Burning the Quran

Perhaps you, like many Americans, have heard about the tiny church planning to burn Qurans on Saturday. Perhaps you have not. For the past day I have been debating whether to write about this or not, mainly because I agree with the general consensus that the church is seeking attention and so I don’t want to go giving them that attention in any way. But this has been outweighed by something I feel is more important- talking about what it means to live as a Christian in relation to people who hold different religious beliefs.

I am very firmly a Christian- I believe that the only way to salvation is through Jesus Christ, who died on the cross and rose again so that through him we can overcome sin. I also believe that anyone who does not believe this is not going to heaven. But in all of this, I do not think I have the ultimate hold on what is true. I do not doubt what I believe, but neither do many other people who hold different beliefs, how can we both be right? Ultimately that is the beauty and challenge of faith, truly believing something that you cannot fully prove in this lifetime.

Since I believe that any one who is not a Christian will not be going to heaven it is my responsibility as a Christ follower to do everything I can to show them the truth as I believe it. So how can I live in harmony and peace with Muslims or Jews or Hindus or any of the other theistic religions? There are a fair number of Christians who will say that we cannot live in peace and harmony with people of other faiths because we are ultimately condemning them to hell if we do. But I don’t agree with this.

When I talk to a dedicated Muslim or Jew I realize that as much as I believe what I believe they believe what they believe just as strongly. Am I going to become a Muslim though? I don’t foresee any reason that would ever happen. So why should I expect someone who is living a different faith with the same integrity and passion and intelligence as I live mine to change what they believe? I don’t think I should. This doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t talk about what I believe within the proper context, but it does mean that I should show these people the same respect I would hope to receive from them, and even more importantly the same respect I have for another Christian.

When I heard about the burning of the Quran I wasn’t concerned about the safety of the troops over seas, or the other people abroad who could be put in danger. I also wasn’t worried about the extremist groups using this as a rallying cry. Although these are all very valid concerns. When I heard about the burning of the Quran I immediately thought about how sad it would make me to have someone burn the Bible. Yes, it would make me angry too, but mostly it would make me sad. I would be saddened that they were unable to see the value of the book, saddened that we had done something so horrible that they felt the only way to show how they feel about us, and thus about God, is to burn our sacred text.

Don’t burn the Quran, not because it will insight violence or be used to stir up the masses. Don’t burn the Quran because someone might get hurt. That’s not a reason to not do something if that something really needs to be done. The reason this church, and all Christians, should not burn or disrespect the Quran is because it is the sacred text of a group of people who have beliefs and faith that to them is just as valid and real and true as our Christian beliefs and faith is to us. And for that reason if none other we should desire to hold the Quran in high regard as a way to show that we respect the differences. As a way to say that we recognize that your beliefs should be given the same regard as ours.

Burning the Quran doesn’t prove that Christians are better or more correct. The only thing burning the Islamic Sacred Text would achieve is to show how stupid and ignorant and hateful Christians and Americans can be.

Church at Starbucks

I had an interview at Starbucks last week and then visited a church up in Michigan on Sunday. How are these two things related? It’s quite simple really- Starbucks has a better philosophy of church than most churches I have been to.

One of the very first things I was told during my interview was that Starbucks strives to be the “third place”- you have work or school, and home. Starbucks wants you to think of it as another place that is an integral part of your life. For some people, the closest the get to community outside of work, is at Starbucks getting their coffee or meeting up with people. It’s really sort of sad, but this is the way it is, and Starbucks is doing what they can to encourage this mentality among consumers, because it’s good for business. When people feel a connection to a specific place (ie: Starbucks or church) they are more likely to commit to that place. The best way people make connections to places is via relationships. Starbucks recognizes this and puts it to use to positively impact business.

It seems churches are missing this very obvious thing. When you ask someone about their church they are most likely to tell you it’s name, where it’s located, about the pastor/preaching/style of worship, and about the programs. None of these things are church, and none of these things are what people are seeking in life. A lot of people make snap judgments about a church based on one or more of these factors, but none of these things are what is going to keep people connected, because at the heart of church is community and fellowship and CONNECTION.

