No Chains on Me…

From the 1977 Nobel Peace Prize lecture given by Rae McGrath on behalf of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.

“Freedom is so often the justification for war. But where is the sense in fighting for the freedom of a people employing a weapon which will deny those same people, in peacetime, freedom to live without fear, freedom to farm their land, freedom to merely walk in safety from place to place — deny them the freedom to let their children play without being torn apart by a landmine? That is no freedom.”

I think its really important to realize that it is next to impossible to justify war on the basis of granting freedom. Not just on the basis of the horrific consequences of landmine use, but because war, on any front, is denying freedom to someone, enemy as well as civilian bystanders. I think more recently, limiting the use of cluster bombs has become the new but similar issue (Human Rights Watch, Cluster Bomb Ban in US).

It is no moral excuse to wring your hands and cry, “but I never knew” — if you never asked to know.

Really enjoying reading through the Nobel Peace Prize lectures. Fascinating stuff.

Lets try a series on for size. This one promises to be scattered due to the fact that it is 2:30 in the morning and I have a lot that I want to lay as base-work for this series.  

I like the idea of communism at the basic level. This is not to say that I have a good grasp of the ideology of it as a whole, I’m going to be researching some of that for this series. However, the idea that all work together for the common good, which then in turn will benefit you, is a very, oddly enough, Christian idea. All should pitch in to make a better living for all. Community.

Capitalism, on the other hand and again oddly enough, is built upon a very non-Christian idea: Work for the good of yourself, which in turn should benefit society. Self-centered vs. others-centered. Here in America, it is well known that we hail capitalism and the free-market system as the solution to the worlds problems. But is it a system worthy of the followers of Christ?

Capitalism works, or has worked very well in the past for one reason in my opinion: It is a system designed to work on the principal that man is selfish. Its the perfect system for a world of sinful, selfish people.

After an entire night of talking over a wide variety of very interesting subjects with my new housemate, James, I have thought through something else as well. Only one thing was necessary for a Biblically historical account of a “Fall” to make sense: the entrance of selfishness into Man’s desires. A change from desiring the good for either someone else or for all others before one’s self, to a desiring of the betterment of one’s self above all others. This single change in perspective, in my opinion, can account for all sin or evil in the world, aside from things like natural disaster and the like, which, even so, may be attributable to man’s poor management and use of the earth. Another topic for another time.

Back to the topic at hand, communism has failed historically because ultimately, someone, somewhere gets the idea that this system is exploitable for his/her own good. Because of this, the people who are then taken advantage of, suffer miserably under the hand of tyranny. Then dissent leads to revolution and the downfall of a system. All stemming, again only in my opinion, from selfishness.

So what is the solution? Not so fast, we’ve barely begun! And its getting near 3. But the answer is anarchy…. Not yet More to follow.

Meanwhile, you can all read Animal Farm, a decent, semi-humorous novel/commentary on communism in what most resembles the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Its a shorter read, although it is a book. See you all soon.

…missed

(or here)

I had an interesting thought as I continue to read those who speak from a pacifistic point of view, namely, the anabaptists. I don’t know much about them, but the values they hold and the ideas they spread are speak a lot about what I think in terms of pacifism, social justice and care, and community. I read some stuff at the Jesus Manifesto site (which never fails to be a source of insight and inspiration) this evening in talking about a new startup community dedicated to a core set of values:

• The way of Jesus is nonviolent at its core.
• Jesus calls communities to continue in the way of life he set for us.
• The way of Jesus is prophetic, creative, and dynamic.
• The Spirit of Jesus is stirring a creative, prophetic church that resists Empire wherever it is found.
• Repenting of our desire for power and control, our movement embraces the diverse groups of people that share in these convictions.

