Warming Up For Worship - A Music Review

When music is at its best as an art form, it affords the listener with a unique opportunity to simultaneously give expression to the affections and the mind. Life constantly seems to force us to make the choice between seriously contemplating a matter on the one hand and giving expression to our feelings about that matter on the other. A well crafted song, however, resolves this tension as it combines thinking, feeling, and speaking into one grand exercise of the soul. It is precisely this ability of music that makes it so important to the life of a believer, because God wants whole-hearted concentration and worship. Consider this Psalm: “Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.” (Psalm 146:1-2 [ESV]) The soul is encouraged to praise and the entire being of the worshipper is given to God. This kind of fruitfulness of mind and spirit is the goal of our gathered worship as a Church, but it should also characterize our personal worship as well. It has been my observation that people who do not worship throughout the week get relatively little out of gathered worship on Sunday’s. Cars that are allowed to sit idle during the week are usually harder to start and the same is true of our hearts. When we provide ourselves no opportunity for contemplation and expression of God’s goodness, faithfulness, and unsearchableness during the week it tends to leave our hearts dull and hard to start on Sunday morning.

With this in mind I want to recommend a new album for your consideration. It will provide you with an opportunity to both think deeply about the life to which we have been called and to express your thankfulness for that life. The album is Ending Is Beginning by the band Downhere. It was released in September 2008 and combines musical artistry with lyrical power. It contains thirteen tracks that range in style from a typical pop/contemporary Christian to acoustic folk song to edgy funk. Samples of the songs as well as purchase information can be found at Amazon.com* or at the band’s website.** The following are highlights:

The album begins with “Bleed For This Love”; an ingenious song about the fact that every act of deliverance or provision by God in the Old Testament was a foretaste of the final redemption that He would win through the shed blood of His only Son: “Just when you think the story's over/ You know my love is strong as ever/ Cuz I'm gonna bleed for this love.” It is a song that celebrates God devotion to us and His love for us.

The song “Cathedral Made Of People” expresses the biblical truth that our growth, encouragement, and strength as believers comes from being built into God’s Church. It describes a community that is not built around buildings made out of brick and mortar but out of the redeemed lives of God’s children: “We are a cathedral made of people/ In a kingdom that the eye can't see/ We're a house, we are the bride/ Where God's Spirit lives inside/ And nothing ever could stand against her.” The lyrics are both challenging and encouraging.

“My Last Amen” is a lighthearted and catchy tune that describes the frustration of living in a world where every pleasure contains a measure of spoiled emptiness. It explores Paul’s pensive observation that, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12 [NIV]) while at the same time yearning for a time when our spirits will be ultimately unleashed to praise God without qualification: “Every prayer I say (a little closer)/ To my resting place/ Where my final breath is the beginning/ To never needing/ And I will find my last Amen.” Musically it contains shades of Maroon 5, Queen, and Santana that manages to balance seriousness and happiness.

One of the more somber songs on the album is “All At War”; a track that attempts to describe the experience of believers as we live this life in the perpetual warfare between our sinful nature and the Spirit of God. This song should be a tremendous help for many who seek to understand the tug of war that a true Christian must endure in order to live faithfully before God. The song is sober but never indulgent or despairing, because it keeps in mind the ultimate victory that has been made certain by the life of Christ: “It's justice and mercy, the old dichotomies/ All along the front lines of my heart in both doubt and belief/ The sinner and saint, the old arch enemies/ All at war in me.”

The last song I will highlight is “The Beggar Who Gives Alms”; a beautiful sonnet of the heart of an artist to God. It acknowledges that in any creative endeavor there is only one Creator and that we are merely scribes with a pen. With elegant simplicity, it captures the desire to give artistically while appreciating our dependence upon God to do so: “Gold and silver have I none, but such I have give Thee/ Borrowed words from the One who gave the gift to me/ The pearl that I could never buy, this life, this dream, this song/ And I am just a beggar who gives alms.”

These songs represent only a sampling of what is available on this album. The rest of the album is just as enjoyable and edifying. My conviction is that listening to this album would be profitable to your soul as well as being delightful to your sensibilities. Regardless of whether you listen to this album or not, I pray that your musical meditations will call forth your heart, soul, and mind and focus them comprehensively upon the Lord. Then your engine will be warmed up for gathered worship as you, “Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.” (Psalm 96:1-2 [ESV])

* http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001GCZXZI/ref=dm_sp_alb
** http://www.downhere.com/home

The Difference That Christmas Makes

“There is only one God and He sent His Son into the world as a man.” I have always been brought up around people who believe this statement to be true, and so I might be forgiven for forgetting how strange it sounds to the ears of those who did not grow up the way that I did. We Christians are a strange bunch and we say some strange things. “I have been born again.” “God’s Spirit dwells in me.” “I am forgiven because someone else took the death that I deserved.” “God cares for me.” These statements strike many people as being bizarre or even arrogant, and they are all connected to the incredible notion that God actually has a Son and that He sent Him to earth as a baby roughly 2013 years ago. I would like to ask you to momentarily attempt to lay aside your familiarity with the story of Jesus and ask yourself why we should know anything about a child born to obscure people in an obscure village over two thousand years ago. It is certainly true that Jesus grew to become a man and made a tremendous impact on many who were close to Him, but there have been many remarkable people in the history of the world. They inspired the creation of nations, led armies into stupendous victories, or impacted the world of philosophy and knowledge and yet none of them was able to sustain a credible claim to being divine.

Many men have claimed godhood, but no one seriously entertains the idea that someone like Caesar Augustus is the son of god, even though he was proclaimed as such during his lifetime. Normally a claim to being the Son of God in flesh does not outlive the one who makes it, but the belief that Jesus is God’s Son has persisted. Why? I do not believe that the answer is to be found in the social, political, or philosophical influence of Jesus. Rather, I believe that Jesus is still regarded as the Son of God by many because of His transformational influence. Societies, philosophies, and political systems come and go, but the need for change in the human heart remains the same. We celebrate the birth of Christ today because many continue to see the inauguration of God’s change process in their lives in the face of the Child in the manger. The story of Mary, Joseph, and Bethlehem has been passed down to us not simply because some people in the first century thought it was a great story. The truth was (and is) that it is a crazy story, but it is the story of the One who brought transforming forgiveness, peace, and hope to the human heart. Isn’t that the reason that this season means so much to you? Your salvation has come through the Son of the promise who not only lived two millennia ago, but who lives still and who is making changes in your life today. The story of Jesus has always been transmitted as it leaps from the pages of Scripture onto the pages of human hearts that are being made new by power of Jesus.

Let me encourage you to give expression to the transformational power of Christ in your life this Christmas season. Tell the Bethlehem story through your changed attitudes toward sharing and caring this season. Tell the Bethlehem story through your quest for reconciliation in a strained relationship and through your confession of wrong. Tell the Bethlehem story through your contentment with the material blessings that the Lord has given you and your diligence to work because of love of Jesus rather than love of money. Rejoice that you are changed and are being changed by the changeless power of the only Son of God sent into the world as a man.