In this world the greatest thing churches have to offer non-Christians is connection. Church is community, it is people “doing life together”, it is not worship, programs, pastors, or bad coffee. We cannot do evangelism with programs or worship, we must do evangelism by connecting with people.

And this is where the church should be far surpassing Starbucks, but we are not. Starbucks is not set up to seek authentic, deep relationships. The connections are brief, and remain shallow within that setting. It’s inevitable. Sadly, the church seems to take this same approach. We are too scared to be authentic as a whole, we are too worried about keeping up appearances, about maintaining the right friendships, about our kids being exposed to only good things, to commit to connecting with everyone around us. We only connect to those like us, the other people are relegated to superficial relationships. Which we can get at Starbucks without feeling guilty or having to give 10% of our money.

I walked into the church in Michigan on Sunday smiled at people as I walked past, and was “warmly greeted” by the designated greeters, and no one else. I had coffee after church and had no one come talk to me. I walk into Starbucks and am “warmly greeted” by the employees. Who proceed to ask me about my day or make other conversation as they get my drink ready. And if I should happen to be a regular, they know my name and my drink order and even if they don’t actually feel this way, act excited to see me. Come on churches, we can do better than this. We MUST do better than this or church will be happening more at Starbucks than in the places designated as such.

We’re the guilty ones

It’s been 3 months or so now, and still the oil spill is making the news nearly every day. And it still is a part of conversation on a regular basis as well. Typically what I hear is how tragic it is, how horrible it is BP didn’t do more to prevent this situation, how BP knows they can’t stop the leak but they have to keep pretending to try to keep the public happy, how BP did this, and BP did that, and occasionally how the government failed to do the right thing before or is failing now, how clean up isn’t going well, etc.

While all these things may be true, what we seem to be forgetting too often is that it isn’t BP who caused this mess, it isn’t the government who failed to regulate well enough, it isn’t someone else’s fault- it’s my fault and it’s your fault and it’s the fault of every person who relies on oil to go through a normal day. If we didn’t consume it, they wouldn’t be drilling for it. It the demand wasn’t so great, BP would not be the thriving business it continues to be even in the wake of this disaster. At the end of the day, they may be the ones responsible for building the drill that is now polluting the water and land, but I am the one responsible for them existing.

Until I step up and take the blame for my part in this catastrophe, until I am willing to change my behavior to reduce- or better yet, eliminate- my dependence on oil we are never going to see new energy sources take over. It has to start with me, it has to start with you. Because they aren’t going to see to it, they are going to do what’s good for business. And we, the consumers, determine that.

Changing Traditions

I’m typically a person who likes to see us change things that have become “tradition for the sake of tradition”. In other words, if you want to get rid of the banners hanging in church I would probably be all for it, if you want to start using the screens to put up “bulletin” announcements I say why not?, if you want to sing contemporary songs at the traditional service or traditional hymns at the contemporary service I’m all about it. I think we need to keep changing things up in order to avoid getting stuck in the same place, doing the same things over and over and over.

But I realized something Sunday as I sat in the pews of the church I grew up in, there are some things I am holding on to. Little things, silly things. There are a pair of banners that hang up by the cross made by a woman who I knew well growing up who has since passed away. They say simply Lord of Lords and King of Kings, white letters on red cloth. I would be okay with getting rid of them, if you have a good reason, but if you say let’s get rid of the banners just to change things I think I would have a problem with that. In the basement we had a “youth” room that was also used for other things but in which we each decorated a brick with our name and a verse or a picture or something on it. It was kind of cool. They painted over it with this bright lime green paint and that bothers me. What’s the point of getting rid of the names? I mean, I don’t really care, but I want to know that there was a REASON for it and not that it was just done for the sake of doing.

Perhaps that’s the way more people are than what we realize. Perhaps people aren’t so much opposed to change but want to know that what they like and are used to is changing for a reason that they can get behind and support. Maybe it isn’t that people are so stuck in the past traditions that they can’t see the benefit in change, maybe it’s that they just need someone to take the time to explain why the new is better than the old.