The one that stuck out (twice) in this list was the prophetic voice that is needed. For a long time, in fact to this day, I’ve been told that “the gifts of prophecy (oh, and tongues) died after the 1st century.” But I’ve really been unsure that I actually agree with that for a while now. What I find interesting about the note of prophecy that I wonder about is if it isn’t extremely applicable for today. The difference I would see is that we are not proclaiming prophecy of a new kind or new revelations given to us from God, but rather the prophecies that already exist. Should we not be about proclaiming the coming judgement? The coming of the new Kingdom with its Just Judge at the head? Shouldn’t we tremble and weep for those who don’t know about the coming destruction? People of God, prophecy like it has never been needed before! In an age when Christianity is quickly becoming the non-norm of our society (an excellent thing in my opinion), as we launch into a PostChristian era, it is time like never before to tell the world that life is short, that the end is near.

Be about prophecy my friends. Come soon, Lord Jesus.

Malachi 3:5

Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.

Matthew 13:11-15

And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

“‘You will indeed hear but never understand,
and you will indeed see but never perceive.
For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and with their ears they can barely hear,
and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
and turn, and I would heal them.’

With a little bit of time in the bank after a crazy three days of trying to get everything done before fall break, I find myself with an early morning and nothing to do with no one around. So, as I tend to do I let my mind wander… My mind takes me, as it has often of late, to the political, the many things I hear and read about what is happening to our world, and a shift that may be occurring in a few weeks on November 4th. Some of this is a response to an article by my friend and fellow blogger, the oft-quoted Kevin Cole.

I have been studying through a mix of the Gospels, focusing on the way that Jesus chose to disciple his… well disciples, namely focusing on Peter, and then also in the book of 1 Peter. In the mix between these books, there is a story of radical transformation that occurs. One would never guess that the Peter who wrote the letter named after him to have been the one whom Jesus had to tell: “Get behind me, Satan” because of his politically subversive vision and his ideas of what “the Christ” meant.

In Mark 8:27-38, we find Jesus having just brought his disciples through an incredibly intense training session. Back in chapter 4, the question was asked, “Who is the Jesus fellow?” Jesus proceeds to answer that question, testing his disciples along the way, until finally, the disciples having had to take the class twice, and failing both times, we come to Peter’s confession: “You are the Christ.” Immediately afterwards, we find that what Peter meant by that, was that he was the one who was going to be bringing a kingdom in opposition to the Roman government, because as Jesus begins to talk of his death under that government, Peter rebukes him. Jesus quickly proceeds to flip everything that any of his followers were expecting on its head to say: If you want to be a part of the kingdom I am bringing, you must submit, even to this government, even to the point of death! What a crushing blow for all of them! In the heart of every Jewish man and boy was probably an intense hatred for the occupying nation, and Jesus tells them, using the ultimate symbol of Roman authority and means of submission no less — the cross — you must be willing to submit. However, Jesus does not seem to be talking submission to the Roman government, though that is perhaps part of it. Rather he speaks of submission to the will of God, for the sake of himself and the Gospel, whatever that might mean.

This comes at an interesting point in my life… I have begun to realize that I really dislike politics and government. That I feel we are living under an incredibly ineffectual and corrupt society, that the government is either powerless to stop, or completely in bed with. I deeply despise the people who hold our government up, especially within Christianity itself, as something we can have hope in to change the world for good. Those that place hope in one candidate or another, saying that this one or that one will turn our nation around and bring us back to God. I find myself on the side of Peter, perhaps, in a day when I long for governments to be overthrown, and for the kingdom of God to return to restore peace, true justice, unquestionable authority, and morality to society. I want to be one of the agents of overthrow. If there’s a revolution, sign me up!

But I find in 1 Peter, the effect that Jesus’ words and example had upon this young hothead of the Gospels. There is an overwhelming tone of patience and peace from Peter. He tells us that we are looking forward to our salvation, that it is yet to come, that we are now called to be prepared, full of hope, separated from a world gone horribly awry, knowing that a judge is coming, one who has already redeemed us from this world, although not removed us from it. Again and again he speaks of the coming salvation and our hope in it. I see in Peter, one who has not removed himself from the longing for the overthrow of the government, but rather knows that the True King has promised to return, “in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. (Mark 8:38)” and that in the mean time, he is making us into the people who will be a part of that new and perfect empire. He tells us we are to live in submission, but yet as those who have no ties to earthly governments. We are free! Free to live as though we are already part of that new kingdom.