Biblical Literacy - Ignorance Is Not Always Bliss

Religious education in public schools is a controversial topic in the United States. In fact the idea that any publicly funded secondary school would offer a course aimed at religious instruction may seem like a strange concept to those of us born after 1963. That was the year that the Supreme Court ruled that devotional Bible readings and sectarian prayers in public schools were unconstitutional.* In fact the Abington v. Schempp decision was one of many that were handed down by the high court in the 60’s that, while not totally forbidding public religious education outright, convinced the vast majority of school districts that the gain of religious education was not worth risking potential litigation. As a consequence, the mention of religion by publicly paid educators and administrators became taboo and public schools became religion-free zones in which even comparative religious studies were virtually non-existent. According to a 2005 study by the Bible Literacy Project (an organization that promotes academic Bible study in public schools), on 8% of public high schools offer an elective course on biblical content and themes.** For many who want a completely secular public square statistics like this are welcome news, but there are some academics who say that religious ignorance is actually hurting citizenship in the U.S.

One of these voices is Stephen Prothero, chairman of the religion department at Boston University and author of the book Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know – and Doesn’t. In an article by Cathy Lynn Grossman in the March 7th, 2007 edition of USA Today, Prothero describes himself as a “confused Christian” who is not interested in promoting belief in a biblical view of God, but rather feels that familiarity with the themes and characters of the Bible and other major religious texts is vital for an informed American citizenry. He points out that many of the pressing geopolitical issues of our day are rooted in the interaction between competing religious worldviews. He believes that American citizens need to understand the profound differences among the world’s major religions in order to be able to make sense of the rhetoric and actions of various political and social factions both domestically and internationally. Examples of such religiously influenced confrontations abound; whether it is Hindu and Muslim conflict in Kashmir or tensions between Sunnis and Shias in Iraq. A generation of Americans who have been taught that all religions are basically seeking and saying the same things are woefully ill prepared to understand the world in which we live. This is why Prothero makes a distinction between religious tolerance and religious literacy. Grossman describes his view this way:

But classes promoting pluralism and tolerance fail on the religious literacy front because they "reduce religion to morality," Prothero says, or they promote a call for universal compassion as if it were the only value that matters. "We are not all on the same one path to the same one God," he says. "Religions aren't all saying the same thing. That's presumptuous and wrong. They start with different problems, solve the problems in different ways, and they have different goals."

Prothero’s critique of an unthinking religious tolerance is worthy of our consideration. If we accept the notion that religions may differ on trivial particulars but are identical in their essential aims, intentions, and understanding then we will assume that a Muslim, Buddhist, and Christian are seeking to promote the same ends with social, economic, and foreign policy. In this case the only differences worth discussing are those that concern the means. But this belies the fact that worldviews usually have consequences that reach far beyond mere differences over technique. The truth is that religions are often not saying the same thing. Remaining ignorant to this fact is a recipe for misunderstanding and confusion. Prothero is advocating an expansion of public biblical and religious literacy so that the American people are better able to analyze and rebut the religious assertions that are made by politicians and activists. He wants a society that is more religiously discerning.

For those of us who are members of Churches that pride themselves on being faithful to the Bible, Prothero’s warning about biblical illiteracy appears to be aimed at someone else, but even evangelicals need to realize the perils of having a faith that is largely divorced from the text of Scripture. In an interview with Julie Kredens on the radio show “State of Affairs”*** Prothero described the differences between teaching in the relatively secular northeastern states and the more heavily churched southern states. His observations should give evangelicals pause. He told Kredens that, “biblical literacy was higher in the south for my students. They just knew more about the Bible. But I don’t want to overstate that, because one of the findings for me in working on this book project was that evangelicals actually know a lot less about the Bible than you would imagine from hearing the rhetoric about the Bible belt and the Bible as the inspired word of God. There’s a lot of evidence that evangelicals believe that God wrote the Bible, but they apparently don’t really care what God had to say because they’re not interested in reading it.” We should take his perspective seriously, because he is describing a serious malady in evangelicalism. Many in “Bible believing” Churches have a powerful emotional attachment to the idea of the Bible, but they have very little intellectual investment in the actual worldview and teaching of the Bible. This has produced Christians who are susceptible to false teaching, because they are unable to tell when a teacher or preacher is saying something that is in contradiction to the biblical witness.

It is my prayer that we will be a Church whose fellowship is not based upon a vacuous emotional attachment the Bible, but rather is founded upon a thoughtful and habitual interaction with the truths of the Bible. Prothero is right to commend academic pursuit of the teachings of the Bible, but our approach as Christians must be more pervasive than simple academic inquiry. The Bible is given for transforming our hearts and equipping our minds for the life that we have been called to live. Pray that the preaching of our Church will be faithful to the revealed Word and that our LIFE groups will live up to their aim of building fellowship based upon the truth that God has told about our world, our Savior, and ourselves.


* This was the significant 1963 Supreme Court ruling on the case of Abington Township School District v. Schempp
** An executive summary of the report is available at http://bibleliteracy.org/Site/PressRoom/press_execsum.htm ; the report itself can be viewed at http://www.cu-portland.edu/blp/pdfs/bible_literacy_report2005.pdf
*** “State Of Affairs” – on WFPL; November 12th : you can listen to the show at http://www.wfpl.org/CMS/?p=2628

A Place God Can Call Home

Over the past five weeks I have been sharing a series of messages with you that are intended to form a broad vision for how I see God using Gilead Baptist Church in the future. I have called this series “God’s Home Here At Gilead”. Our Church has long been known as “a place to call home” and to many this has evoked warm associations of belonging and fellowship. I am thankful for the fact that Gilead has a warm and welcoming reputation, and I am committed to ensuring that we continue to be recognized in this way. There is, however, another aspect of our motto that I have labored to lay before you over the last month, namely that people are not the only ones for whom we should be building a home. Gilead needs to be a place that God can call home. God has never intended that our faith should be a purely intellectual or academic pursuit in which we interact primarily with ideas and facts. This is because the very heart of God’s work in our lives was not primarily intellectual, but relational. We are not merely people who had problems understanding things about God, the world, and ourselves. We are people who had a profound and irreparable problem relating to God properly. To put it another way, by ourselves, we were not a place that God could call home. We often talk about Jesus coming to live in our hearts as though He is moving into a spacious, well-maintained, ocean front condominium, but the reality of what God has had to in order to come into our hearts is far more startling. He has had to do a miraculous work in our hearts by piercing our darkness, removing our blindness, and washing our sinfulness.* Our salvation was a transformation of the same magnitude as “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” in which God had to remove a heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh (ref. Ezekiel 36:26). Since that time He has had a remodeling agenda in the individual lives of every believer, but He also has a remodeling agenda in the collective lives of every Church.

God’s transformation of our lives is a personal relationship with public consequences. When we are born again, we are born into a new family that is God’s family. Salvation does not happen any other way. We are not saved for isolation but for integration into the family of God and into the “home” of God. This integration of our lives into the Church can be understood in two different pictures that the Bible gives us of the “household” of God. They are both expressed and linked as follows: “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:19-22 [ESV]) Please observe that these two pictures describe the relationship between three entities: the individual Christian, the believing community, and God. In the first picture we see a “foreigner” or “orphan” who has been adopted into God’s new home and given the rights of a “saint” and a “member”. This is the family aspect of our new birth, because we are pictured as being joined with other children in belonging to God’s “home”. In the second picture, we see a house that is being built with a solid foundation, a structure that is joined together, and a holy temple or dwelling place that is growing for God to live in. This is the construction aspect of our new birth, because we are pictured as being joined with other stones in building up God’s “home”. This is an ingenious way in which God has communicated to us that our belonging is linked to our building of God’s home.

