drops like bells

I’ve only read two of the blog posts about Rob Bell’s recent interview in the Boston Globe.  Jared Wilson’s and Scot McKnight‘s.

Much of the response has been extremely negative towards Bell and his failure to clearly articulate the gospel at every single waking moment.

I figured I would offer my thoughts as well.  If anyone cares.

I think that, like any piece of literature, genre and context are of key importance. And most of the people who have criticized Rob Bell’s statements here are ignoring both.

1. This is a transcription of a journalistic interview. Many people have treated it as if it were an all-inclusive systematic treatise of Bell’s theology. It isn’t; interviews are conversational, and, as in any conversation, things get left out. You have to realize that.

2. We cannot take this quote from Bell and determine things about Bell’s nature without considering the context in which it was said. First, he was doing an interview with the media. Who wouldn’t see this as a chance to change some people’s views about Evangelical Christianity? The first thing that he says is that evangelicalism isn’t what most people assume it is: right-wing, anti-intellectual fundamentalism. Naturally, he would follow that up with something that is strikingly dissimilar with what most people assume when they hear “evangelical.” And those things that he mentioned should probably be some of the natural responses to those who believe in the “evangelical Jesus,” if you will: helping the poor, caring for the environment, and extending hope to the world.

If Bell had said, “evangelicalism is all about telling people about Jesus.” The interview, in most of the readers’ minds, would have been over because they would have turned the page. They would have assumed that this guy is another religious nut job and would have ignored him.

Finally, you cannot remove this quote from the totality of Bell’s body of work and say that it somehow gives us a more clear picture of where his heart is at than anything else does.

Denying all the Dying of the Remedy

So quite a bit of hype and discussion has been flying about the internet in the past few days concerning Derek Webb’s new album–primarily about the song that I mentioned in a previous post.  At internetmonk.com, thethinklings.org, and dennyburk.com, in order of severity.  Quite a few people have problems with Derek, the new album, and/or this specific song.  I think I’ll try to sum up what people are saying and attempt to respond.  I’ll probably end up doing quite a bit of what Derek warns against though (“You wouldn’t be so damn reckless with the words you speak”).

1. A few people have an issue with his use of language.
A lot of people, though they may agree with his point, have issues with his use of language.  They say it is offensive and unnecessary.  I don’t want to say that Derek Webb is just like Jesus, (no doubt some people will read this in that way), but I imagine that some of the people looking on at Jesus clearing the temple were offended by him turning over the tables and cracking the whip… I mean, why did he have to sound so mad? He could have simply asked them nicely.

2. Some have expressed an issue with his clearly indignant tone.
A commenter on the post at thinklings.org pointed out that others have made similar points without the use of anger, with the implication that if Derek had done this, it would have been better.  Once again, I think we should look to Jesus’ example.  Jesus called those people whom society had labeled as “sinners” out in their sin in a very gentle way.  To the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus offered living water.  To the woman caught in adultery, he said, “Go and sin no more.”  There is no indication that Jesus had to point out Zacheus’ sins at all.  On the other hand, Jesus showed indignation, anger, and what certainly would have appeared as arrogance to the religious types.

3. Some have pointed out that he is simply degrading into another one of these emergent/new monastic types who is telling us all to champion liberal social causes, and they’re tired of being told that they don’t give enough to the poor or do enough to help those less fortunate.
First, I think those people are missing the point: both Derek’s point and the point of many (not all) of the other voices telling us those same things.  I’m not accusing any specific person in any of the above links of this.  I cannot help but wonder if many of the people suggesting this simply don’t want to hear it because they don’t want to hear the truth. Sure, there are some great churches that are doing some great things.  Evangelicals give a lot of money to hunger relief, etc.  But if you don’t think that the majority of American Christians focus on the culture war infinitely more than on helping the poor, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and healing the sick both physically and spiritually, then I’m not sure that you are paying much attention.