Peter is an anarchist of the truest kind. Not one who is simply seeking to overthrow government for the sake of putting down authority, but rather one who is seeking to undermine the holds of these earthly empires for the sake of living for the coming Kingdom. He calls us to live under the system around us, even to submit to it. At the same time, he calls us to put aside ties to it, to live in freedom, freedom to live as God has called us to, especially when that runs counter to what our government calls morality. We are not to hold to the freedom we as a nation claim to export all over the world with war and a brand of terrorism that is carried out in the name of democracy, the freedom we believe “everyone has a right to”. Rather to live as though we had been bought out of slavery to be the slaves of God, the servants of a new and better way, to call for others to do the same, to yell at the top of our lungs that the world around us is imploding… to make way for the coming King.

So if you have made it this far, this is why I am not voting in this coming election. I am simply refusing to support, symbolically, effectually or otherwise (sorry Kevin , something I know that gains me nothing, something I know that either way, I would rather not have, regardless of which side I may agree with on more policies than not. Ultimately I know I will be disappointed by either candidate and the way they conduct government.

In the mean time, I want to be a part of quietly undermining the government by spreading the rumors of a new and better one that is to come at the return of Jesus Christ, who died and rose again so that I could be an unworthy citizen of it. I am an anarchist for the coming kingdom. Hows that for paradox?

Come soon, Lord Jesus.

Processing a lot of thoughts on this right now, but I found this excellent quote from a book entitled: Jesus and Marx: From Gospel to Ideology by Jacques Ellul. More thoughts on this quote will come later on. Right now, just the quote. Feel free to respond before my response to it comes.

Concerning another of Bakunin’s points, it is true that Christianity in

the form of a religion (with an All-Powerful God) has supported the

established order. Here again we discover a major distortion stemming

in part from the institutionalization of the Church (which went from being

an assembly of people united only by love, in the same faith, to being an

organization with power). As the institutionalization of the Church

hardens so does its dogmatism: truth considered as a possession (in

which case it ceases to be truth) leads to judgment and condemnation.

Love when institutionalized produces authority and hierarchy.

I think I’ve mentioned before my “anti-institutionalization” of the church position before. This says it better than I ever could. I wouldn’t have thought to find my anarchist leanings stemming from my views on the institutional church, but looking at it now, it is a very logical progression of thought. Interesting…

Had an interesting thought the other day; a thought thats been hanging out in the back of my mind for a long time now, playing darts or something… I think I’ve come to a realization as to why I’ve had such a hard time really desiring God and really enjoying my relationship with Him. And God knows its not because I haven’t tried to “make” myself enjoy it or simply spend more time with him. I think a part of it comes from what may seem an unusual source. And it is… drum roll… the Christian community itself. I have this problem, see. Its that I have no experiential reason to see why my faith is really that important, to know why a saving faith is good for this life, and not just the next. Sure I get excited thinking about the future of heaven, but if thats all I look for, what am I still doing here on earth? Moreover, in the state I’m in, I get more excited to be in heaven because everything will be perfect, not because I get to be in the presence of God. And so life and trying to live rightly can get kind of old, tiresome, discouraging, because I’m not doing it for a Savior I love wholeheartedly. I think, in a way, living in a “faith-based community” (whatever that really means) all the time is sort of immunizing me from the real thing. I get used to it, it becomes ordinary. And I hate that, especially because, when I think about it, our salvation is the most magnificent thing to have ever taken place.

