and orphans', a fragment of life comes into our own life. The earth is groaning under the unjust violence with which we are exploiting its resources and energies. We are 'hastening' toward the Lord's future when we anticipate the righteousness and justice out of which, on the Day of the Lord, a new and enduring earth is to come into being. Not to take things as they are but to see them as they can be in the future, and to bring about this 'can be' in the present, means living up to the future. So looking forward, perceiving possibilities and anticipating what will be tomorrow are fundamental concepts of an ethics of hope. Today 'waiting and hastening toward the Lord's future' means resisting and anticipating (7-8, italics in original, bold type is my emphasis).

If there is no God

If there is no God,
Not everything is permitted to man.
He is still his brother's keeper
And he is not permitted to sadden his brother,
By saying there is no God.

~Czeslaw Milosz

[HuffPost] Killing the DREAM Act: Still No Room in the Inn

Today we witnessed another skirmish in the real "War on Christmas". As Christians all over the world celebrate the final weekend of Advent and prepare for Christmas in just one week, the U.S. Senate once more dashed the hopes of almost 2 million children and young adults, many of whom have lived in the United States all their lives. The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act failed to pass a procedural vote today in the Senate. First introduced in Aug. 2001, the DREAM Act would allow the children of undocumented immigrants a path to legal residency by either going to college or enlisting in the military.

 As the media prattles on about the so-called "War on Christmas" -- an ideological battle over terminology, at best -- people's lives hang in the balance. Actions speak louder than words. One way Christians can protect the place of Christmas in our society -- indeed, the credibility of Christianity more generally -- is by acting in harmony with its core principles: grace, welcome and hospitality.

But today there was no hospitality, no grace.

 

Read the rest on Huffington Post, here.

Also, learn more about the DREAM Act from the non-partisan Immigration Policy Center.

VIDEO - Viral Hope

Earlier this year a book that I contributed to was published by my friend, JR Woodward. This book was an Easter project in 2009. During the 50 days of Easter 50 authors wrote approximately 500 words each explaining what the Christian good news is about. The audience was our local city newspaper. In my case, I wrote for the LA Times. The results is a book called ViralHope: Good News from the Urbs to the Burbs (and Everything in Between). This book would be ideal for a devotional book or for a discussion group.

Above is a video that was recently created to promote the book, which you can buy on Amazon.com by clicking here. I also have some copies in my office to sell. Contact me directly if you're interested.

Mass Mailing the Gospel?

The gospel is not mainly a 'good idea' and anytime we claim we can reduce it down to a pamphlet we end up...well, reducing it. But the gospel that Jesus lived, and then died for, is irreducible in that sense. It must be lived out in community. By claiming the gospel can be mass mailed we are weakening the power of the gospel in our time. I don't want to be a part of that.

The fact remains that Jesus calls us to get up off the couch and lay down our lives for people. If the gospel could be mass mailed, don't you think God would have avoided risking his "one and only Son"? The nature of the truth of God's good news required Jesus to be incarnate among us. Why would it be any different now?

In case you missed it, I posted an article with this title on the Spectrum Blog last week. The statement above is part of a comment I added today after quite a few commenters misunderstood my point.

Here's the piece in its entirety, but I'd encourage you to also join the conversation over at Spectrum.

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This morning I received an email from Remnant Publications. I don't usually pay attention to these emails but this one really caught my eye. The subject line reads, "Evangelilsm [sic] by Mass Mailing." My first thought was, "This is a joke...an eye-grabbing headline to force me to look deeper only to discover the author of the email reminding us that, of course, we cannot do evangelism by mass mailing."

It did grab my eye, but when I looked deeper it quickly became clear the author is not jesting. The headline inside the email reads, "Hit the streets with soul-saving literature without leaving the comfort of your own home!" (See the email here)

Missional Church class at La Sierra University

I'm teaching a Masters level Professional Studies course at La Sierra this quarter entitled Missional Church. If you're curious about what we're doing, here's the syllabus.

I'm thinking of offering a version of this class by webinar in the Spring through the re-church network, so stay tuned for that.

It's Really All About God

My dear friend, Samir Selmanovic, has just published his first book entitled, It's Really All About God (buy on Amazon) and what a way to start. This is not a review...that will be coming soon. But I will tell you that this is a radical, peaceful vision of the force for good that religion can and should be in the world, told through the intimate, personal lenses of someone who hase expereinced so much of the good and bad of religion.

There is a review at the Spectrum website by my friend, Brenton Reading. You can read that here.

The blurb I wrote for inside the front cover says this:

“Samir has written a book that reads like an extended poem; an ode to life. Where others see only the darkness and destructiveness of religion, Samir sees beauty and hope. Where others see only competition and violence, Samir sees synergy and life. And his vision is no simple syncretism; a blending of all religions into one inoffensive ‘smoothie’ of goodness and light. This book is a celebration of postmodern ‘otherness’ of the first order. It will inspire you, frustrate you, maybe even anger you. Samir will not answer all your questions or tell you exactly what to do next. But if you’ve ever felt that nagging deep in your soul that God is lurking just beneath the surface in places you have least expected, you need to read this book!”

I will write a review here after I get a chance to read it again.

Please go buy this book and read it. In the meantime, check out this short video of Samir talking about his book.

Adventism I can believe in

(Crossposted at the Spectrum Blog)

Seventh-day Adventists are perennially concerned about identity. Who are we? What do we believe? Who gets to decide? Our anti-creedal position stands over against our ever-expanding list of Fundamental Beliefs; our belief in 'progressive revelation' over against our claim to have the truth.

I am one that believes this dialectic tension is good for the church and that our determination to live in that tension is generative and healthy. But there are many voices who wish to collapse all such tensions into a single pole, declaring once and for all what the "truth" of a certain issue is. This is usually accompanied by a corresponding move to define out those who do not believe in this more narrow interpretation of what counts as a "real" Adventist.

A Felicitous Journey

Part two of our 6-part blog series over at the re-church blog has been up for a couple of days and the conversation has begun. This week's essay is written by Samir Selmanovic, founder of Faith House Manhattan and the author of the forthcoming Jossey-Bass book, It's Really All About God.

I'd love to have you head over there and check it out. Especially those of you who have been reading along with us and know the subject of the chapter, your comments are especially helpful. I think Samir has posed some vitally important questions for us to consider, especially as pastors and Christian leaders in our world today. Here is an excerpt to whet your appetite.

I ask myself, why would I then take up this journey of deconstruction? Why not turn the tools of deconstruction against itself (deconstruct the deconstruction) and settle for something of substance? Life is short. I want to die in one piece, constructed and whole, with my family and friends around me, also constructed and whole. And my hope within me, also constructed and whole.

Think of it. He describes people on this journey as “people who crash-landed,” “frightened by the mysterious” and always partially “lost.” We are supposed to live under “hauntological principle?” We are invited to embrace “contingency” on a journey that has “teeth” and “bite,” a path seeded with “interrupted passages and missteps,” maps with “multiple tracks” and “counterpaths” on every turn. And to live in the world where other people are “shores we will never reach!” He calls this place, our very own lives (yes Christian lives too) “very spooky.” He brings ghost back into the Holy Ghost. He summarizes the situation we find ourselves in as the “postmodern condition.” It does not sound like a journey or a path to me. It sounds like a chronic disease.

Read the whole thing here.