Ignorant Historian

“We order our worship services around our age groups, with music designed to remind each generation of whatever was playing at the youth rallies of their college days. Our congregations are made up of people who look, talk, and think just like we do. And it never occurs to us that this is the same kind of unity the world has to offer. Even in our churches, we seem to identify ourselves more according to the corporate brands we buy and the political parties we support than with each other.” – Adopted for Life by Russell Moore, p. 38

“Becoming a Christian might look more like falling in love than baking cookies.” – Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller, p. 155

“Beauty often seduces us on the road to truth.” – Wilson
“And triteness kicks us in the nuts.” – House, House, “Occam’s Razor”

“…it makes me wonder if secretly we don’t wish God were a genie who could deliver a few wishes here and there.  And that makes me wonder if what we really want from the formula are the wishes, not God.  It makes me wonder if what we really want is control, not a relationship.” – Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller, p. 12

“The quiet scares me ’cause it screams the truth” – “Sober” by Pink

“There’s something about patience that God deems necessary for our life in the age to come and so, whether through agriculture or discipleship or bodily development or eschatology or procreation, God makes us wait.” – Adopted for Life by Russell Moore, p. 142

“And I’ll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I’ve cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm.” – “Praise You in This Storm” by Casting Crowns

“He had forgotten how American children slept. They stretched out long and wide, dreaming of sugar-plums while they waited for handouts from tooth fairies.” – Run by An Patchett, 100

“It seems like, if you really knew the God who understands the physics of our existence, you would operate a little more cautiously, a little more compassionately, a little less like you are the center of the universe.” – Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller, p. 38

“…the masses of the people could not be held back from Nazism, so powerful was its appeal, and this same priest, who would not leave his people, went with them to Nazism, too.” – They Thought They Were Free by Milton Mayer, p. 219

I’ve been thinking for a while about my step back from party politics.  I think that giving up their heart to the Republican Party en masse was one major downfall of the older generation of Evangelical Christianity.

While I do believe that our spiritual views should influence how we vote and what political candidates we support, I think we’re foolish if we think any party (unless it’s explicitly based on the Bible…then maybe) is going to have the same beliefs and priorities that we do.

I know I’m not the only one who has recognized this, and I’m glad that more and more people in my generation are picking up on this.  I can’t wait until we can say together, “We are followers of Christ, not of the Republican Party.  We are not them.”

I don’t intend to bash the GOP (they’re not better or worse than the Democrats), but there is a reason why politics get a bad name.  And by saying that to be a Christian is to be a Republican, we’re dragging Christ’s name through the mud, too.

While I’d love us to get beyond the 2-party system, I’m not a fool.  It’s almost as old as our country.  We love to fall into an “us” vs. “them” mindset.  But that doesn’t mean that I have to identify with either party.  Instead, I want to evaluate each candidate individually.  I’ll never fill in the “vote straight Democrat” or “vote straight Republican” bubbles…even if all of my candidates I’m choosing to vote for are of the same party.

So why I think that we’re on the right path by separating ourselves from the Republican Party, I know that there must be something else that my generation of Christians is missing.  Each generation in the past had a flaw so obvious to other generations but that they were blind to.

What is ours?  Could it be our greediness in holding on to our great wealth?  Could it be our reliance on programs?  Could it be the idea that we can be followers of Christ apart from being a part of His body?

Whatever our blind spot is, the thought that we have one (and that I, individually, do too) humbles me.  May we always be teachable.

“With the right lever you can move a planet.” – Dune by Frank Herbert (paraphrasing Archimedes)

“What my friends believed [against the Jews]–and believe–is an accumulation of legend, legend which comes to them no more guiltily than the cherry tree story comes to us.” – They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-1945 by Milton Mayer, p. 142

“And we’re content with the world we know, just adjusted a little for our identities as Christians. That’s precisely why so many of us are so atrophied in our prayers, why our prayers rarely reach the level of ‘groanings too deep for words’.” – Adopted for Life by Russell Moore, p. 55

“I have learned the hard way that ‘well-educated’ doesn’t always mean ‘smart.’ ” – Another Place at the Table by Kathy Harrison, p. 8