Well okay. My ever-running mind takes a new direction. Perhaps its living among people who aren’t radically excited about their faith, ’cause there are a few people, when I spend time around, I get really excited about what we share in Jesus Christ. I suppose I shouldn’t be swayed by groups one way or the other, but I know that my enthusiasm and focus on Christ is enhanced or damaged by the types of Christians I spend time around. So in some of the nominally Christian arenas I find myself in, Christianity just seems like something we do ’cause we’re supposed to’. Or I get overloaded because I am forced to participate in “Christian character development” of some kind because its “good for the health of the body” or to “keeps Christ at the center.” The problem is, this takes a toll on my own personal relationship development with God. One, because I can blow it off, saying I’ve done it a thousand times a day already, and two, because I get tired of always feeling like I have to be involved in “the community of faith.” And all these terms are catch-phrases that I’m not even sure I understand what is meant by anymore. I’m even struggling now to know what I would tell someone if I tried to say, “This is what God has done in my life, how he’s changed me.” And its not like I’m looking for some grandiose tale of recovery from drug addiction or a criminal past. But, honestly, am I really being changed by God? In thought, yes, what about in deed? Perhaps its just too slow for me to recognize, or I’m not seeing what he is changing. I don’t know…

So I have this plan… not sure what will happen with it, but its an interesting idea. For 21 years, I’ve lived among Christian people, most of them really good people, many of them have really challenged me to grow (my parents, Dano, Scotty, Josh, Ryan, John, Dr. G., just to name a few), and without them, who knows where I’d be. But being among this kind of people for this long is possibly also immunizing me from what I know I want to be excited about. My longing is to long for Jesus.

So I think perhaps if I am to make it anywhere with this, I need to find somewhere where my faith becomes vital, not accepted. Somewhere where it is unnatural to believe in a God or want to live like His Son. Something that will cause me to realize that truly, Christ is all I need. Not that I plan on giving up all Christian community. But it would be nice not to be around so many people who think its a good thing to be a Christian, quite honestly. I think it would be refreshing, challenging, and heart-opening. I’m just tired of Christianity as a religion… of it being all around me all the time.

So…. Pray for the future, with eyes open towards the eternal.

Its about this time of year, everybody gets married. Or well, a lot of people do. Some get engaged (especially the seniors!) and begin preparing for marriage. Others are just beginning relationships. Some pick them up again after absences or forks in the road. A few are long down the trail of planning for the future of pursuing someone. Others have break downs and break ups. The falling in love, and the fallout that follows. Long distances strain things. For others, it brings them closer together. The up and down ride of two people learning to love never ends.

And then there’s me. Set in a class apart. Certainly not alone in this place, and yet, it gets lonely sometimes. Its a strange thing, to watch the joys and pains of others: Thanking God to be free from the trials that pull at those connected to some “significant other,” while still feeling the chill of being one on the outside looking in at the warmth within. Its a strange thing…

Its not that I’m discontent, anxious, or pining the days away. No. Time apart and unattached teaches one the value and beauty of singleness. It gives one a freedom of mind; a carefree, laid-back state of being; time that is spent to ones own desires on what, or whomever one pleases. A wonderful, undistracted and undivided mind.

And yet, its a strange thing: It is not as wonderful as it might seem without someone to share it with – the strange, mystical connection between two people that grows as mutual experiences entwines the two together. The experiences seem richer, the memories more vivid, the time more valued. What a strange thing!

Its no small wonder God created, knowing the pain and hurt it would cause himself and the world. And yet, what a wonderful thing to love and be loved; to share such a thing as love, there is nothing so thrilling, dangerous, painfully risky, yet fulfilling as the act of love! Is it really a wonder God created? Such a strange thing, this love thing. Yet here it is, pushing us beyond evolutionary, self-preservationist instincts.

Where does it come from, what is its source? It is not born within us. It does not have a natural habitat among mortals. It is far too wonderful and magnificent for that! What wondrous love is this, the hymnodist aptly sings. What a wonderful thing, that the One called Love has chosen to pour this gift out, through himself, to the world. Not simply in the gift of affection of one sinful being for another, but supremely in the Holy embracing the unholy: The mingling of the two, in inequality, has not defiled, but rather purified. And now, Love springs forth eternal.

Such a strange thing, that, even though such a love is to be had, there remains in me a desire for another, lesser love. What is it in us that desires something below the love of a God? Perhaps it is the desire for tangible expression of the emotions felt; the lessons learned as children. Perhaps we know there is more, there is better; but what are we to do when we cannot see what we believe is there? It is a strange thing.