So before you write Derek Webb off, consider the fact that this may be exactly what we need to hear.  And maybe, just maybe, the reason why it makes you so mad or annoyed or frustrated is because you’re the one who needs to hear it most.  And don’t forget that simply giving a hearty amen if you agree isn’t quite enough either.

4.  One more thing is that he is focusing on law and not gospel.
This may be true to an extent, but I don’t think he’s forgotten the gospel.  Two things.  First, you have to consider this album in the context of his other music.  Second, though the gospel is not mentioned explicitly, it is implied in this song.

The following line:
“denying all the dying of the remedy”

He’s clearly referring to those who have been hated for their sin (he’s referring specifically to homosexuals). He’s calling them “the dying.” So whats the remedy? I’m pretty sure that Derek would say that the gospel is the remedy.

Now, I know its not explicit, but the Gospel is there.

But, this song is clearly directed toward those who already know and believe the Gospel:
“Cause if you really believed what you say you believe; you wouldn’t be so damn reckless with the words you speak”
If they really believe the Gospel and the love of Jesus towards sinners, then they wouldn’t be so quick to condemn sinners and, in turn, deny them the remedy, aka, the gospel…

Maybe I’m stretching it, but I don’t think so…

christmastime is… gone…

After the song that my wife and I wrote about her Calvinism and all, and the subsequent fame that it entitled us with, I’m beginning to fear that it will all be in vain if I do not keep up with something interesting to the internet audience.  I have had quite a few more views on my blog in the past few days than I normally have… I’ve been terribly busy in the past month or so… and now my wife and I are away from our northern abode in Thompson, Manitoba in order to visit friends and family in Western NC and Upstate SC.

With that being said, whether you are an old friend or someone who randomly stumbled upon my blog, you may be wondering a little more about me.  My buddy, Andrew Pritchett, was commissioned to write my biography a few weeks ago.  You really should check it out.  I’m unsure who was actually doing the commissioning, though.

If you want the slightly less exaggerated version, then you should read my about page.

Hopefully my wife and I will have some time to get another song together that will sweep the internet by storm.  For now, everyone have a happy new year.

a new mp3 player or groceries??

People say teenagers should get jobs in order to learn about life in the “real world.” That’s a load, because every teenager I know with a job, has about 20 times more money to blow on iPods and xBoxes than anyone I know who is actually in the “real world.”

I’ll give you three guesses what this post is about…

Thats not all it is about… I have a really busy week, but I thought I would give a few quick links/comments to think about for the remainder of election day and the following days.

First, you should check out my beautiful wife’s most recent post about the necessity of community.  She also includes a few nuggets of wisdom about the purpose/misuse of blogging:

I also refuse to use this blog as a daily journal or face book status/twitter “today I ran a marathon”, “I am eating pie” or”my life is completely focused on my political affiliation”

I wish I were eating pie right now.

Also, check out a few thoughts on the election from John Piper.

Also, Andrew Lewis offers a few passages of scripture that should be kept in mind through this election.

Finally, Derek Webb, as usual, has some good things to say in his column in Patrol Mag.

Real and lasting change comes from knowing and loving the folks who live in the houses that sit next to ours rather than saving all of our longing and hope for the voting booth.

And this:

These matters of conscience are serious and should be considered at great length. I have many friends who have considered the issues of this current election in all their nuances and have chosen to vote for either Obama, McCain, or a 3rd party candidate, and I support them in doing so. Again, we are diverse members of one body in our following of Jesus. It would be suspicious if we all reached identical conclusions to such complex problems. So again, maybe there is no conflict of conscience for you in this election. By all means vote. But if there is, be at liberty not to vote.

