Balance

I’m wearing my preacher’s hat today.

Although most of us want balance in our lives, history is more like a pendulum swinging from extreme to extreme. Historically, the church has mirrored secular culture and more closely proclaimed political party talking points than it has preached and lived the kingdom.

My own awareness of church/cultural dynamics dates back to the 1960's: "flower children", bell-bottom pants, sideburns and peace symbols. My ministry was emerging, and the church whose call I answered was more about social relevance than about stained glass and brass plaques; more about justice than doctrine. Matthew 25 and Luke 4:16-28 were frequent preaching texts, often to the neglect of more personally edifying texts.

Were things better then? No. It was a time when part of the Church neglected crucial elements of faith and practice, like evangelism and spiritual discipline; and in our concern for being non-judgmental we diluted views of morality and erased some lines that should never have been crossed.  Much lost ground was never recovered.

Perhaps the greatest fault of the church in that era was the rigid, non-negotiable lines that were drawn between various manifestations of the Body of Christ. In the last six decades the church has sinfully wasted much time in-fighting over specific differences, instead of finding common ground and working from there to build up the kingdom. “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand” (Matthew 12:25 NIV). That may explain the six-decade decline of the North American Church. A partially united kingdom is better than a broken, divided one.

So, were the 1960's worse than today? No. The social consciousness then was a needed corrective to a tunnel-vision evangelicalism that was suffocating the church. It presented the church as hardly more than an ecclesiastical maternity ward: its only purpose to get people "born again." But if the Church prior to the 1960's was too narrowly defined in terms of maternity, many churches of the 60's and 70's closed down the maternity ward altogether, and attempted to define the church more like an ecclesiastical Department of Human Services.

Again, both are good and necessary dimensions of Christian Disciple­ship. On balance Jesus talked more about ethics than about prayer; more about money than about salvation; more about social justice than about heaven. His kingdom parables were filled with images and metaphors of justice; and, he more frequently spoke of just and ethical relation­ships than of prayer. The Hebrew prophets consistently called God’s people to repent from two sins: idolatry and the unjust treatment of the poor.

But to diminish either focus is to weaken the Gospel, and the pendulum of history brims with correctives that become more destructive than the evils they were designed to correct, and each swing of the pendulum provokes its own hostility. The rigid moralism of Victorianism led to a reactionary swing to "19th century liberalism". When liberalism seemed harmful enough the reactionary swing was toward biblical literalism, which, in turn, created yet another reactionary swing into the 1960's cry for relevance.

NOTE: each reaction was a valid corrective, but when each became an end in itself, rather than a means toward a more balanced, holistic end, it became counterproductive to the Gospel.

Today, for the first time in the church's history, the pendulum may have stopped, and nobody seems to know what to do. An emerging generation is sick and tired of watching people "play church"; sick and tired of watching people who call themselves Christians fighting with each other over style and semantics; sick and tired of seeing Christ represented by people who come across as judgmental and intolerant.

What a wonderful opportunity for the church to become real again! What a wonderful time for the church to hear, as if for the first time, the Word of the Lord:

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?  Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard." (Isaiah 58:5-9 NIV)

And what a wonderful time to acknowledge that the same Bible also says,

"I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.  Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' (John 3:5-7 NIV)

And that same Bible says,

Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 KJV)

And,

If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.  But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.  For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.  For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:19-22 NIV)

What a wonderful time to proclaim the balance: the Word of GRACE that leads to the peace and wholeness that is God's Shalom (salvation); the PROPHETIC Word that calls God's people to repent and to seek justice and to love mercy; the INSTRUC­TIVE Word that teaches God's people how to walk in the ways of the Lord; and the Word of PROMISE that fills us with hope. I believe it is only through hearing and believing and living such a balanced diet of God's Word that Jesus' words make any sense:

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before everyone, that they may see your good deeds and praise God in heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16 NIV)

And that’s how I see it through the flawed glass that is my world view.

Together in the Walk,

Jim

Thanks FROM a Veteran

Today I’d like to turn the tables and, as a Veteran, say, “Thanks” to a grateful nation.

When I returned from Vietnam in early August of 1968, there wasn’t much gratitude in the air. At least it wasn't evident.

Ten days after I was released from active duty at Camp Pendleton, I attended my first class at The Graduate Seminary of Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma. Two weeks later I was preaching my first sermon in the small congregation in Waynoka, Oklahoma, where I served during the three years I worked on my Master of Divinity. So, the first few days after leaving a combat zone were more or less a whirlwind of activity.

It was a troubled time in our nation. Beatniks were morphing into Hippies, there were anti-war demonstrations, and the issue of amnesty was being debated in regard to some who had fled to Canada to avoid the draft. The Democratic National Convention that year was in Chicago, and it turned ugly, with demonstrations growing violent. Those events, along with video from the “war” in Vietnam, were on TV newscasts every night.

[NOTE: In my opinion (you decide whether the opinion is “humble” or and arrogant), although the trend toward media partisanism was beginning to emerge in the late 1960’s, for the most part the networks still struggled to maintain journalistic integrity. Media integrity seems rare today, with virtually no effort to conceal its partisanism; indeed, commentary and analysis have supplanted “reporting,” and at the polar extremes, pundits from Fox News and MSNBC seem almost to revel in their rabble rousing.]

Campus life at Phillips included student demonstrations (always peaceful and respectful) related to those same issues; so, I was aware of anti-war sentiments, but I did not experience animosity being directed at me, personally, or the troops in general. At that point I was virtually ignorant in regard to the political and moral questions surrounding the war.

Within a couple of years, though, the Kent State Massacre had jolted the nation and the Watergate scandal was stirring the pot. With all of it pouring into our living rooms via network media, Americans were becoming an angry, polarized people. Some of that anger and hostility was directed at troops returning from Vietnam.

I was distracted with studies and pastoral duties and building a family, so I was blissfully oblivious to the hostility that increasingly was directed at those returning troops. We didn't get ticker tape parades when we returned from Vietnam; but, for me personally, I was altogether content to slip in quietly and resume my life and pursue my goals. I was relatively insulated from the hostilities, and in the conservative backlash that followed those tumultuous 60’s, American sentiment changed.

While few would call me “conservative,” I am grateful for that change.

I am grateful when people discover that I served in the military and extend a hand and a word: “Thanks for your service.” Today, because I am a veteran, I got a discount at AQ Chicken House in Fayetteville, Arkansas. And I try to express my own gratitude when I see a person in uniform—whether it be military, police, fire fighter, EMT, or whatever.

Democracy thrives on vigorous debate, and I would not want to quiet the disparate voices—as long as the debate is respectful and seeks resolution rather than party dominance. But, as a veteran, I’m grateful for the atmosphere of non-partisanism that unites our people in gratitude for those who serve and protect. Thank you, America!

And that’s how I see it through the flawed glass that is my world view.

Together in the Walk,

Jim