No Easy Decision

What are your thoughts on this?

No Easy Decision - MTV Shows

There is an extended interview on the website that is also worth watching.

Social justice is not just a personal matter

In the public debate over social programs that provide dignity to the poor, I often hear people say that care for the poor is for the individual, not for the state. They say Jesus told us to care for the poor individually, and leave the state out of it.

This is clearly a message Jesus nor the prophets before him heard. Amos chapter 5 says,

You levy a straw tax on the poor
and impose a tax on their grain.
Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,
you will not live in them;
though you have planted lush vineyards,
you will not drink their wine.
For I know how many are your offenses
and how great your sins.

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes
and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.

Unless individuals are implementing taxes, this is directed at the rulers of the land. Unless the justice system is an individual endeavor, this is directed at the government.

I know pointing out hypocrisy doesn't make for a strong argument, but I just wanted to point out that these same people who claim the government should not care for the poor also claim that the government should reflect our moral values, as society. In fact, they have whole lobby groups and other organizations with this purpose as a goal. To promote "family values" in government. To oppose same-sex marriage on moral grounds. To promote religious celebrations and national days of prayer. To oppose sex education. To promote religious mottoes. The list goes on.

I've never argued that we should not include our morals in politics. Every law is a moral decision. Foreign policy reflects moral positions. But there is a moral dissonance in a nation that has a motto of "In God we trust" while one side of the political spectrum argues against caring for the dispossessed, the oppressed, the poor, the orphan, and the widow.

We the people should not turn our backs on the poor.

We the people can do better than this.

David Platt - What The Gospel Does To Our Hearts - Mark 10:17-31

This is a great sermon about the gospel of grace.

Put the Mass back in Christmas

Every year, I'm surprised how American Christian culture takes the "most wonderful time of the year" and turns it into a time of bitterness and strife through this so-called "War on Christmas."

The argument is that Christmas is about Christ. "He's right in the name." So they try to force everyone to celebrate the holiday ("It's a Holy Day!") their way. They plaster "Happy Birthday Jesus" all over everything, and spitefully add "Merry Christmas" in an offending tone when offered a "Happy Holiday." They want everyone to know "the reason for the season."

Let's get this straight: Christmas is a secular holiday. It always was. It was secular celebrations surrounding the Christ Mass at the apex of Advent.

Most of these culture warriors don't celebrate Advent, and many evangelical congregations don't even have a service if the holiday lands on Sunday.

They've taken the Mass out of Christmas, and keep the celebration. They embrace the secular part of the holiday, and then pretend an evergreen tree is a sacred Christian icon.

Who cares what it's called? It's a time to reflect of "peace and goodwill towards all men."

The gentrification of the Church

Recently, a lot of congregations, especially the "cutting edge" congregations with loud music and pastors in jeans, have been moving a lot of the congregational fellowship to social media. Twitter during services, and Facebook through the week. "Download our app."

Maybe it provides a way for more constant connection with the congregation - and especially the leadership. But is it also excluding poor people from fellowship? (Or even the elderly?)

If you have to own an iPhone to be a part of Christian fellowship, we're charging an entrance fee. Jesus overturned the tables in the temple because the establishment was making it too expensive for the poor to worship.

I'm not a technophobe, but the digital age has created barriers between humans, and created new challenges in creating meaningful human relationships. It is disguised in exactly the opposite. Technology is said to reinforce relationships, and we certainly know this is true because we have a number next to our "friends" list on Facebook. We know how many friends we have. We know what they're doing every day. But we don't really have friends if we're not sharing our lives with one another.

I've criticized the modern congregational service industry we've forced into people's lives every Sunday. It doesn't offer real relationships with the people sitting in the chairs next to you. It certainly doesn't create real relationship with the aristocracy of the congregational leadership. We're going in the wrong direction making worship bite-sized. We're offending the Gospel by making sanctification consumable.

Yet on top of this inhuman structure we call "church," we've added a digital layer only the tech-savvy participate in. We can't learn from our elders this way, because they barely know how to use a cellphone, let alone a Blackberry. They need help sending an email, and have no idea "there's an app for that."

The poor, if they have a mobile phone, use pre-paid services, and disposable phones. Their access to the internet is at libraries or internet cafes. And we're building technological walls around our congregations so that they cannot participate.

I've really had enough of the American church's history of white flight, class segregation, and special-interest groups. If the church does not fellowship with all people, of all races, all genders, all classes and backgrounds, the church is not fellowshipping at all.

Galatians 3:28

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.