We Can't Win (That Way)

As the political season comes to both fruition and conclusion, many well-meaning Christians around the country are going to be disappointed if their preferred candidate doesn't win. For the Right, it will be a disappointment if Obama wins, because it means the further destruction of family values, increased abortions, and... (and... and...). For the Left, it will be a disappointment if McCain wins, because he only cares about the rich, is hawkish on Iran, and... (and... and...). All of this distresses me, and has for a long time now, because I plan on being disappointed in the election regardless of which candidate wins. 

Please don't misunderstand me; I know that as a Christian, I should be (and vigorously am) interested in the forces at work in this world. I can't be ignorant to large social structures, including government. After all, Paul tells us that government is established as an authority in this world by God, and we should submit to that authority. Also, as minister and poet John Donne wrote, "no man is an island, entire of itself". (He precedes this by saying, among other things, that we are all "one volume" of "one author" ...wow, that's great imagery :-) ). So, because we should submit to a governing authority which encourages participation and are all interconnected with the lives of our neighbors, we should vote. 

And so I will. But what distresses me about the "right" fighting the "left" is that they're both going to lose. They should be disappointed. I'm not the first person to talk about why this is, and I probably won't be the last, but I hope you take a few minutes to think about it.

I'm going to be disappointed because I don't want one or more particular agenda items to be happily checked off as they're brought to both Houses, voted on, and signed by the President. What I want, more than anything, is the Kingdom of God to be right here, right now. I want all of it - both "left" issues like environmental protection and "right" issues like the elimination of abortion. But, I know that as a Christian, my power within this space is very limited. Why? Well, though C.S. Lewis wrote about the topic about sixty years ago, his words are just as true today as they were back then.

"Meditation on the Third Commandment" shows how, as Christians, our different views of faith lead us to different conclusions on both ends and means: those that are concerned primarily with the promotion of Christian values will always be drawn toward the authoritative power of fascism, those that are more mindful of The Fall and the corruption of power will see democracy as the only hope, and those concerned by the lack of social activism and the righting of worldly wrongs will see communism as the answer. (I confess that at different times in my life I have held each of those views.)

Because we view the world through different lenses, any involvement of Christians in politics will result in either a) a Christian party in which only a minority of Christian views are represented, or b) Christians working within different parties, and compromising on both ends and means in those parties. However, Lewis writes that there is another way: to abstain from working within political parties, and to instead be a nonconformist voice of change to our representatives in government. Christians shouldn't shy away from interest in politics, but should continually work to pester their "M.P.'s" (Members of Parliament). This, according to Lewis, combines the best of both the dove and the serpent. 

C.S. Lewis isn't alone in his thoughts. Two key players from the Moral Majority (formed in 1980; the forerunner to the Christian Coalition) wrote a book several years ago about their experiences working to change society through politics, and what they learned from the process. It's a great book, and I recommend it to, well, everyone... but I'll just mention a few things here.

In a chapter entitled, "Let the Church be the Church", Ed Dobson writes that there are three basic human institutions established by God - the family, government, and the church. Each of these has different responsibilities - the care and nurturing of children, providing an ordered society, and the spiritual transformation of individuals, respectively. Understandably, one of Dobson's concerns is:

...that [Christians] are in danger of substituting our spiritual authority (the power to change lives and culture) for political authority (a lesser power that cannot change a single life). Have we not spent millions of dollars and immeasurable time to bring about political change? Even if we had been completely successful in bringing about that change, we would still not have changed a single life. Only the power of the church can transform within. Political authority, seductive as it is, is the lesser authority. [emphasis added]

He goes on:

Should we then ignore these issues? Absolutely not! These battles must be fought - but they must be fought by individual Christians, not the church or a group self-identified as Christian... I still believe in the basic political views of the Religious Right... I am pro-life and pro-family. I am troubled by... I am concerned about... The list could go on. However, I do not believe that politics is capable of solving any of these problems. The transformation of our culture will come through the power of the gospel - one person at a time. I fear that in the Religious Right we have opted for a shortcut to cultural change - namely, legislation. But laws do not change people's lives. The church possesses the power to transform America and the world, but it is in danger of trading it for Republican or Democratic influence. In the process, we are distracting people from the ultimate solution: Jesus Christ. [emphasis added]