God is simply too big to live in only one person’s heart and that was never His intention. He wants to build us all together into His dwelling place by the Spirit and only together can we accomplish this. The beauty of this truth is that the same discipline and commitment that make us better brotherly material also make us better building material. This is how our individual efforts at living a more godly life connect with God’s larger “Extreme Makeover” agenda for the Church as well. As we pray, serve, give, and counsel, my hope is that we will see both the size of our individual hearts and the size of Gilead’s heart grow to become a more spacious home for God. I think that God really does deserve for Gilead to be a place that He can call home.

* Shaun Groves’ song “Welcome Home” describes the cleansing work of God on a human heart well. You can hear it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkU9LAWdVPY&feature=related .

Praying For Retirement

In a recent issue of TIME Magazine, columnist David Van Biema considered the question of whether or not it is appropriate to pray to God about the condition of your retirement savings. He interviewed a representative from each of the four major religious traditions in the U.S. to ask them this question: “Is it all right to be straightforward in your imploring — to beseech God on behalf of you and your family's personal fortune — or is that somehow selfish?” The similarities in the answers that were given are instructive in that they indicate the common ways in which all people approach the subject of prayer, but the Christian prayer continues to derive its distinctiveness from the unique position and person of Jesus Christ. Jewish, Protestant, Catholic and Muslim theologians were in agreement that it is permissible and even preferable that people should make an appeal to God for the preservation of their personal fortunes so long as they realize that the ultimate decisions concerning such matters rests with God. James Martin, a Catholic priest and editor of a Jesuit magazine, told Van Biema that we must be open to God answering our prayers in unorthodox ways:

If you imagine that God is like a cosmic gum-ball machine, you have to start rethinking your image of God. The help may not come as quickly or in the exact way that you want it. If you pray that your stock goes back up and it doesn't, it doesn't mean that God is not hearing you; it may mean that your prayer is not being answered in the way that you want it to be answered … it's important to be aware of unexpected ways in which he might be responding. Look at the way your friends are helping you, or your church community, and that's a way you might feel God helping you.

Daniel Nevins, dean of the rabbinical school at New York's Jewish Theological Seminary, pointed to the positive social benefits of people resorting to God in prayer during times of crisis. He says that it tends to keep people from acting in ways that would only exacerbate their difficulties:

If people stampede and panic and liquidate their assets, then we'll all be in worse shape. So maintaining some perspective that even in times of difficulty we're not alone, and that God is giving us encouragement and strength, has a real observable benefit socially.

The source of this benefit, in Rabbi Nevins’ mind, is the full realization of our divine potential: "I think that hope and strength and sense of worth are an extraordinary gift that I view as the spark of the divine within our souls." Prayer is one of the ways in which we get in contact with the “spark of the divine” inside of us that can give us the power to make positive choices during times of duress. So, there is a consensus among major American religions that prayer is appropriate during financial hardship and that it bring certain social and psychological benefits along with it. They would also agree that prayer is a way of making contact with someone or something beyond our normal plane of existence, but, as we can see from Rabbi Nevins’ statement, the identity and character (or for that matter nature) of this person are not commonly agreed upon. It is important to remember that Who you are praying to will affect how you are praying and what you are praying for.

All prayer is ultimately rooted in our relationship with God. In other words, we pray in order to be heard by God and want to know that we have been heard by God. This presents us with the crucial question of upon what basis can I be sure that I have been heard by God? Rabbi Nevins and Shamsi Ali, imam of the Islamic Cultural Center in Manhattan, address that issue as follows:

Nevins points out that the recurring refrain on the Day of Atonement, when Jews itemize their sins, is that "repentance, prayer and charity can annul" God's harshest judgment. Charity, he notes, can come even from those hit hard by economic blight: "There's a belief that charity from a poor person might be more meaningful than a grand gesture from the wealthy." Imam Ali cites a hadith (a saying of the Muslim prophet) in which Mohammed, in the face of persecution, prays to God, both admitting that his troubles may result from his own mistakes and asking him to "forgive my people because they are ignorant."
"And that has application in this situation," Ali continues. "We must reflect that our own shortcomings have played a role: our greed; that we don't have social awareness; that the way we see life is so egotistical." And in the face of this humbling realization, prayer enables us to realize that "we have acceptance. We have compassion. We have love.”

It is helpful and revealing for us to consider carefully what Nevins and Ali are saying here. Both seem to understand that financial stresses lead many people to an awareness of judgment and consequence. They begin to question their own choices and motivations and to seek assurances from the Almighty that all is in fact well. Nevins speaks of charity and prayer as acts that can, when faithfully executed, “annul” God’s harshest judgment. He even refers to the Jewish Day of Atonement as an illustration of this fact. Ali holds forth the effectiveness of piercing self-evaluation and reflection as a way that we realize the impact of our shortcomings and remarkably find that God accepts us and loves us anyway. Both of these men realize that prayers are affected by the failures of the ones offering them and that some correction, atonement or realization needs to occur in order for them to be truly effective. They have rightly perceived nature of the “prayer problem” but they have not understood its extent. No self realization or act of personal piety will ever be able to bridge the gap that Isaiah spoke of when he wrote, “But your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have made Him hide His face from you so that He does not listen.” (Isaiah 59:2 [HCS]) This is where the contribution of our faith in Christ is unique and profound.

As Christians, we realize not only Who we are praying to, but also Who we are praying through. The extent to which our prayers are effective is directly linked to the extent that they are prayed on the basis of our union with Christ. Jesus said that our remaining in Him would be the basis of our power and confidence in prayer: “If you live in me and what I say lives in you, then ask for anything you want …” (John 15:7 [GW]) As God’s children we will have occasion to offer many prayers in circumstances where we are not certain about the state of our health, finances or personal safety, but we should never be uncertain about our acceptance before God or about the love that He has for us. This is because Jesus has given us what Nevins’ good works and Ali’s self-awareness never could; a right, pure, and unshakable acceptance before God. Only Jesus, as the God-man could accomplish this through his birth, crucifixion, and resurrection. As a result, our prayers are never merely about getting something from God, but rather they are primarily the exploration of a wonderful new privilege that has been given to us. Please remember this the next time you pray to God about your retirement savings.

David Van Biema’s article can be accessed at: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1849896-1,00.html

Bowling Alone - Reaching The Disconnected

Many Americans have a sense that their society has undergone some disturbing changes during the last 20-30 years. During that time the U.S. has become a more diverse place in almost every conceivable way: physically, culturally, ethically and religiously. This diversity has been a source of tremendous growth and strength for the nation as skilled and motivated immigrants have brought drive and creativity to the United States and as the internet has made the free exchange of ideas across national and cultural barriers easier. It is not, however, without its downside. Robert Putnam is one man who has spent a great deal of time studying the interactions among ethnic diversity, public policy and what he calls “social capital”. Putnam is Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University and Director of The Sajuaro Seminar on Civic Engagement in America. He is best known for his book Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community in which he describes radical declines in measures of social interactions in the U.S. such as club memberships, religious participation and even family dinners [the frequency with which US families ate dinner together declined by one-third over 25 years]. The America of Bowling Alone is one in which more and more people are largely dropping out of community life in order to live more solitary and insular lives. This has reduced the country’s “social capital” which he defines as “social networks and the associated norms of reciprocity.”* In other words, the relationships and associations that bind people together and the common understanding concerning what is right and appropriate in social situations are showing signs of weakness. This has led Americans to interact with one another in increasingly litigious ways. The prevalence of “rights talk” in public discourse (and even in many private conversations) is a sign of this trend where concern for a greater social good is often drowned out by arguments concerning whose “rights” will be allowed to prevail.