“You can be a real jerk sometimes, you know that?”
“Yeah, and you’re the good guy.”
“At least I try.”
“As long as you’re trying to be good, you can do whatever you want.”
“And as long as you’re not trying, you can say whatever you want.”
“So between us, we can do anything. We can rule the world!” – Conversation between Wilson and House, House, “Fidelity”

“It is one thing when the culture doesn’t ‘get’ adoption and so speaks of buying a cat as ‘adopting’ a pet. But when those who follow Christ think the same way, we betray that we miss something crucial about our own salvation.” – Adopted for Life by Russell Moore, p. 19

“We’ll continue to enforce all the laws…especially the immigration laws.” – Joe Arpio, Maricopa County Sherriff

“But I didn’t want to see it, because I would then have had to think about the consequences of seeing it, what followed from seeing it, what I must do to be decent.” – Herr Hildebrandt in They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-1945 by Milton Mayer, p. 201

“We adopted her when she was 3.  She was the perfect child–healthy, bright and beautiful.  But when Karen turned 4, we began to notice some neurological problems….we have learned that perfect is all about perception.” – Another Place at the Table by Kathy Harrison, p. 8

“…the same lie, at bottom, that dominated the Hitler Youth, the lie that children can educate themselves.  Children who grow up without religion cannot decide about religion for themselves; that’s a fallacy, that people can choose intelligently between what they know and what they don’t know.” – They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-1945 by Milton Mayer, p. 214

“In our quest for the extraordinary, we often overlook the importance of the ordinary, and I’m proposing that a radical lifestyle actually begins with an extraordinary commitment to ordinary practices that have marked Christians who have affected the world throughout history.” – Radical by David Platt, p. 193

“Why can’t others think and see the world the way I see it?” – Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork, p. 23

“Lyman firmly believed that the best fisherman was he who caught the most fish, regardless of the bait used.” – The Most Famous Man in America: the Biography of Henry Ward Beecher by Debby Applegate, p. 57

“And most pastors in Germany had always preached Christ crucified without seeing–who does?–that he was being crucified all around them every day.” – They Thought They Were Free, The Germans, 1933-1945 by Milton Mayer, p. 87

“When I went back into Darfur with my first reporters, the African journalists, I was asked why I was taking the risk, and I told them, not trying to be too dramatic, that I was not safe because my people were not safe–and how can you be safe if your people are not safe? And so who are your people?  Perhaps everyone is your people.  I was wondering about that.” – The Translator by Daoud Hari, p. 173

“To do its worst, evil needs to look its best.  Evil has to spend a lot on makeup.” – Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be by Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., p. 98

“And the bitterest single disappointment of Nazism–both to Simon, the insensitive bill-collector, and to Hofmeister, the sensitive policeman–was the fact that Hitler had promised that no officer would get more than 1,000 Reichsmarks per month and did not keep his promise.” – They Thought They Were Free, The Germans, 1933-1945 by Milton Mayer, p. 102

“There’s a big difference between not being a bad person and being a good one.” – Life After Yes by Aidan Donnelley Rowley, p. 252

“It also bugs me when I hear about ‘Angelina’s adopted son’ or ‘Rosie’s adopted children’ — as if that word will always separate them instead of binding them together.” – A Little Bit Wicked by Kristin Chenoweth, p. 14

“Fair enough: evil fascinates people who walk down the Tornabuoni and also those who channel surf across daytime TV.  The fastest way to kill the dramas on daytime TV would be to rewrite the scripts so that shows would begin to dwell on moral stabilities–on marital fidelity, loyal friendship, and generous cooperation in the workplace.  Nobody would watch.” – Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be by Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., p. 91

“I know now that there are rare people who will help you carry your burdens through this life.” – The Samurai’s Garden by Gail Tsukiyama, p. 139

“[debating]…whether it was God’s will to install a woodstove to warm the meetinghouse in winter.  Surely, some argued (out of piety or stinginess it was hard to say), such an indulgence would send them down a slippery slope to decadence.” – The Most Famous Man in America: the Biography of Henry Ward Beecher by Debby Applegate, p. 24

I don’t remember what I was doing, but somehow I stumbled on a website that would tell you demographic stats on specific US zip codes.