What I really enjoy about these quotes is how Dobson approaches the subject with a good dose of humility: he (and others) thought they could change the world if only they could elect the "right" people, or pass the "right" legislation. (By the way, Christians on the other side of the fence are no better: "If only we'd have Democrats in power", "If only we'd tax the oil companies more", "If only...") But Dobson, after a decade of trying to make it happen, realized that they had been seduced by the appeal of power and the illusion of influence. What I find most interesting, though, is... we already know that! We know that the real power to change lives doesn't come from top-down enforcement but from bottom-up encouragement; we know that positional leadership is the basest form of leadership! We know that to truly change lives, you must first invest in people's lives and help them to live better than they had been - we know that already. We just often fall to the seduction of the legislative tempter.

Aside from the fact that we maybe we "shouldn't" use political power to achieve personal spiritual ends, there's also the simple truth that legislating hasn't worked. Dobson and Thomas say time and again throughout Blinded By Might that though they spend millions and millions of dollars, what did they have to show for it in the end? Roe vs. Wade is still in effect, pornography is even more rampant now than it was then, etc. If we look back further, we see even more evidence that legislating Christian morals and ethics hasn't really led to change. Have you ever heard of the 18th Amendment? I wouldn't be surprised if you hadn't. It states that the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within... the United States... is hereby prohibited." Now, can you believe that? It was effectively repealed by the 21st Amendment, of course, but keep in mind: there was enough popular opinion in the country at the time for this to to be ratified as an Amendment to our Constitution, and it still failed! Alcohol consumption allegedly increased, as did violent crime. Temperance had more support than a lot of current causes, and it still failed to really change any lives.

On the other hand, where has real change occurred? Well, look to the abolition movement, or women's suffrage movement, or the civil rights movement. All of those sought to change people's hearts and minds first, before they enacted legislation. The Voting Rights Act of 1964 wouldn't have done anything unless people's minds were already changing. Don't doubt the power of nonconformity.

So, as I go to vote in a few weeks and fulfill my civic and spiritual responsibility, I'm not foolish enough to think that one candidate or the other will do "God's will" more than the other - it would be heresy to suggest that what concerns God can be boiled down to a set of political talking points. I want the Kingdom of God, and no amount of politics can accomplish that. Only the church can.

Since it just seems right, I'll leave you with a quote from a man who believed in working towards God's goals: skirting all around the political framework, but not getting entangled in it.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; 'and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.' 

Me too - I can't wait.

Riled Up

So, a few weeks ago I got really riled up. I was at church and was handed, very casually, a letter that we had gotten recently. 

I've uploaded it to Flickr so you can read it for yourself, but removed the identifying information from the organization it was sent by. I've received a few things from them before, but haven't thought much about it - we're just on some mailing list of theirs, I guess. 

But this... ugh. Feel free to go read it first and then come back and let's dissect it together. I'll wait.

::twiddles thumbs::

.....I know, right?!

It pretty much exemplifies everything that's wrong with some Christians today.

Dear listening friends,

I am writing today to bring up some very important thoughts that I hope you will take seriously.

Hmm... okay. So far, so good. I mean, already it seems somewhat strange to me that someone's sending out a mass letter just to bring up some thoughts. But, you know, whatever.

I am writing in regards to the concern of reference to magic used in Christian material. References to magic are found sadly in many programs, books, movies, etc in secular culture and we should know enough to stay away from them. 

Uh-oh, is this going to be about Harry Potter? 'Cause, you know, the "let's all hate on Harry Potter" fad kind of came and went several years ago, so if you're just jumping on the bandwagon now...

Take for instance the kid’s Disney tv show “The Wizards of Waverly Place”, or the Harry Potter books and movies, or the classic movie the Wizard of Oz, using white magic witches, a black magic witch and a wizard.

Ugh, there it is! Harry Potter again? Must we debate this every time a new movie comes out and - wait, huh?! The Wizard of Oz? Oh no,... this is going to be worse than I thought. By the way, the author has seen The Wizard of Oz, right? They know that there is, in fact, no "wizard"? That it's just a guy with a machine behind a curtain? [~7:15] Apparently not.

It goes on.

But then there’s the Christian Veggie Tales spoof of that film “The Wizard of Ha’s” as well as the spoof of “Lord of the Rings” (which I have heard very recently that “Lord of the Rings” also contains aspects of the occult). 