According to Putnam this is a loss that bodes ill for economic and physical security. Information put out by the Sajuaro Seminar states that, “If you had to choose between 10% more cops on the beat or 10% more citizens knowing their neighbors' first names, the latter is a better crime prevention strategy. If you had to choose between 10% more teachers or 10% more parents being involved in their kids' education, the latter is a better route to educational achievement.” This is why Putnam engages in studies and seminars that are specifically focused on finding ways to reverse this weakening trend through government led economic and social initiatives. He wants to increase the “social capital” of the U.S. because he believes it is an indispensable asset to the country, but not all “social capital” is created equally. The kind of social networks that Putnam is looking for are those that reach across cultural lines. In his words: “We need to distinguish among different types of social capital, like the difference between 'bonding' social capital – these are links among people who are similar in ethnicity, age, social class, or whatever – and 'bridging' social capital, which are links that cut across various lines of social cleavage.”* Bridging social capital is what is most desperately needed for the overall health of America according to Robert Putnam.

This provides the Church with a tremendous encouragement as well as tremendous opportunity. It is encouraging because it shows us that even non-Christian academics, like Putnam, understand that strong social connectedness is important not merely for individuals but for nations as a whole. We live in an age where many have a vague sense of having lost touch with a meaningful community. They are in a self-serving but ultimately self-destructive cycle of making decisions aimed at maximizing personal autonomy and comfort with little connection or devotion to a larger community. At first this may seem to provide little opportunity for the Body of Christ to reach these people, but the Church has always been a kind of “bridging” community that “cuts across various lines of social cleavage”. In fact, bringing together people who have long been separated is at the very heart of our identity as a people, because we are at heart a redeemed community. The apostle Paul described this well when he wrote, “At one time you were separated from God ... But now God has made you his friends again. He did this through Christ's death in the body so that he might bring you into God's presence as people who are holy, with no wrong, and with nothing of which God can judge you guilty.” (Colossians 1:21-22 [NCV]) The fellowship of Jesus’ followers is one that is based upon the experience of having been brought inside the family of God when you were once on the outside. It is this redeemed relationship with God that forms not only the basis for our community but also the power for our communication with others. A believer knows what it is like to be disconnected from something that you desperately need and yet to feel powerless to lay hold of it. In short, we remember what it was like to be separated from God and we remember the lengths to which God had to go in order to bridge that separation. It is certainly sad when someone bowls or eats alone, but it is tragic when someone lives and dies alone; truly alone—apart from God. The Church is a community that is grounded in and energized by the cross of Christ as God’s remedy that would break across every isolating barrier. May Colossians 3:11 be the essence of our fellowship: “Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.” (NIV) Redemptive "social capital" is nothing new to the Church, but it may be new to our neighbors.

* OECD Observer, “Bowling Together: Interview with Robert Putnam”, No. 242, March 2004.

American Financial Turmoil - The Search for Security

These are turbulent financial times in which the daily market headlines leave many feeling confused and anxious. Turmoil that began in the mortgage market has spilled over into the banking sector and has initiated some significant changes in American banks and markets. In an attempt to provide some broad understanding of these changes, Jeffrey Brown [on a broadcast of The Lehrer Newshour, aired September 22nd] conducted an interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin of the New York Times who is covering the monumental changes that have taken place in the Wall Street banking industry over the last couple of weeks. Sorkin was asked to address the announcement this week by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the last of the five major New York investment banks, that they are converting their businesses from “investment banking” to “bank holding companies”. To most of us who are not familiar with the inner workings of Wall Street investments these words mean little, but in truth they signal a significant shift in American banking away from high flying investment banks who conduct their business with relatively little interference from the federal government toward commercial banking whose practices are more closely watched by government regulators. The end results of this shift are impossible to predict with any specificity, but one thing is for certain; the lives of many who are employed in brokerages and investment houses have radically changed. Many of the institutions that were thought to be unassailable have proven surprisingly vulnerable.

During the last twenty years, banks such as Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley came to symbolize the fast lane of American financial business. The money they invested was big, the risks they took were just as big, and the profits that both investors and brokers stood to make were bigger still. But, according to Andrew Sorkin, many of those investors and brokers have had their wings clipped; perhaps permanently. Sorkin describes it this way, “You know … the culture of Wall Street, the lavish bonuses, the amount of money people have made over the years isn't going to happen anymore. It really is a very, very different world.” Much of the profits generated by the Wall Street investment banks were because they could borrow enormous amounts of money while having relatively little collateral to put against their loans. As long as their investments paid off, things were terrific. Investors received handsome dividends and brokers and bankers were rewarded with generous commissions. AS LONG AS THEIR INVESTMENTS PAID OFF. That was the catch. The investments, however, did not continue to pay off and so, according to Sorkin, “… something radical has happened overnight .” In the last two weeks, three of the five major investment banks were either bought out or bankrupted and the final two have fundamentally retooled their businesses toward a more conservative direction.

As Congress and the Treasury Department deliberate on how best to stabilize financial markets, and as the doomsday predictions begin to come in with ever greater frequency it is important for disciples of Jesus to seriously consider the basis of our security. Economic success, both personally and corporately, can allow us to indulge the fiction that we exert far more control over our destiny than we actually do. It can also tempt us to invest our hopes and dreams in places that will never be strong enough to make them secure. The Lord warns us of this tendency in Deuteronomy: “Be careful that you don’t forget the Lord your God … When you eat and are full, and build beautiful houses to live in, and your herds and flocks grow large, and your silver and gold multiply, and everything else you have increases, be careful that your heart doesn’t become proud and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out … of the place of slavery … Otherwise, you may say in your heart, 'My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.'” (Deuteronomy 8:11-14 [HCS] & 8:17 [NAS]) Making prudent financial provisions and seeking adequate employment are essential elements of the business of living life in this world, but they are only tools that are used to sustain us. It is the hand of God that wields them to make provision for us and to test us and to grow us. I realize that financial times are tough for many in our fellowship and that things may yet get worse before they get better, but let me encourage you to not forget the Lord your God. Remember Him as you read the financial headlines in the newspaper. Remember Him as you listen to the latest gloomy economic forecasts. Remember Him as you listen to politicians talk about how they are going to fix the problems. Remember Him as you hear the latest price of a barrel of oil. Remember Him as you decide where your money is and is not going to go. Finally, remember that the greatest asset that you have has been purchased by God at tremendous cost to Himself and is currently in the safest of safe deposit boxes: “Let heaven fill your thoughts. Do not think only about things down here on earth. For you died when Christ died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:2-3 [NLT])

Jeffrey Brown’s interview of Andrew Sorkin can be viewed at http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/july-dec08/newwallstreet_09-22.html.

Is Evolution The Only Explanation?

Have you every wondered where the chest thumping and arm pumping celebrations of victorious athletes originated? People do not normally let out a forceful victory shout upon waking from a good night’s sleep, but they certainly do after having scored a touchdown. Why do we humans do what we do to celebrate victory and express defeat? This was the question that motivated Jessica Tracy at the University of British Columbia and David Matsumoto at San Francisco State University to conduct research into the expressions of both the “thrill of victory” and the “agony of defeat”. They wanted to see if these expressions were similar across cultural lines and, if so, to suggest reasons why it is so. Tracy and Matsumoto sought to examine “whether the recognizable nonverbal expressions associated with pride and shame may be biologically innate behavioral responses to success and failure.” The August 14th edition of The Economist magazine (available at http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11919409) analyzed their research study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States (PNAS). The researchers observed the reactions of athletes from over 30 countries and found that there were striking similarities in their responses to positive and negative athletic performances. The common responses included “tilting their heads back, raising their arms or expanding their chests in victory, or hiding their face or narrowing their chests in defeat.” These behaviors are not only common among human nationalities but are also observed in the primate world of gorillas and apes. For many people reading Tracy and Matsumoto's research, including the columnists of The Economist, this begs the question of why the similarity exists. The columnists are quick to provide an evolutionary answer.