Our ultimate hope is not in politicians or powers or governments, but in a day coming when all things will be made right. And our ultimate concern isn’t success but faithfulness. So if you find it necessary to abstain from voting in this election because to do so would be a violation of your conscience, be at liberty to remain faithful and leave the worry of success or outcome to God. He, after all, created governments in the first place.

pitbulls, war heros, community activists

I responded to another blogger’s post a moment ago, and thought I would say the same thing on my own blog.  Jim Thompson had a great post about politics and world government.   Unfortunately, though we were at North Greenville at approximately the same time, I never took the chance to even speak to him, much less make friends; however, his blog always has some good things to say and the best part is that he is brief and to the point.  So you should take time to check his blog out, if you don’t already.

God works THROUGH and AGAINST world politics. That is the biblical paradigm. I don’t feel as if many believers live like it is. Yes, render to Caesar what is Caesar’s [Mk 12]. Yes, submit to authority [Rom 13]. But please, don’t rush to the polls as if you are doing God a favor. We must be upstanding citizens, but we are strangers and aliens here [1 Pe 1 and 2] and our true citizenship is in heaven [Phil 3]. We have to live like that is true.

There are people on both sides (republican and democrat) acting as if their candidate and their platform are God’s chosen. It simply isn’t true. The success or failure of America’s economy/war on terror/revenue system/budget is simply a tool which God will use to further his kingdom.

I hear a lot of people saying we should try to figure out who Jesus would vote for and then they give reasons why Jesus would vote for McCain or Obama or Baldwin or Barr or Nader. I’m not yet convinced that Jesus would actually vote.

I’ll say that again, I AM NOT CONVINCED THAT JESUS WOULD VOTE.

He reluctantly paid his taxes. He, along with his early followers, seemed to have little concern for whomever was in political power. If anything, he made it clear that his purpose was not political… his kingdom was not of this earth.

But if he were to vote, he wouldn’t be interested in which candidate would be the most moral or which one would change the moral direction of the US, like so many people suggest. I think he would vote for whomever would allow for the greatest expansion of the kingdom of God, wittingly or unwittingly.

In other words, if a government making Christianity illegal would best foster the growth of the kingdom, I believe that’s what Jesus would do with his votes. If a government that was on a slippery slope to being a communist dictatorship were best for the kingdom, that’s who Jesus would vote for. I cannot say that with certainty, but his purpose was not to further the kingdom through political or governmental means. I think he would have the same bones to pick with James Dobson and Tony Campolo.

I think that seeking to further God’s kingdom or Christian morals, etc. through the government is the antithesis of the biblical model.

Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”  Samuel 8:4-9

The people wanted a government who would lead them to be a great nation, but God saw it as them rejecting him.  This government set to rule over God’s chosen nation was a horrible failure.  David was a good king.  Then the kingdom split.  Josiah was a decent king.  The vast majority of them were horrible, evil kings.  When we trust in government and politics to lead our country into being a “Christian” nation, we’re doing the same thing that these guys were doing.  Do what you need to in your nation to keep it safe, to be sure that people are taken care of, lessen poverty, crime and disease.  But don’t trust in it.  Our citizenship is in the kingdom of God… the kingdom of heaven.  Jesus is our king and our leader.  Not an old prisoner of war.  Not a young, charismatic community planner.  Not a pitbull wearing lipstick.

Bono and the Bailout

I found this quote from Bono about the recent bailout:

“It is extraordinary to me that you can find $700 billion to save Wall Street and the entire G8 can’t find $25 billion to save 25,000 children who die every day of preventable treatable disease and hunger…that’s mad, that is mad.”

We’re all worried about the world’s economy and about the price of gas and about our houses and cars and stuff.  There are a lot of people who will not be affected by this economic slump because they did not have anything to be affected.  They never had a house.  They never had a car.  They never had healthcare.  They did have diseases.  They also had dirty water.  They also had lives surrounded by death, disease and war.  But, unlike those of us who have a lot, many of them have contentment.  Many of them have hope.  Many of them live lives that are full of joy and happiness in spite of all of their poverty.  Many of them had no hope before the financial crisis and have no hope after the financial crisis.  If someone wants to help, where to start?

