Love Is Not a Brick

             If Jesus and Mohammed were entering a warm building on a freezing-cold day, who should go inside first? If Moses and the Buddha were late to a dinner and there was only one veggie burger left, who would be faster to grab for it and take a bite? Brian McLaren’s latest book has me raising these strange questions.

            Before I dare to suggest a possible answer, let me be clear about my reason for daring to ask this question about primacy, honor, and deference among these notable figures of major world religions. The followers of these spiritual guides have denigrated, bullied, maligned, damned, insulted, bombed, exiled, decapitated, judged, disemboweled, raped, assigned to hell, and otherwise been less than accommodating to one another. As they committed such evil acts, they claimed to be honoring their leaders and serving their religions.

            Even the people who are most distant from all religion and who would tell you in a heartbeat they want nothing to do with it know that these teachers emphasize charity and kindness. They tell their disciples that murder is evil and that force should be used only – if ever – with reluctance and restraint. They quote their leaders’ words to the effect that humans should love each other.

            So why did some Christians adopt a burning cross as their symbol for hatred of blacks, Jews, and Catholics? Why did some Catholics murder Protestants (and vice versa) in Northern Ireland? Why did some Muslims cry “Allah is great!” as they flew jetliners into the Twin Towers? Why are some priests pedophiles, some evangelists thieves and womanizers, some imams advocates of anti-American violence, some . . . You’ve gotten the point by now, haven’t you?

            Love is not a brick. It is not about being first, proving others wrong, and demanding primacy – or else! It is not about violence initiated or retaliation for violence suffered. It is, at least in Christian teaching, about patience, kindness, and restraint. While love rejoices in truth and celebrates what is holy, it does not impose its view of truth by force or coerce what it regards as holy on others.

            Back now to the question about going through the door first or eating the veggie burger. What would happen in those scenarios? My honest best guess is that each would insist on deferring to the other! “Please, go inside and get warm.” “Please, take the food; I insist.” Or, perhaps even better: “We can share this.”

            I am a Christian. I believe Jesus is the Son of God and Redeemer of the World. But I refuse to hate, defame, or mistreat a Muslim, atheist, Jew, Sikh, animist, or miscreant Christian. I believe the Bible’s ethical teachings are correct, but I will not hate, damn, insult, or ill-treat an abortionist, homosexual, or deacon who is having an affair with a Sunday School teacher.

            I see you – whoever you are – as one of God’s wonderful creatures in whom he has invested himself, for whom he has extended himself over time, and for whom he died. You do not have to dress like me, speak my language, or share my beliefs. Not only will I not hate you, but I want to know and understand you.

            Respect for others is neither compromise nor apostasy. It is love.

Faith and Traffic Lights

I heard the apocryphal tale of a good citizen who was being tailgated by a stressed-out woman. The light at the intersection in front of their cars turned yellow. The good citizen did the right thing by stopping at the crosswalk – even though he probably could have beaten the red light by gunning it through the intersection. The second driver wasn’t pleased.

The tailgating woman hit the roof – and her horn. She was screaming in frustration because she had missed her chance to get through the yellow light. As she was still in mid-rant – alternately pounding the steering wheel and gesturing to the fellow in front of her – she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer.

The officer told her to exit her car with her hands up. He put handcuffs on her. He took her to the police station, where she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed, and placed in a holding cell. After a couple of hours, a police captain approached the cell and opened the door.

The woman was escorted back to the booking desk, where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects. He said, “I’m very sorry for my mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you, and cursing a blue streak. Then I noticed the ‘Choose Life’ license plate holder, the ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ and ‘Follow Me to Sunday School’ bumper stickers, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk. Naturally, I assumed the car couldn’t be yours and that you had stolen it. I made an honest mistake.”

Ouch! Somewhere through the centuries, the idea has gained currency that says we can be Christians in the same way most people are Democrats and Republicans, Rotarians and Lions. We show up for meetings, pay our dues, and wear the insignia. For the most part, however, it is acceptable to be “just like everybody else.” We’re devout Christians on Sunday mornings, but we curse or flirt or cheat or tell racist jokes the other six and a half days of the week.

We have so institutionalized the Christian faith that membership has come to count for conversion. It isn’t just Vito Corleone of “Godfather” fame who could live as a criminal so long as he attended Mass and gave gifts to his church.

If faith is more than self-delusion, it will be reflected in all the routine and ordinary events of life. Even at traffic lights.

Getting Clear about Holiness

      The human vocabulary shapes the human race. The words we choose and the meanings we assign to them become our frame of reference. They build the world we inhabit, and they either empower or limit us for how we live there. The same thing is certainly true of the vocabulary of Christ’s followers.

            A very practical application of this fact can be seen in the common use of the term “holy.” For one thing, I suspect it is a term Christians use more often than non-Christians. My fear is that we use it too narrowly and thus improperly.