The Economist article reasons thus, “Such displays may have an evolutionary function. People could be advertising their accomplishments and ensuring their status and acceptance within their social group. Similarly, shame shows acceptance of a defeat and a reluctance to fight on (which may help to avoid further aggression), and so might well be a display of submission.” Thus, our football and basketball celebrations are modern manifestations of the same survival instincts that allowed our primate forefathers to survive in the evolutionary fight for the survival of the species. This is but one minor example of how every aspect of human behavior is increasingly being understood as merely the product of blind biological and chemical forces that have no basis in anything larger than the observed natural order. Everything from reproductive choices to shopping preferences are made the subjects of an impressive array of scientific studies that claim to explain all of these behaviors on the basis of how they gave/give our species an advantage in the struggle to survive. Younger people are especially accustomed to having their behaviors, preferences, and choices explained without any reference to the supernatural. It is important for Christians to understand that studies like the PNAS research do not occur in a philosophical vacuum but are often conducted and interpreted by scientists and scholars who are devoted to an evolutionary explanation of the world. As such, it is important to divorce the information that we glean from such studies from the evolutionary interpretations that are used to explain them. The data from this study are a good example of how contemporary Christians can interpret scientific data through a distinctly biblical framework.

Many Christians assume that there must be a radical physical separation between humanity and the rest of creation, or else, the biblical account of our origins is in peril. For instance, if humans and birds share certain genetic traits or sequences, then that must mean that one evolved from the other, and thus, the Bible is proved false. This is not so, however, because the Scriptures do not place humans outside the created order. To put it simply, we are a part of God’s creation just as trees, planets, animals, and the laws of physics are. Genesis 1 places the creation of man and animals on the same day, indicating a relationship between the two. Genesis 2 reveals to us that God formed man from “the dust of the earth”, which is an essential part of God’s truth about what we are. Contrary to many other religions, our faith does not conceive of man as a preexistent being or as an angelic being descended to earth. We are creatures who are the physical workmanship of God, and as such, we should not be surprised to find similarities in the way in which God constituted us and some parts of the animal world. Not only do we share the same Creator, but we also share many of the difficulties that resulted from the fall of Man. The curses pronounced by God in Genesis 3 were not reserved for mankind alone but included all of the creation over which Adam had been made a steward. In a similar way, all of creation awaits future redemption with us: “For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, everything on earth was subjected to God's curse. All creation anticipates the day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay.” (Romans 8.19-21 [NLT])

Our unique place in creation is not the result of our physical distinctiveness but rather of our spiritual distinctiveness. Only man was created for the express purpose of representing God on earth and was held morally accountable for his actions before God. Christians must understand that no research study can either reveal or eliminate our moral responsibility to the Lord. We may express triumph or terror in ways that are similar to apes, but only God can tell us whether those expressions are acceptable in His sight or not. We may share certain cognitive faculties with the animal world, but only humans will be held accountable for how we choose to employ those faculties. I fear that many such studies and evolutionary explanations are being used as a subtle way to undermine the idea that we will one day be held accountable for our choices. Unfortunately, the Church has not been immune to this influence; however, we must realize that a better grasp of God’s revealed facts will help us to accurately interpret researched facts.

Children Wanted: Fathers Optional

Personalized choice is one of the reigning gods of our age in the United States today. It used to be something of a novelty for Burger King to advertise that at their restaurants you could, “have it your way”, but convenience and personally catered options are considered a requirement rather than a luxury for most Americans. An article run in the March 19, 2006 edition of the New York Times Magazine provides a warning sign that our propensity for having life tailored to our consumer tastes may be reaching into our decisions regarding the circumstances under which we bring a child into the world. In her article entitled “Wanted: A Few Good Sperm”, writer Jennifer Egan explores the expanding world of intentional single motherhood in which the absence of a father may not only be acceptable but preferable. Egan follows the lives of several single women who have either already had children through the assistance of reproductive technologies or who are currently attempting to do so. Although the women’s stories vary in numerous details, they share one thing in common: none have had physical relations with the father of their child(ren).

Many of the women that Egan interviews participate in a group called Single Mothers by Choice (SMC). The group has seen a marked increase in both its membership and its acceptance throughout the world. SMC’s growth is reflective of a wave of increasingly younger and more financially secure women who desire to have children but are leery of the attachments and risks inherent in marriage. Egan writes:

Between 1999 and 2003 there was an almost 17 percent jump in the number of babies born to unmarried women between ages 30 and 44 in America, according to the National Center for Human Statistics, while the number born to unmarried women between 15 and 24 actually decreased by nearly 6 percent. Single Mothers by Choice, a 25-year-old support group, took in nearly double the number of new members in 2005 as it did 10 years ago, and its roughly 4,000 current members include women in Israel, Australia and Switzerland. The California Cryobank, the largest sperm bank in the country, owed a third of its business to single women in 2005, shipping them 9,600 vials of sperm, each good for one insemination.

Behind these statistics is the reality that the social consensus concerning what is necessary to produce and rear children is under tremendous strain. Those who have advocated for homosexual adoption have long argued that there is no unique contribution that a man makes toward the development of a child in the home. Some SMC members are extending this reasoning even further to argue that a man’s presence may not even be necessary in the production of the child. A little genetic material is all that is required. Sadly this reasoning seems to be resonating with a growing segment of our society. Egan notes this shift in her interview with Jane Mattes, the 62 year old founder of Single Mothers by Choice:

In the 25 years since she founded Single Mothers by Choice … [she] has seen her group's membership conceiving at younger ages … and more often having second children. But the biggest change, Mattes says, is that the stigma attached to this form of single motherhood has largely faded. "People used to come into our meetings literally afraid to walk in," she told me. "We don't see that as much anymore. Everyone seems to know somebody who did it, which wasn't the case even 10 years ago."

Part of the explanation for this growth is our culture’s fascination with having life on our own terms. Marital commitment requires sacrifice, compromise, and limits on personal autonomy which require men and women to be discerning and thoughtful about their choice of a husband or wife. People’s aversion the sacrifices necessary to make marriage work and their anxiety concerning their ability to find someone suitable for those sacrifices have made picking out a “donor-dad” seem simple and pain free in comparison. Egan points out that the internet has simplified the process of finding a donor to the point where it “is not much different from buying shoes.” This has given donor searches a decidedly consumer feel where people talk about their potential children and their fathers as though they were picking out a pet. Daniela is a good example of this as Egan relates:

She was also attracted by the idea of a donor of another race. “I believe in multiculturalism,” she said. “I would probably choose somebody with a darker skin color so I don’t have to slather sunblock on my kid all the time. I want it to be a healthy mix. You know how mixed dogs are always the nicest and the friendliest and the healthiest? If you get a clear race, they have all the problems. Mutts are always the friendly ones, the intelligent ones, the ones who don’t bark and have a good character. I want a mutt.”