In other news, I befriended a bear on the shoulder of Highway 6 in Manitoba, just south of Devil’s Lake.

the truth really will set you free…

Sometimes I wonder who decided which verses of Scripture would be the most commonly memorized. While some of them are good, many of them are incomplete in what they say about the nature of God or of salvation or of whatever they talk about.

This wouldn’t be so huge of a problem except that a lot of Christians know nothing more of God or of Christianity or of the Bible than those few verses that they memorized as children.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
-Ephesians 2:8-9

This is good. It teaches us about salvation by grace through faith… it clearly denies salvation by works… but in the long run, I think this has been a pretty damaging memory verse because of its incompleteness. Many people take this to be cheap grace–grace that costs nothing and leads, as Bonhoeffer puts it, to the justification of sin, instead of the justification of the sinner.

It continues in verse ten to say, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” This verse is rarely, if ever, memorized by Christians. Here Paul is clearly saying that saving faith is followed by “good works.” Of course there are a lot of different ways to interpret what kind of works it is exactly talking about, but I think it probably includes things like service, mercy, love, caring for the poor and downtrodden, that sort of thing, more than it includes things like not smoking, not cussing, not drinking, and handing out tracts.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

I don’t even need to give the reference for that one. I think this verse has caused more of the easy-believeism that plagues evangelicalism today than anything else. Sure, it is true. It is only by grace through faith that we are saved. But what about verse 21? “But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” Once again, things concerning the Christians obligation to actually follow Christ in faith are left out. Jesus called his disciples to have faith, sure, but he also expected them to follow him.

John 8:32 “and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” We’ve all heard that one as well. But it doesn’t really make much sense on its own. The verse before it says, “If you abide in my word, then you are truly my disciples… and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” We need to abide in his word. Not simply memorize a few random verses. Abide.

I don’t do it nearly enough. God’s word is powerful. God’s word is authoritative. God’s word is the power unto salvation. The whole thing. Period. And it really will set you free.

The Hope of Man

I am tired of politics. And, since I am an American living in Canada, I get twice as much as any of my other American friends. Obama this. Harper that. McCain what? Palin and Layton were making out underneath the bleachers. Biden spent seven years in a Turkish prison. (For those of you who didn’t know, Harper is the current PM of Canada, and Layton is the NDP party leader aka candidate for PM). Seriously, I’m tired of it. Tired of hearing about it. Tired of thinking about it. Tired of reading about it. Tired of Christians being unnecessarily outspoken about it (including myself). Don’t get me wrong, its important. In fact, I’ve already sent in my ballot. But its not THAT important.

Read this post by Scot McKnight. Its really good.

Our hope is in the gospel of God. God’s mission is gospel-shaped. Some today want to reduce gospel to what we find in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, while others want to expand it to bigger proportions (and I’m one of the latter), we would do well at election time to re-align ourselves once again with the gospel as God’s good news for our world. Therein lies our hope.

and then there is this song by Derek Webb:

A Savior on Capitol Hill
I’m so tired of these mortal men
with their hands on their wallets and their hearts full of sin
scared of their enemies, scared of their friends
and always running for re-election
so come to DC if it be thy will
because we’ve never had a savior on Capitol Hill

you can always trust the devil or a politician
to be the devil or a politician
but beyond that friends you’d best beware
’cause at the Pentagon bar they’re an inseparable pair
and as long as the lobbyists are paying their bills
we’ll never have a savior on Capitol Hill

[Bridge]
all of our problems gonna disappear
when we can whisper right in that President’s ear
he could walk right across the reflection pool
in his combat boots and ten thousand dollar suit

you can render unto Caesar everything that’s his
you can trust in his power to come to your defense
it’s the way of the world, the way of the gun
it’s the trading of an evil for a lesser one
so don’t hold your breath or your vote until
you think you’ve finally found a savior up on Capitol Hill

The Renewed Mind is the Key

I’m at a loss for words.  Perhaps my mind is not yet renewed?  Christian DDR meets Joyce Meyers meets Joyful Sound (from our NGU days)…