Faith Science

Faith and science, faith verse science, faith over science- we seem to have this belief in most Christian circles that faith must always be held above science, that science can only be valid in-so-far as it echoes what the Bible teaches. And to some degree I can do nothing but agree. Yet at the same time, I think that science and faith can live harmoniously together without one having to trump the other.

It all comes down to how we view science in regards to our faith. You tell me that the reason the sky turned pitch black when Jesus died was because of an eclipse and that is not something I will argue with- but God is in control of the science, so God is still the one who caused the eclipse that turned the sky black. You tell me that the evolution is real and while I have some issue with it, I also believe that evolution being a scientifically proven fact doesn’t in anyway negate the creation story. God still created me, God still created the earth and the creatures on the earth and the creation narrative is not meant to give us the details of this, just the parts relevant to our spiritual lives. You tell me that the earthquakes rocking the earth were caused by tectonic plates shifting, and I certainly won’t disagree: but who created the tectonic plates and who set them in such a way that they would shift? God. Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, forest fires…science can explain what causes these things to happen, but God is still the one who created the situations that work together to create these natural disasters.

Scientists can claim that the entire earth never flooded, or that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by natural causes, or that the choppy waters that Jesus calmed were caused by shifting winds or whatever they want to say. The natural explanation doesn’t make me believe it is God’s work any less. The scientific findings actually make me marvel all the more at how God works. He created the world, he is not constrained by it, but he most often works within the parameters he designed for the world. Could he change everything? Absolutely. But I believe that God created a world where A+B=C for a reason and I believe he chooses to work within this formula rather than outside it.

Science and faith are not mutually exclusive, they do not have to be in battle against each other. I do not think that there is anything scientists can find that will make me believe that God is not behind it all working as the supernatural through the natural.

Lost thoughts

I have been an avid Lost fan and viewer since season 3. Like many I have been looking forward to the Lost finale all season- wanting answers and resolution to what seemed to be a continually unwinding spool that would never be re-wound. Going into the finale I didn’t have high hopes. With all the religious symbolism that became such an integral part of the show the past season I didn’t expect to find a satisfying resolution for me, and while it was emotionally satisfying it was definitely not satisfying in other ways.

I have read several recaps/reviews of the finale with everyone having a different take on it- one person views it as being very Christian, another views it as a critique of thinking we can ever have all the answers/having a master plan, another views it as mystic, etc. I think the Lost finale is actually rather dangerous for the Christian faith.

The imagery seems very much “Christian”- light and dark (good and evil), a church, a bright light, Christian Shepherd as “God the Father” and Jack as the Christ figure, eternity, redemption, and so on- these are on the surface very Christian images. But when I watch the finale (or any episode really) I don’t see any of the elements of faith present.

At the end of the day what we see with Lost is love guiding the way- love is a pretty much universal thing. It doesn’t matter what your faith or religion is, you believe in love. Yes, love is very much a Christian concept, but it is in no way exclusively Christian or predominately Christian. While we do have the light/dark symbolism on Lost the being controlling which one wins are the humans- suggesting that we are in control of our own destiny and must decide whether we will let light or dark win in our lives. Which in some ways is true, but ultimately what we must decide is not whether light/dark (good/evil) will rule us, but whether we are willing to allow God to take over our life. There’s a subtle, but incredibly significant difference.

What I found most significant is how Lost never allowed any one religious belief to have dominate representation- even in the church symbols from other religions were present. To me this suggests that while the dominate imagery in the finale would be perceived as Christian in reality what Lost is saying isn’t so much embracing the Christian faith but saying that all faiths have it right and that in the end everyone, through love, will come together and walk into “another life” together.

In the end I don’t think Lost was anti-Christian or pro-Christian, I think Lost was saying to all of us; What really matters?, Are you sure you have it all figured out?, Is it actually possible to have THE grasp on the spiritual? And rather than giving us their answer, we are left to answer the questions for ourselves.

Lost Amazing Grace

I’m a huge fan of Lost. I didn’t join the Lost bandwagon until the third season, but I have carefully planned my week to keep my “Lost night” open to be able to watch it live- no need to risk having someone ruin something for me later. I love the mythology and the theories and the symbolism (even though I really have no idea what they are actually trying to say).