The casual tone of statements like these seems disturbingly out of touch with the sacred realities surrounding the creation and birth of a child. In fact, they reveal a mindset that is profoundly self-focused. Some SMC mothers are seeking a radical emancipation from males that they believe empowers them to seek what they really want in life without having to concern themselves with the demands of a committed relationship with a man. One of the women interviewed by Egan expressed her feelings this way:

One of the things that was so powerful about deciding to have a baby on my own was saying, I’m taking charge of this piece of it; I’m not going to wait around for a guy to give it to me. And my feelings about what I want from men right now are really changed. I don’t actually want a big relationship. Now I just want occasional companionship and [fun].

This is indeed a regrettable exchange. Parenthood as an awesome participation with God in the origin of another life is exchanged for seeing it as another avenue to take control of one’s own life. Children, who are intended to inspire thankfulness in the hearts of their parents, are instead approached as a consumer choice. As believers we must have a compelling alternative to this increasingly popular worldview. Psalm 127 tells us that, “Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain.” [v.1 (NIV)] It is plain that God is not talking about buildings in this passage but about families and communities, because He goes on to say, “Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward.” [v.3 (NAS)] In our families, outsiders must see mothers and fathers who are submitted to the will of God for their lives rather than constantly trying to bend the world to conform to their wishes. They must see in us people who sincerely believe that our lives are not our own and that, in a fundamental way, our present and future children are not our own. We are stewards of our children rather than shoppers for them. The world must understand that we believe that our children belonged to God long before they ever belonged to us, and so He has the right to tell us how they are to be brought into the world.

Gender Confusion (Part 2) – How We Know Who We Are

What do you do if your eleven year old son tells you confidently that he is actually a girl and wants to be given a new name and be allowed to wear feminine clothing? On the National Public Radio (NPR) program All Things Considered (aired May 8th, 2008), reporter Alix Spiegel tells the story of a family in just such a situation. She reports on how parents Danielle and Robert have “come to accept” their son’s identity and also how they are looking to modern medical science for help in reinforcing this new identity. The help that they have found is truly shocking.

Danielle and Robert were confronted early with their son’s (born Armand; now called Violet) fondness for feminine clothing and his desire to be identified as a girl. Danielle and Robert were uncomfortable with Armand’s insistence, but he became explosive and angry if they did not allow him to “express who he really was”. Robert recalls, “… looking at each other, going what is happening? Why is this child so unhappy? What have we done?” Armand even threatened to do himself harm if he wasn’t allowed to live as a female. As Danielle relates, his insistence finally overcame their reservations:

“You know, to hear your child say, you know, I don’t want to be on this earth anymore unless I can be who I am and you see the desperation in her face … we have seen his desperation, and this child just, why can’t I be this way? Why, you know, why can’t you accept me? Why can’t people see me for who I am? I mean, it just became very real for us, how this child was screaming out and saying, hey, you know, listen to me. This is who I am. And I need to be me.”

Armand's difficulty in accepting his gender is an extreme demonstration of the effects of sin on our nature as humans and our ability to know who and what we are. This is tragic because Armand and his family were not inclined to seek the counsel of the One who really knows who and what we are. How do any of us truly know ourselves apart from a relationship with the God of whom David wrote, “O LORD, you have searched me and you know me … you perceive my thoughts from afar … you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD … you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.” (Ps. 139:1-6 [NIV]) Instead of seeking to understand their son and his struggle through the lens of biblical truth, Armand’s parents were led by a psychologist to understand that he was in truth a girl and that their best course of action was to accept it.

This is precisely what they have done. They say that acceptance of their son’s new gender has brought “a liberating clarity” to their home. Robert tells his extended family that, “I did have a son, but I found out that I really never did have a son. What I have is two daughters. Armand is transgender, and what that means is that, even though he has a male body, she’s really a girl. And her name is Violet.” He goes on to reason that everyone else makes a discovery similar to Armand with the only difference being that, “It just happened that their gender identity and their anatomy matched.” In other words, your biological gender is not an expression of God’s created design for you; it is an accident of happenstance. God’s design is subordinated to a person’s desires in determining what is really real. This way of understanding the world has placed Armand, a boy on the verge of puberty, in the awkward position of being in a “near impossible fight … against [his] own body.” His older sister Melina describes the situation this way:

“You know she’s getting hair in some places and stuff, and you know, she just feels – every day she says that she feels a little bit more manly, which is really hard for her because just waking up, for her, that’s a big shock. So, she said that she doesn’t like taking the shower. She hates undressing. She hates going to the pool.”

This situtation had Armand’s father asking the question, “How do we help this child … develop in a way that is consistent with who she is?” He believes that he has found the answer in Dr. Norman Spack an endocrinologist at Children’s Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Spack’s solution is to give Armand monthly injections of hormone blockers that will prevent his body from producing testosterone. According to Spiegel, “For the next three or four years, while she is on this medication, her body will grow bigger, but not mature sexually.” This is shocking enough, but Dr. Spack’s treatment goes even further. Again Spiegel:

“So, that’s the first stage of treatment, but there’s another stage … Once children have postponed puberty for several years, at around the age 16, they can choose to begin maturing sexually into the opposite gender, the gender that they want to become. To do that, they begin taking the hormones of the opposite sex. [Dr.] Spack said this treatment can help make a transgender male almost indistinguishable from a biological male.”

In Dr. Spack’s mind, this is a monumental leap forward because it will allow misidentified people to blossom into their true selves without the anxiety of living in a body that they do not want. He says that in doing this kind of work, “You start to realize what’s really important in this world … and I don’t think there’s anything as [important as] who you are.” The Christian faith has always placed premium on men and women knowing themselves truly, but as John Calvin observed, true knowledge of who we are is intimately linked with knowing who God is. He writes, “Our wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid Wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But as these are connected together by many ties, it is not easy to determine which of the two precedes and gives birth to the other.” (Institutes 1:1) When our quest for self-knowledge is cut free from our quest for the living God then we, like Armand, can be led into many previously unthinkable scenarios. Let us remember Isaiah's dire description of the people of his country who had ignored God’s truth for their lives, “They do not perceive the Lord’s actions, and they do not see the work of His hands. Therefore My people go into exile because they lack knowledge …” (5:12-13 [HCS]) The knowledge people lack is often true knowledge of themselves in light of God’s truth. May we be people who perceive the actions of God and see the work of His hands and who help our children to see them as well.

You can listen to the All Things Considered report here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90273278

Gender Confusion In Children - The Need For Truth

Many have heard of men who feel as though they are really women trapped in a man’s body, but fewer are familiar with the prevalence of this dynamic in children. It will not surprise anyone to hear that we are living in the midst of a society that is profoundly confused about issues of gender. What may not be as apparent is that children are not immune from the current intellectual and cultural atmosphere of blended and confused gender identification. More and more children are being raised in a world largely unacquainted with biblical standards of morality or reality. Consequently, they are left to find truth in their own way and are ignorant of both who and what they are. That, this confused search for identity can extend to the subject of a person’s gender can be clearly seen in a series of news stories that recently aired on the National Public Radio (NPR) program All Things Considered (aired May 7th, 2008). In the first of these programs the host, Alix Spiegel, follows the journeys of two sets of parents. Both have six-year-old boys who steadfastly believe that they are really girls.