For kicks, I entered the zip code I grew up in.

For whatever reason, the results surprised me.

Compared to the rest of the US, this zip code has:

• a high number of high school and college graduates
• a high median income (though Kansas has a fairly low standard of living)
• a higher than average number of married couples
• 2/3 of adults working in white collar jobs
• only 4% of its residents below the poverty line (national average is around 15%)

I was born into privilege.

Not only am I a part of the 4.5% of the world population who lives in the US, I’m among the 6% of that population that has a Master’s Degree.  While I myself don’t quite make enough to reach the US median household income in the US, it’s just me, so obviously my costs are much lower than most.

I was born (and raised) into privilege.

I thank God for the blessings He’s given me and my parents who gave me so much, but that’s not what I want to talk about.

I’m a numbers person, so when you show me my blessings numerically, it really sinks in.  I’ve always known that I was overwhelmingly blessed, but when everyone around me is too, it’s easy to forget.

These thoughts were already on my mind, when I started reading Radical.

Here are a few things that David Platt said that stood out to me:

“We are an affluent people living in an impoverished world.  If we make only $10,000 a year, we are wealthier than 84% of the world, and if we make $50,000 a year, we are wealthier than 99% of the world.” – p. 194

“But the reality is, if you and I have running water, shelter over our heads, clothes to wear, food to eat, and some means of transportation (even if it’s public transportation), then we are in the top 15% of the world’s people for wealth.” – p. 115

“The reality is that most everything in our lives in the American culture would be classified as a luxury, not a necessity. The computer I am writing this book on, the spoon and fork I will eat my dinner with later this evening, and the bed and pillow I will sleep on tonight (in additon to many other things in my life) are all luxuries.” – p. 127

All this merely starts to illustrate how blessed we are in America.  Yet we, the Church, wrap ourselves up in our own cares, ignoring the extensive needs of those all around us (even if we have to close our eyes to them).  If you’re like me, these facts might make you pause for moment, but then you shut them out because they make life too uncomfortable.

I don’t want to live comfortably at the expense of others (and that’s what it is…I don’t “deserve” a better life and haven’t earned it…I didn’t choose to be born here, to my parents).

I’m still thinking through what the implications of all of this.  I don’t have everything (anything) figured out.

While I don’t have much “stuff” by American standards, I’m sure if I added up the costs of everything I owned, I’d be shocked.  I do have more than I need.

I’m sorely tempted to give some of my income away and turn around and spend the rest on my own excesses.  I can placate myself by saying that I give more than most.   But would I except that excuse from my own child?  ”Mommy, I know I didn’t clean up my room like you asked, but I spent 2 minutes more on it than any of my friends.”

That’s not what God has called me to.

Photo by 96dpi

“I’ve received many emails from opinionated folks saying, ‘I have extensively researched this issue,’ by which they mean, ‘I’ve read a lot of blogs.’ Let’s be clear: neither frequent viewership of Fox News nor owning a copy of An Inconvenient Truth makes one ‘an expert.’ ” – Green Like God by Jonathan Merritt, p. 166

“A human being is like a novel: until the last page you don’t know how it will end. Or it wouldn’t be worth reading…” – We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, p. 162

“We realize that we are saved not just to be forgiven of our sins or to be assured of our eternity in heaven, but we are saved to know God.” – Radical by David Platt, p. 39

[girls are] “an impenetrable fortress of unknowability, really.” – An Abundance of Katherines by John Green, p. 76

“Of all the great world religions, Christianity should value the body most. After all, it taught that God had in some sense taken a human body and used it to redeem the world; everything about the physical should have been sacred and sacramental.” – The Spiral Staircase by Karen Armstrong, p. 219

“I’m at a point now where if preachers can’t come up with something other than inspirational speeches, then maybe they should just read from the word for their sermon.” – a college student quoted in Radical by David Platt, p. 40

“Americans are a charitable people, but what we give away is not quite as astounding when seen in proportion to what we keep.” – Green Like God by Jonathan Merritt, p. 130-131

“Poems are short because nobody can keep up that level of stupidness for more than one page.” – Prom by Laurie Halse Anderson