Last night my sister sent me a message complaining about their use of “Amazing Grace” in the promo. She doesn’t watch the show at all, so she’s coming from an entirely uninformed perspective. And yet, she might have a point.

I love Lost, partly because of all the theological points you can glean from it. I am not sure how much of that is intentional and how much is more a side-effect. It seems like this last season is making it pretty clear that it may be more intentional than not. And yet the question remains- is a song about the grace of God really an appropriate song to play during a promotional clip for the show? I think it is, but I am also viewing the show through a Christian lens. And yet, is this really a show about God’s grace? If it’s not, I certainly would tend to agree with my sister that it’s not really a good use of the song because it is sending the wrong message. You can find the clip she was complaing about here. What do you think?

I also found on youtube a clip using Willie Nelson’s Amazing Grace.

Jesus was not a Politician

The other day I read an article about how one pastor believes he can be pro-choice politically but pro-life personally. I appreciated the article because he echoed many of my own sentiments on the matter.

In the week leading up to Easter I have endeavored to read the entire book of Luke- Luke is my favorite Gospel and I find it enlightening to re-remember what all took place during the ministry of Jesus on earth. I always find it interesting how much my current preoccupations affect what I see while reading the Bible, and this situation is no different.

Granted, I haven’t finished Luke yet, but so far Jesus has had a lot to say to individual people and religious rulers, but nothing has been said about the government except occassional mention about the government being evil. Jesus isn’t telling his followers to go and try and change the government, he isn’t going in to the homes of the rulers trying to convince them to make laws that follow his teachings. Jesus is charging individual everyday people to start following him, and he’s charging the religious rulers to change their ways before it’s too late.

As a Christian my job is not to try to change the government and laws. What’s more, I do not believe that the correct thing for the government is the correct thing for me personally. I do not think anti-abortion laws are going to help anything, and I do not believe it is my right to tell a non-Christian woman that she cannot get an abortion because my faith says so. I do believe it is my job to show her Christ’s love and not just in a “you should become a Christian” sort of way. I do not believe that I should oppose marriage equality for all, for the same reason as I cannot support anti-abortion laws.

I know a lot of people say that one way we live as Christians is to show our support for Christian policy in government because to not support that is to not be living Christianly. I argue the opposite is actually true. When I start demanding laws that are Christian I am not loving my neighbor, I am loving myself. Laws and personal action are not the same thing. While I politically would have to describe myself as pro-choice, I am absolutely pro-life. However, to me being pro-life doesn’t mean I seek policy changes, rather, it means seeking personal change. A law against abortion doesn’t change the way a person feels, it doesn’t make a person a Christian- in fact, I think it would do more damage than good toward such an end.

Luke at least doesn’t seem to record any time when Jesus charges his followers to work for political change. We don’t see any recording of Jesus himself seeking political change. I think we need to remember that America is not a Christian nation, and since it is not we should not demand of our government and fellow citizens the same things we demand of our churches and fellow Christians.

This is me

This is my soapbox.

(You have been warned)

Proposition 8 has made it back into the news as the California Supreme Court is set to make a ruling on whether it is constitutional or not shortly.  One of the things I’ve been reading a lot is people commenting on the “will of the people” verses the “rule of the Constitution” or similar ideas. The question regarding the constitutionality of Proposition 8 is the issue here, and I, with only high school government as my basis, believe that there is no question about it- Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.

From the Fourteenth Amendment

“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

For some reason Christians today have deemed the homosexual life to be the BIG sin to focus on. It has become the focus of so many Christian people to paint our GLBT brothers and sisters as blatant sinners, and thus they should not be given the same rights as those of us living “sinless” lives. (Which, might I ask, is who exactly?)