            Most of us have been told that the word “holy” means sanctified (not very helpful!) or set apart for God (better). Thus we have been tempted to think in terms of the family china that is “set apart” for special occasions and can’t be set out every single day for just anybody who happens along. And the most specific lifestyle examples of holiness tend to focus on moralistic issues – keeping oneself “separated” from the dark and dirty things of life.

            While I don’t want to deny the element of truth found in that explanation, I do want to claim that represents a narrow and misleading view of holiness.

            When Scripture cites God’s command to “Be holy because I am holy,” we should not think so much of being set apart and kept for special events as we should have visions of engagement, active involvement with life, and connections with people that make their lives better and happier. In other words, I am trying to learn to think of holiness as something active rather than passive, not as a moralistic withdrawal from the world but as redemptive involvement with it.

            Jesus shows the meaning of holiness in his incarnation. Across history, God had been actively engaged in communicating with humans and acting to make the world better. Finally, the divine word was made flesh in Jesus – the Jesus who did not live in a mountain retreat but among people who needed his help.

            Holiness isn’t the rigid moralism of a thousand “don’ts” so much as the infinite “do’s” that can make life better. Jesus explained, for example, that “Do not commit adultery” actually calls us to build wholesome and holy relationships and “Do not bear false witness” has the intent of calling us to be totally honest. So being holy is less about what scared people avoid than what changed people do.

            As a plant worker, student, kindergarten teacher, lawyer, father, neighbor, spouse, or momentary presence in a stranger’s life, your call to holiness is a very practical challenge to make others’ lives better, fuller, happier, and more aware of God’s loving concern for them because you are in their world.

            “As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness” (1 Peter 1:15 MSG).

            A holiness that positively energizes God should do no less for his people.

To Tell the Truth

            Truth-telling seems to be a lost art in our world, but it is at the very heart of what is required to make a society healthy, safe, and prosperous.

            Students cheat on exams and papers at their schools and colleges; schools and colleges then lie to accrediting agencies about their student GPAs or job placement rates. Journalists get caught and have to confess to making up quotes from persons they never interviewed; a husband or wife gets caught and has to confess to all the lies told over time to hide a long-standing affair.

            We appoint committees and blue-ribbon panels to investigate the adequacy of regulatory mechanisms for Wall Street. We put compliance officers in place for businesses of all types. One writer claims his research on American corporate life shows that somewhere between ten and twenty percent of the payroll of the typical corporation is spent for people whose job it is to watch its own employees, its suppliers, and its customers for fraud.

            Truth-telling as a way of life cannot be crated by laws, codes of ethics, stiff fines, and jail terms. Personal integrity as a way of life comes about only from the soul of a man or woman with character.

            If I lie to you, I demean you as a person – deliberately misrepresenting the facts or withholding from you something you have the right to know. Thus the paternalism of some physicians or families to a patient who is seriously ill.

            If I lie to you, I am robbing you of your freedom – forcing you to make decisions on the basis of false or misleading information. Thus the tactics of some salespersons or televangelists.

            If I lie to you, I am arrogant in the extreme – playing a role which says I have the right to decide when you should be given full-enough information to make your own informed decision and when I should make that decision for you instead. Thus the strategy of certain political or religious leaders that puts others at jeopardy for the sake of some end-justifies-the-means scheme.

            If I lie to you, I deny my relationship to God as the father of my spirit – and identify myself with Satan, who is the father of all lies.

            It isn’t a new problem. In Jesus’ time, people played games with truth-telling too. “Swearing” by one’s one head, Jerusalem, or heaven was less binding than an oath taken with God’s own name. The issue wasn’t vowing to speak truthfully in court but simple, straightforward honesty in the daily routine.

“Do not say, ‘By heaven!’ because heaven is God’s throne. And do not say, ‘By the earth!’ because the earth is his footstool. . . . Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Anything more is from the evil one” (Matthew 5:34-37 NLT).

Jesus’ words still mark the path that is right for us to travel today.

“If You Died Tonight, Would You . . .”

            My guess is that you can finish the headline of this essay. It is the opening line used for millions of evangelistic conversations. People going door to door. Kids on the beach. Bosses or workers in offices. Total strangers on subways or busses. “If you died tonight, would you go to heaven or hell?”

            I don’t recall ever using that approach with a stranger. I’m not even sure I’ve used it with people I know reasonably well. It isn’t that I want to fuss with people who use that approach, for I’m sure there will be people with Christ forever because someone used that line to get them to thinking about salvation.

            It’s just that most of us aren’t going to die tonight or tomorrow. We’ll live another few days and weeks, perhaps months and years. That’s why I think a better question might be this: “If you wake up tomorrow, do you have a clear plan for using the day to honor Christ by the way you will use it?”

            Think about it. When Jesus talked about what would happen after death, he asked people to think about what they had done for people who were sick, cold, hungry, and homeless. He even wanted to know if they had gone to people who were serving jail sentences. He didn’t ask about the sorts of things we tend to have on our lists. He wanted to know about the fruits of righteousness.

            Jesus clearly believed what his brother in the flesh wrote: “What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, ‘Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well’ – but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless” (James 2:14-17 NLT).