“As for the future, the only way that the world can say no to genocide is to make sure the people of Darfur are returned to their homes and given protection. If the world allows the people of Darfur to be removed forever from their land and their way of life, then genocide will happen elsewhere because it will be seen as something that works.” – The Translator by Daoud Hari, p. X

“For example, you’re probably not expecting me to ask you out for dinner tonight.” – Taub
(immediately)”No thanks.” – House
“You won’t even consider it?”
“I did, just very quickly.” – House episode “The Choice”

“Do you ever wonder whether people would like you more or less if they could see inside you?” – An Abundance of Katherines by John Green, p. 149

Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream is about just that: rescuing American Christians from the deadly kudzu of the “American Dream.”

He’s not saying that America=evil or that everything within our culture is bad, but that there are harmful ideas that we have bought and followed without discernment, becoming normal in the American church.

I don’t really know where to start on this review.  In some ways, I only need to say: go out and buy it (it would be worth buying at twice its $10-12 price tag, and when you’re done with it, lend/give it to someone else).

When I first got my hands on this, I did what I do to every book: look to see how many actual pages it had (secret: I do the math to figure out how many pages I need to read in each book per day to finish it by the date that I want).  At the very end, I noticed it has 5 things he wants the reader to commit to, and leaves room for you to write out how you’re going to carry them out.  I read them before I read the rest of the book, and I thought, “Ehh, those are good, but I’ve heard all that before.”  But when I read the book and then got to that section?

You bet I was praying, asking God’s forgiveness for neglecting these simple things and praying through how I was going to re-implement them in my life.

This book was the perspective change that I needed.  This book is the perspective change that the American church needs.

If you want to know more about what Radical is about, check out the video on the bottom of the homepage of the book’s website.  You can even sign up to read the first chapter for free.  But really, you need to read chapters 6 (“How Much is Enough?: American Wealth in a World of Poverty”) and 7 (“There is No Plan B: Why Going is Urgent, Not Optional”).

Chapter 6 hits on the very topic God has been working on in me: that I’m abundantly wealthy (yes, in a worldly sense) and I squander that wealth on myself (more on this in an upcoming blog post).

In chapter 7, David Platt walks simply through 7 Biblical truths that makes participation in missions mandatory for all Christians (going, praying, sending, and/or supporting).  Nothing new for me, but this was the simplest and most logical presentation I’ve seen.  Kind of a “duh” thing.

While I’ve been blessed to have heard a lot of this before from the ministries I have participated in and my church that I love, I needed to hear it again.  The American Dream is so easy to get caught up in.  It’s easier to join in the pursuit of a better living, fun gadgets, and being well-dressed than it is to live sacrificially and simply so that I can bless others with the blessings He’s blessed me.  After all, I don’t want to be weird, do I?

But indeed, the Christian faith as laid out in the Bible is radical.  When we try to soften it’s commands and examples, we’re wrong.

I don’t know what else to say to convince you to read this book.

I first heard about Green Like God from Carol (her review is here).  It sounded like a very interesting book.

And then I looked at the author and recognized the name; we had gone to seminary together.  Cool to know the author…or at least know of the author.  I promise that hasn’t influenced my review of this book…he blew me away in spite of the fact that we sat before the same teachers.

When I was about halfway through Green Like God, a friend asked me if this was a worthwhile book.  I said I thought so.  It wasn’t wowing me, but I enjoyed it and felt like there was some good stuff there.

And then I got to the second half of his book, “Our Assignment in God’s World.”  Merritt confronted me with facts that I’ve long since avoided…when most environmental horror facts are presented in a doom-and-gloom way, you become jaded and in my case, uncaring.

And then there was chapter 9, “The Enemy in Us All.”  It’s an absolutely must-read for every American pastor. Scratch that, for every American believer.

Our actions have consequences.  Our affluence is no excuse (if you are reading this right now, yes, you are affluent because you have regular access to a computer, among other blessings).  All the paint in the world won’t fix a broken building, but may mask it for a little while.

Merritt is right to point out that the blame for pollution and the destruction of creation (not to mention the exploitation of other peoples) rests largely on America.  We’ve allowed consumerism and materialism to be the American way.  If we don’t have to live in the filth (or at least we don’t feel like it), then what does it matter, right?