But here I am, and here I stay. I can do no other until my Lord, the Creator, Gifter, rather, the very personification of Love says otherwise. And I will be content with Him. May this be a gift to you, O Lover of my soul.

I love you.

From an excellent article entitled: “From Church to ‘Rhizone’: Reconfiguring Theological Education for the Postmodern Era” by Carl Raschke

It has been said too often that we are now in a post-Christian world. A better phrasing would be apost-churched world. Ironically, that may be what Christ really had in mind when he enunciated what has come to be called The Great Commission. Jesus said “go and make disciples of all nations,” not “go find a good location to start churches.” The difference is not all that subtle. As disciple-making disciples we need to be gearing our theological studies toward becoming makeover artists in redesigning our Father’s house, not plodding toward one day becoming junior partners in the management of his firm.

The article comes as part of the latest series on the Mars Hill grad school: The Other Journal blog, one which has a lot of really insightful stuff on how to reach the culture today and which I have oft mentioned and quoted here.

The article speaks of how education in general (though specifically focusing on theological education, seminary and the like) is in need of radical overhauling due to a shift in culture. As the culture’s perception of knowledge has changed and become more diversified and yet more able to globally communicate that diversity, there is a different mindset that will be addressed by those in education as well as everyday life. Remaining in the trench of what we have done to communicate knowledge, leaves us outside in the cold if we refuse to mold to a wildly different culture. Knowledge transfer can take place at an incredibly fast pace due to the ways in which technology has allowed it to move globally almost instantly. Education, or the receiving of knowledge happens practically unconsciously. Thus, the means in which we attempt, both to learn, as well as too teach, must adapt.

This has led to a brand-new approach to how ministry and ministry-minded education is formed and carried out.

“Revolutionaries,” [pollster George Barna] notes by way of generalization, “have no use for churches that play religious games, whether those games are worship services that drone on without the presence of God or ministry programs that bear no spiritual fruit. Revolutionaries eschew ministries that compromise or soft sell our sinful nature to expand organizational turf.”⁵ Barna’s emphasis is personal integrity and Christian commitment in the midst of all the consumer-driven wants and demands on our life. But it also implies a new organizational metaphor that does not refer to any specific organization. “Every Revolutionary I have interviewed,” Barna writes, “described a network of Christians to whom he or she relates regularly and a portfolio of spiritual activities which he or she engages in on a regular basis. This schedule of relationships and ministry efforts is the Revolutionary equivalent of traditional congregational life.”

It is fascinating to see a church beginning to become a more interconnected, global entity, to see how believers all over the world can now connect to one another and fellowship as a body miles apart, yet very present with one another. Raschke speaks of the church as no longer something that is connected to a building, or even an organization. Raschke points out that:

The word church derives directly from the Greekkyriou, a genitive possessive form which means literally “that which is the Lord’s.” So what we call the church is simply the manner in which Christ is using the different occasions and our affiliations to reshape the world in accordance with his eschatological purpose and to conform our own both scattered and interconnected lives to his image.

This is a incredibly opportunity-rich age for the church, not that it hasn’t always been. But as the world is now connected to one another in ways never dreamed possible, there are many opportunities to be taken. If we are to thrive in an interconnected era, our education system must teach men and women how to connect with and participate in a more globally accessible body of Christ to reach a globally accessible mission field.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7489296.stm

I hear stories like this, things the world is doing to help those in very desperate situations and succeeding (to a degree) and I think the body of Christ can and is doing much on the same scale as this, not something that will be as globally recognized as the UN or as in the news as things like Mission Sanitation. I think it would be incredible if groups of young Christian entrepreneurial college kids could start something to bring hope, life, dignity to those around the world who have nothing. I think there are a bunch of people already doing this among groups like Kiva, World Hope Intl. I dunno how one would start something like this… I’ve been interesting in working some job that would provide enough for me, those around and those I might be able to help worldwide, but what if combined, a few people could do more? could reach more? Is anyone interested??

But then, I’m just a young’n full of crazy ideas…