            See there? No mention of the Sinner’s Prayer, baptism, or church attendance – whether Sunday or special services. The focus for Jesus and James wasn’t one-time or special events. It was about a type of faith that went so deep that it actually transforms the person who has it. It makes her into a generous and sympathetic person. It produces integrity in his business dealings and fidelity to his family. It makes others glad they get to be around them.

            So let’s assume that you aren’t going to die tonight. What is in your plan for tomorrow that would count as evidence you’d have gone to heaven if you had?

Now Come the Olympic Games

 

            The headline stories of the past month have been child abuse, college athletics, and murder in a theater complex. During the same period but relegated to the bottom of the front page have been the Syrian civil war, the American presidential race, and the ongoing global financial crisis.

            Now the lead stories are from London. The Queen of England does a cameo role with cinema’s James Bond, and Paul McCartney sings rock’s quintessential nah, nah, nah, nahs of Hey Jude. Some 10,500 athletes are competing in the official events. Favorites fail; unknowns triumph. Heart-warming stories emerge – like that of a legally blind South Korean archer winning the gold medal and setting a world record in the process or an American cancer survivor.

            So which is it? Murder or games? Syrian shelling or spectacular fireworks? Royalty and superstars or executioners and monsters? Should you and I fall on our faces in tears or stand up to cheer? Do the contrasts confuse you?

            This is life! Reality follows no script. There is – and always will be – a random mix of good and evil, fine fortune and unwarranted grief. We could wish for happy endings to every story, but life just doesn’t work that way. Maybe the worst thing of all is that some people think that there is a script and that people are either “getting what they deserve” or “living out the will of God.”

            The truth of the matter is very, very different. Most of what happens in this world is not the will of God, but our goal must be to react to everything in a way that honors his will for humanity. People aren’t always getting what they deserve, or we can’t make sense of Joseph in an Egyptian prison or Jesus on a Roman cross. History is replete with pious martyrs in graves and evil tyrants on thrones.

            It must be this way. Life now is a probationary and testing time; heaven comes at the end and as the reward for faith. If everything “worked right” for those who are Christians, we’d all be Christians just to avoid the hassle and stress. If suffering were always and only one’s “just desserts,” why should we feel sympathy or show kindness rather than kicking her while she’s already down?

            If you’re into the Olympic Games or long walks or family dinners, enjoy. Be grateful, and share the delight. If you are walking through a dark valley of illness or bankruptcy or loneliness, mourn. Be humble, and ask God for strength.

            Life is a mysterious mix that refuses to yield to bumper-sticker solutions. Your situation today neither tells God’s opinion of you nor reveals your worth as a man or woman in his image. It is simply what it is. How you choose to deal with it translates your faith into deeds and defines your relationship with God.

            “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12 NIV).

Shall We Bully the Bullies?

 

            Bullying has become a topic of national concern. Some of the conversation may be overblown, for who doesn’t come in for some ribbing over his big ears, her first pair of eyeglasses, or a crush on the girl in his Sunday School class?     

But bullying crosses a line that is pretty clear and obvious. If it started as “good-natured fun,” it has progressed now to the point of bringing anger or tears to the surface. Past that point, the razzing or teasing has become mean-spirited. It is being used to wound or humiliate. Bullying is tripping, shoving, or hitting someone to inflict physical harm. It is mean-spirited taunting that inflicts emotional pain. It is gossiping or lying to humiliate or exclude someone.

            Today’s highly disconnected world of people who “connect” through social media can be especially cruel. Fragile persons who have been mocked and taunted via cruel postings have taken their lives as a result of such behavior.

            One of the worst bullying episodes of late involved a 68-year-old grandmother and bus monitor who was targeted by a posse of junior high boys on a school bus. Karen Klein was verbally assaulted for ten minutes or more with cruel affronts ranging from her weight to her son’s suicide some ten years ago. The video of their taunts and sneers went viral on YouTube.

            Guess what? The bullies immediately became the targets of vindictive taunts themselves. They have been reaping what they sowed, all right. Here are just a few posts about the merciless mob that attacked Ms. Klein:

• “These kids need to be found and have their #@*% teeth knocked out.”
• “These punks are already lost causes. Their parents are worthless, incompetents who should never have been allowed to breed.”
• “Please, can we lock these punks in a room with Jerry Sandusky ASAP!!!”

But what about this whole business of tit-for-tat and putting it back in their faces? So long as verbal abuse, malicious threats, and physical violence are met with more of the same, the vicious cycle is never going to end.

I hope the school officials and parents punished the boys appropriately and that they saw the error of their ways and apologized. They shouldn’t get by with it. Having said that, it’s amazing how self-righteous and judgmental all of us are tempted to be when something like this happens. I am bad at it. I am too quick to judge the people who judge and to be hateful with folks who have been hateful.

Lord, forgive our foolish ways; teach us the ways of peace. Help us neither to insult nor to retaliate, neither to bully nor to bully the bullies. Instead, help us to hear this word above the temptation: “Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it” (1 Peter 3:9 NLT).