I recogize that we need to be careful when it comes to accepting sinful behavior. But what I wonder is why we have become so obsessed with this one manifestation of “sin” in other people’s lives. The only reason I have heard from other people is because this is an ongoing and unrepented sin. There are several passages that have become the main arguing points for both pro-gay and anti-gay Christians. The thing I find ineresting about these passages is that not one of them is addressing only homosexuality.  The Levitical Law addresses everything from what to wear to who you can have sex with and when you can have sex with them to how to propely offer sacrifices. Sodom and Gomorrah regardless of which way you lean on the interpretation clearly had more issues than just homosexuality (see Ezekial 16). As for the New Testament passages, 1 Timothy 1: 9-10, Romans 1: 26-27, and 1 Corinthians 1: 9-11 all mention homosexuality in some form or another. What interests me though is that in the lists of sins (1 Timothy and 1 Corinthians) they put adulterers, liars, murderers, etc in the same category as homosexuals. When looking only at Romans 1:26-27 we miss the bigger picture, that God has given the people over to these desires and others- murder, greed, envy, arrogance, gossips, etc because they have chosen to replace God with idols.

I do not think we can argue against same sex marriage from a biblical standpoint without at the very least also fighting against divorcee’s right to remarry. I won’t talk about the other things as they don’t really apply to the marriage issue, but it is far more clearly established biblically that it is adultery to remarry after divorcing than that homosexuality is a sin. Also, a remarried divorcee is clearly continuing to live in unrepented sin because they are living adulterously, which has been listed as one of the “sins” in th same context as homosexuality.

I realize this is not the most well thought out, well researched, well presented argument ever. But I just can’t get over the fact that we have become so antagonistic toward homosexuality and specifically same sex marriage when we have neither the political  nor biblical basis for our position, at least not based on other practices we have come to accept.

I support same sex marriage in America. It is one of the rights that all American’s deserve. I believe that as a church we do not have the right to determine whether two men or two women have the right to the same benefits of a man and a woman. I believe that until we start holding up all the sins listed in the passages referencing homosexuality that we have no right to judge them. So despite what my church might say, despite what the overhwhelming majority of evangelical Christians seem to want, I support gay marriage in the governmental realm. I support the civil right to marry. And I think you should too. And most likely you already agree if you have read this far

Honoring all life

A friend of mine and I have been talking about homosexuality a lot. She is not a Christian and she is majoring in some field relating to GLBT rights. She is not gay, but I know for her that is not relevant when we are talking about this issue.

Today is Sanctity of Life Sunday. It’s a day when we take time to focus especially on life and fighting to protect it. During our service we spoke a contemporary confession about our responsibilities to value life in all stages. During the sermon (which was on blessing others) one of the points was that we bless others by giving them value above ourselves, not in a way that demeans us, but in a way that honors them. We say we are a 9.8 and they are a 9.9 sort of thing.

During the entire service I couldn’t stop thinking about how we treat GLBT people. I don’t think we honor their life, I know that the majority of Christians do not give them a higher value than ourselves. I know it’s not the point of the day, but to me, refusing to show any person- whether because of sexual orientation, past mistakes, current mistakes, skin color, social standing, disability, age, whatever- respect and honor is not valuing life.

In the church this is one of those topics that seems to either be all or nothing. Either your church focuses intently on homosexuality, either for or against it, or you don’t talk about it at all. But the underlying message in most of these churches is that homosexuality is a sin. I don’t know if it is a sin or not to be homosexual.

I used to think the Bible was really clear on it, but since spending time reading and studying and looking at both sides of the argument I am not so sure. Personally, I still lean toward the homosexuality is a sin side, but I am not fully convinced of these arguments at all. But I don’t think that’s the point.

It’s not my job to judge what God deems sin and what is not sin. My job, my Christian duty, is to walk with God, to know what God has told me is okay for me, to share the love of God with everyone in a NON-JUDGMENTAL loving way, and to walk alongside them as they work through what it means in their life to love God and be a Christian.

Not that long ago I believed that homosexuality was a sin. I believed that we should not allow gay marriage. I thought we should not allow practicing homosexuals to serve in leadership positions in the church. I’m not saying I totally support all of these things, but I am open to them now. Now if I am ever put in a position to do so, I will support gay marriage in the secular realm. When I meet a GLBT person I will not automatically judge them to be living in sin. If there is ever a person who is in every other way qualified to be a leader in the church and also is homosexual I think I would be okay with that.

I am a sinner. You are a sinner. Our sin may not be as obvious, but until God convicts a GLBT person of living in sin I do not believe that I have any right to judge them for it.