One particular passage struck me:

At the May 7, 2001, White House daily press briefing, Ari Fleischer, White House spokesperson for President George W. Bush, was asked a tough environmental question: “Does the president believe that, given the amount of energy Americans consume per capita–how much it exceeds any other citizens in any other country in the world–does the presdient believe we need to correct our lifestyles to address the energy problem?”

Without hesitiation, Fleischer snapped back, “That’s a big no.  The president believes that it’s an American way of life, and that it should be the goal of policy makers to protect the American way of life.  The American way of life is a blessed one.” (p. 117, emphasis added)

YIKES.  Nine years later, this attitude is still way too common.  What’s worse, we aren’t content to keep this me-first-and-only attitude to ourselves, but spread it around the globe.

So, yeah, I think this is definitely a must-read.  It’s about time someone with a balanced view and a level head addressed this issue.  Our environmental irresponsibility is neither the extinction of the human race nor is it a myth.

And Merritt is right: Christians have every reason to be the best at creation care (after all, our Savior took on human flesh), not the worst.

I’m off to put in to practice what I’ve learned.

Lately I can’t get enough of dystopian/futuristic/end-of-the-world books.  And by large volumes being published today, I assume I’m not the only one.

The Last Christian is the story of a missionary’s daughter, Abby, who returns to the United States in 2088 after spending her life cut off from the world in the jungle of Papua New Guinea.  The America she returns to is not only equipped with the technological advances you’d assume, but is essentially godless.  Christianity is extinct.

Not only that, but a new medical procedure is being done that replaces the natural brain with a synthetic brain (allowing one to live forever)…but not everything is as it seems.

I enjoyed The Last Christian, though one stylistic issue really bugged me.  Most of the book was told in 3rd person, but everything about one of the characters was told in 1st person.  You don’t usually note point-of-view unless it’s not working, and it wasn’t working here.  It threw me every time it switched.  Also, he must have learned to name characters in the same class Vicki Hinze did, because they were mostly vanilla, Anglo names easily to be confused with one another.

But beyond those things, it was well written.  It was an interesting story.  Though I was driven to skim through some of the more technical portions, it was interesting.  I enjoyed reading how Christianity could be included in a dystopian novel, and I think Gregory does it well.  Though it’s very obvious, I don’t think he was being “preachy.”

If you can’t get enough of this genre like I can’t, I’d recommend checking this one out.

I received a free copy of The Last Christian for review from the publisher, but no other compensation.

I have no idea why I’m writing an Earth Day post.  It’s not likely that this will be the first one you will read, if you spend any time at all in the blogosphere.  But over the past year I’ve been taking more intentional steps to take better care of our home.

I’ve already mentioned our garden a few times.  It’s been growing, especially the cucumber and tomato plant (which is already about 1/3 to half it’s full size).

I wish I could show you pictures, but that’s what I get for having supervised-visitation only with my plants (I joke that I feel like I don’t have custody of them as I haven’t yet moved in with Jen).

You’ll just have to picture growing plants (except for the mint which I apparently killed by burying the seeds WAY too deep).

Another thing that I’ve finally gotten good about it using reusuable shopping bags.  I’ve only gotten a few eye rolls from cashiers (that used to be me, so I understand), but it’s worth it on many levels.  I wish I could tell you my primary motivation for this is creation care, but that’s secondary.  I really just hate having to mess with plastic bags.

I’ve also been working on water usage. Still haven’t figured out how to help with the garden water, but I have figured out that I don’t need to run the shower while I’m shaving my legs.  Saves gallons of water, especially when it’s been a while since the last time I shaved (I apologize for any men reading this!).

I’m not trying these things because being green is in.  I’m doing them because I believe that as a Christian I’m called to be a good steward of everything God has given me, not just my time and money.  And that includes this beautiful planet God has given us for a home.

I’ve still have got a lot to learn.  That’s why I’m excited to read Green Like God which I just ordered from Amazon.  I heard about it on Carol’s blog, got excited about it, and then realized I knew who the author was, as he was a student at Southeastern when I was.

Even a global warming skeptic like me can take steps to take care of the Earth.

Have any more suggestions?

Photo by cygnus921