Both families are wealthy and well-educated, and neither family sees a problem with their son’s proclivity for playing with Barbie as opposed to G.I. Joe. One of the mothers described her initial reaction this way, “We thought he was creative, lovely. Of course, why wouldn't you identify with the female characters? They're more colorful, and maybe he doesn't want to stab the other guy on the horse.” The mother of the other little boy, Jonah, encouraged her son’s “creativity” by dressing him up as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz for Halloween and by caving in to his insistence, at age 3, that she buy him a dress. According to Spiegel, “Jonah felt that he was not a boy. Jonah felt that he was a girl, a girl to his core, a girl trapped in a boy's body. He was absolutely certain of it.” Eventually, Jonah’s parents sought help from Dr. Diane Ehrensaft, who is a developmental and clinical psychologist in the San Francisco Bay Area. Under her counsel, Jonah’s parents were encouraged to embrace his new gender by transferring him to another school district in which he could be enrolled as a girl. They were instructed to allow him to dress and socialize as a girl. It is worthwhile to listen to how Dr. Ehrensaft explained the rationale behind her approach to Jonah:

"I think we can learn from looking at what we had to unlearn and re-learn about homosexuality. You see, 35 years ago, homosexuality was considered a mental illness, a pathology so severe that it required aggressive therapeutic intervention ... Today, the American Psychiatric Association's position is that therapies which try to turn homosexuals into heterosexuals are unethical. Homosexuality is now seen as a normal variant of human behavior.”

Dr. Ehrensaft believes that it is normal human behavior for a young boy to believe that he is really a girl and furthermore, that it would be unethical to attempt an intervention to counteract it. She goes beyond this, asserting that not only is it unethical to oppose the “reassignment” of a person’s gender but it is unhealthy as well. Again Dr. Ehrensaft: “If we allow people to unfold and give them the freedom to be who they really are, we engender health. And if we try and constrict it or bend the twig, we engender poor mental health.” She believes that it is unhealthy for a person to deny who he/she really is and attempt to live as something which he/she is not. We must recognize that Dr. Ehrensaft is making a statement of absolute truth here; namely that a person’s gender is ultimately determined by his or her feelings on the issue. She believes that a child can confidently know who he/she is apart from any outside counsel and that it is the responsibility of parents, teachers, caregivers, etc. to simply listen closely to what that child is saying so that he or she can tell us who one really is.

We must realize that the Bible paints a very different picture. Proverbs tells us that, “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child.” (Prov. 22.15 [NAS]) It is important to note that God locates the foolishness of a child in his or her heart. Children are not simple beings, and they come into this world with some surprisingly sophisticated ways of warping reality to their own desires. The Bible reveals to us that humans are born neither innately good nor passively neutral, rather we are actively opposed to God’s will for our lives from day one. David expresses this truth by observing, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” (Ps. 51.5 [NIV]) This is why it is so vital that the Church and godly parents take seriously their responsibilities set forth by Paul: “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” (Eph. 6.4 [NAS]) The Church must not bow to the idol of unguided “self-discovery” but should instead realize that we can only come to know ourselves truly when we come to know God truly. This is a reality that Jonah is being allowed to ignore because, presumably, the truth is somewhere in his mind or feelings. Let us introduce our children to the Savior who challenges us by saying, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." (Jn 8.31-32 [NAS]) This is THE truth that our kids need to hear.

I will treat another aspect of this controversy in next week’s blog.

Vacation Bible Schools Close Their Doors

Vacation Bible Schools are harder to find than they used to be. At least that is the general trend observed by a study conducted by the Barna Research Group in 2005. The origins of VBS are usually traced to 1898, when Eliza Hawes, the wife of a doctor in New York City, rented out a beer parlor in order to instruct indigent street children about the Bible during the summer. Hawes’ passion for the spiritual formation of children eventually inspired her pastor to adopt the program by bringing it onto the property of the Church. Over the next two decades more and more Churches began to reach out to Children through a regular “Bible School” that typically corresponded to the summer months, until, in the 1920’s, publishing houses began to produce literature specifically intended for Summer Bible Schools. Over the decades that followed Vacation Bible Schools proliferated and became something of an institution in many areas, with some towns hosting multiple Bibles Schools each year. Among Southern Baptist Churches, nearly a quarter of annual baptisms are attached in some way to the conduct of a VBS. VBS has been a vital ministry to children in the U.S. for generations, but some recent data indicate that its future is far from certain.

According to an article by Edith Webster of the Rockford Register Star, a survey conducted by the Barna Group found that, “Since 1997, the percentage [of Churches] continuing [to offer VBS] has dropped from 81 to 69, representing 38,000 fewer churches.” [The Rockford Register Star, August 8, 2005] This decline would be no cause for alarm if Churches were simply opting to seek alternative ways of reaching children during the summer and had found other more effective means, but, according to Webster, this is not the case. The most common reason Churches cited for dropping the ministry was “lack of teachers.” This study is an occasion of both sorrow and joy for me. When I think about thousands of Churches in our country who, over the last ten years, have discovered that they have few members who are passionate about reaching their own children for Christ, I can’t help but feel regret for the lost opportunities. Jesus once told His disciples that, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” [Lk 10.2 (NIV)] Jesus was observing, as so many in the Church have observed since, that there never seem to be enough workers to accomplish what needs doing.

I am, however, simultaneously rejoicing at how the Lord has recently answered our prayer for workers here at Gilead. Jesus seems to be complaining about the lack of decent help in Luke 10, but what is unexpected about this statement is that Jesus makes it while He is in the process of sending people out to share the gospel. He had good workers, but, in light of the size of the task at hand, He wanted more. He wanted even greater capacity to minister in new ways and in new places. This is a desire that I share, and I pray that we will never lose sight of the unsown fields and the unreached people right in our own communities and homes. How many spiritual fields go unsown because there is no one willing to plow the ground? I shudder to think, but I am thankful that we were able to do some “harvesting” during VBS because the Lord of the harvest sent you into the field. I am thankful that ours is one Vacation Bible School that stayed open.

The Value Of Life: Lower?

The Associated Press reported Friday that the value of a human life, as calculated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has declined almost 11% over the last five years. The new going rate for a human life is $6.9 million. This news provided fodder for numerous sardonic new articles in which it was variously observed that, “It's not just the American dollar that's losing value. A government agency has decided that an American life isn't worth what it used to be.” [Daily News, Los Angeles, July 10, 2008] The news that the government has estimated that the value of a life is less than it used to be is certainly an easy way to get people’s attention, because Americans tend to take it as an affront to their personal contribution to the world. This would seem to be a classic case of the government assaulting the dignity of human life, but the details of this story are a little less exciting than that. What the EPA actually lowered was the “value of a statistical life” not the value of an actual life. What does this mean and what difference does this make?

What does it mean? The government has to have some way of determining whether certain public projects are worth what they are going to cost. They have to do a cost/benefit analysis. In other words, they have to determine whether the benefit of a project (such as improved quality of life or lives saved) will be worth the price of the project. At first glance, this appears to be perverse. How can you compare money to lives? This is like comparing apples to oranges. But, there is only so much money to be spent in the budget and there is no end of various projects that are clamoring for some of that money, so how do you determine which projects are worth the money that you spend and which aren’t?

This is where the “value of a statistical life” comes in. Say you have a project that is estimated to save 10 thousand lives but that project costs $80 billion. If the “value of a statistical life” is $7 million then that would mean that the total value of the lives saved would only come to $70 billion. Hence, you wouldn’t be getting as much out of the project as you had put into it. There would be no need to start that project. But, let’s look at the same $80 billion project if we place the “value of a statistical life” at $10 million. Those same 10 thousand lives would be worth $100 billion with this new estimation, and since our project still costs $80 billion we would be getting a lot more out of the project than what we had put in.

So, what difference does this make? Simply put, the higher you calculate the value of life to be the more likely you are to commission a certain project. To put it another way, the more value you see in the lives of others, the more money you are willing to spend in order to see that those lives are protected. There is an obvious object lesson here for the Church. The more value we see in the lives around us, the more time and treasure we are willing to hazard in order to see them saved. God has always called His people to risk in order to bring other people to Himself. He has always called us to be passionate about the same things that He loves, but sometimes we are as thickheaded as Jonah who felt more sorrow over the death of a plant than he did over the possibility of the destruction of a city. God reasoned with him by saying, “You cared about the plant, which … appeared in a night and perished in a night. Should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who cannot distinguish between their right and their left?” [Jonah 4.10-11 (HCS)]

The government has a complicated set of calculations that it uses to determine the value of a statistical life. The Church has a relatively simple set of calculations by which we determine the value of an actual life. We need to constantly remember the cost of our actual lives. Let God remind us that we “were bought, not with something that ruins like gold or silver, but with the precious blood of Christ, who was like a pure and perfect lamb.” [1 Peter 1.18-19 (NCV)] When we realize that the blood of God’s Son has been shed for sinners (who are just like we were), are we really willing to say that our time, money, and effort are too precious be spent for them as well?

Community That Crosses Communities

If the liberal voting practices of your neighbors is an irritation to you, or you no longer want to feel as though you are supporting the lifestyles of those with whom you disagreee then there may be a solution for you in West Texas. Just outside Dell City, Texas, community organizers have begun plans for a housing development that will contain nothing but supporters of former presidential hopeful Ron Paul. This housing development, named "Paulville", is intended to be the first of a many communities inspired by the networking organization "Paulville.org". The organization's stated purpose is to "establish gated communities containing 100% Ron Paul supporters and or people that live by the ideals of freedom and liberty." The apparent beauty of living in such a community would be the fact that you would no longer have to fear coming into contact with someone whose political views differed from your own. For most this kind of insularity and retreat from engagement with distasteful elements of our culture may seem extreme at worst or merely amusing at best, but the temptation to eschew interaction with the world may be more alluring to us than we realize.

A recent article in the June 18th edition of The Economist magazine indicates that many suburban communities in the U.S. are becoming increasingly homogenized as potential homeowners look for homes in areas where the voting and political preferences of the neighbors mirror their own allegiances. People take note of the kinds of bumper stickers that are prevalent in the area and the types of bookstores that are available as they decide where to seek a home. Greater affluence has afforded more people, especially well educated ones, the opportunity to be choosy about not only the physical location of their homes but also the philosophical location of their homes. Over the last thirty years, more and more Americans have taken advantage of this choice and the results can be seen in the voting results over the past few presidential elections. The 1976 election was extremely close nationally with Jimmy Carter winning just 50.1% of the vote, but in a little over ¼ of the counties in the U.S. the results were far more disparate. The Economist describes these as “landslide counties” where “Mr. Carter either won or lost by 20 percentage points or more.” In 1976, 26.8% of Americans were in “landslide counties”, this meant that people in those counties knew relatively few people who did not vote the same way that they did. In 2000 and 2004, the percentages of Americans in landslide counties were 45.3% and 48.3% respectively; an almost two fold increase. This indicates that, over the last thirty years, people in the U.S. have been sorting themselves into ever more homogenous communities in which the skeptical agnostic rarely encounters a conscientious evangelical who believes in a biblical worldview.

This geographical “self-sorting” coupled with the media selectivity possible through the internet and cable news networks has had a profound effect on the ideological landscape of our country. The Economist article observes, “Because Americans are so mobile, even a mild preference for living with like-minded neighbours leads over time to severe segregation. An accountant in Texas, for example, can live anywhere she wants, so the liberal ones move to the funky bits of Austin while the more conservative ones prefer the exurbs of Dallas.” We should pay special attention to the observation that “even a mild preference for living with like-minded neighbors leads over time to severe segregation”, because it contains a potent warning to the Church. The “Balkanizing” of the country has not left the Church untouched. Many Church growth strategies consider it axiomatic that a Church will only effectively reach people outside the Church who resemble the membership inside the Church. As a result, many Churches have had more than “a mild preference” for seeking after people who basically look and think like they do. What is more they have done this consciously, believing it to be the best way to be effective in reaching the world for Jesus. Consequently, there are palpable pressures on the Church to reflect our culture’s tendency toward fragmentation into various socio-politico-economic factions that seek to gather more likeminded adherents to their banner while exerting little effort to interact with their opponents. There have always been sharp differences of opinion concerning matters of faith and philosophy in America, but we are living in a time in which fewer and fewer believers are actually interacting with those whose view of the world differs from their own.

This poses a serious question for the Church: how can people be confronted with the gospel if they never interact with someone who knows the gospel? The fact is that there are “foreign mission fields” right here in the U.S. in which people have a functional illiteracy of the Bible and the basic truths that are derived from it. As salt and light, the Church has been called to proclaim God’s truth to people from every possible background; philosophical as well as ethnic. Paul gives us a glimpse into this as he writes to the Corinthian Church, “Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Cor. 6.9-11 [NIV]) These verses indicate the various backgrounds out of which the Corinthian believers had come. Paul had obviously not confined his ministry to trying to reach those who thought essentially the same way he did. The essential truth is that everyone apart from Jesus is lost, desperately lost, and that Jesus has come to seek and save what was lost. This should motivate us to view our interactions with those whose philosophical, political, or religious commitments differ from our own as opportunities to reach into another community for Christ. The organizers of "Paulville.org" are seeking to reach those who already agree with them. Jesus wants us to reach those who do not yet agree with us but may one day sing with us this new song, "You are worthy … because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth." (Rev. 5.9-10 [NIV]) May it be so.

A Family of Families

My father had tears in his eyes as he spoke in a Church service about the goodness of God toward him. This image is forever emblazoned into my memory, because my father is not a weepy guy. He is a hard worker and a man's man who would rather talk about how the Arkansas Razorbacks are playing than about his feelings. But the thought of God's mercy toward him elicited emotion from him, and made an impact on me. I realized that there must be something important behind the things that he was sharing, and, by God's grace, eventually I found out the truth of God's mercy that had so deeply moved my Dad that night.

I share this episode, because it is a powerful reminder to me of how God uses families as an instrument to lead us to faith in Christ. It is also a warning to me of how much the Church stands to lose if children never see their fathers expressing profound thanks for the mercy and love of God, if they never hear their parents ask forgiveness from one another, if they never hear their brother or sister give a testimony about how he or she came to know Jesus as Lord, and if they never hear their mother pray for the salvation of their souls. It is my prayer that God will make Gilead Baptist Church a "family" in which all of these things occur. It is my prayer that Gilead will be a Church made up of families in which all of these things occur. I am not asking for perfect families or a perfect Church. I am looking for a "family of families" that sincerely seek and sacrificially serve a perfect Savior. This is the work to which God has called us: to begin to truly believe and understand that we "are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household." (Eph. 2.19) My hope is that we will occasionally be amazed by the fact that we have been brought so near to the heart of God, and that our thankfulness will make an impression on our children. May this be the essential flame that warms the heart of this family of families.