..."heard very recently"? Wait, hold on - you mean you've never, perhaps, actually read The Lord of the Rings? You've never watched the hugely successful films? You mean to tell me that you've never heard in the 70-odd years since The Hobbit was published that one of the main characters is a wizard and that the plot revolves around a magic ring?! This astounds me. Sadly, we're just in the first paragraph. Briefly scanning the page, this goes on for about another three-quarters of a page, what could the author possibly talk about for that long?

We gave away those Veggie dvds on *****, without thinking much about it, but I now can clearly see, that should not have been done. Even if it is turned into a Christian theme, the source of it is still bad, which in all—doesn’t make it right. 

I am writing today as well to point out the Chronicles of Narnia series, which many Christians, including myself, have been deceived by.

Oh, dear Lord. Please, no.

I had promoted this series before, and the station had played the Focus on the Family drama for the stories, and now I regret that the station did so. 

Some words of advice for the future: if you ever find yourself calling Focus on the Family too liberal, you've gone round the bend.

I was fooled, as I had heard that CS Lewis was a Christian, and that the stories were an allegory to Jesus. 

...

[.....in case you're wondering, my jaw has dropped and I am speechless]

You've heard he was a Christian? Heard? To be honest, that's the phrase that riled me up the most. You've "heard" he was a Christian? He's one of the most prolific Christian writers of the 20th century and one of the greatest Christian apologists of all time and you've only "heard" he was a Christian?! The casual-ness of the comment just floors me. Have you not read Mere Christianity? His spiritual autobiography, Surprised By Joy? Have you read The Problem of Pain, The Weight of Glory, his various essays in God in the Dock? ANYTHING of his? Of course not - why bother with accuracy before you send out a mass letter to hundreds of churches? I've heard this "Pope" guy's a Christian too, but, ::shrug:: you know, I'm not sure. I don't think I'll bother to look into it, though.

(Additionally, the author doesn't refute whether or not the stories actually are an allegory to Christ [hint: they are]. No, they just lead you to believe that they're not.)

But now that my eyes are wide open about how disturbing this series is, I feel a great responsibility to warn you about it, encourage you all to stay away from it, and I want to try to undo any promotion. I would encourage you to go through your house and trash anything that you may have that contains references to magic. Don’t give it to someone else, just destroy it and throw it away. You will be so glad you did. 

"But now that my eyes are wide open about how disturbing this series is..." Now there's an interesting phrase. This appears to be a recent revelation to the author and I hope that they share later on how they came to such a scholarly conclusion. Surely they've read up on the subject: done some investigation, taken the -  oh, I don't know - probably dozens (hundreds?) of college courses around the country about C.S. Lewis?

I also found the language to be a little vague. The Bible contains many references to "magic": does the author mean for us to throw that away as well, or is that okay to have? 

The book and movie series contains white and black magic, a witch, magical creatures, enchantments, etc. I have just recently discovered that the story also contains positive references to Greek gods.

Translation: For all of you who have been living under a rock and have not read the books, seen the recent movies, or have previously thought the word "Narnia" was a real place or person: they're works of fantasy, and contain fictional things! OMG!

(This is also the second time the author has mentioned white magic as something negative. I must be missing something - is there something wrong with flying in bubbles, healing, making rainbows, etc.?)

I also wonder if they've ever actually read the books. They only "recently discovered" the positive references to Greek gods? Jees, I would've thought just reading "Bacchus" would've tipped you off before, but, ::shrug::. Nevermind, also, that of course the other "gods" all answer to Aslan [Jesus] anyway- that doesn't matter, apparently.

In essence the story is a mixture of paganism/the occult and some allegories of Christianity. 

So do our celebrations of: Christmas, Easter, All Saints Day, birthdays, etc.

Also, I seem to remember Paul saying something about this topic. Something about, maybe, "to the Jews, I became like the Jews... to those not having the law I became like one not having the law... ...I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings."? Something along those lines?

I was fooled thinking the analogies to Jesus made it a great witnessing tool, as this series is promoted largely in Christian circles. But now that I clearly see about the wrong things also in this series, I must say, “No, it is not”. Please do not open up the door to the occult into people’s lives with this story.

Yeah... I mean, why try to meet people where they are? Why bother trying to share a story with them about a God who loves them?

I want you to please check out this website and read the article “Narnia: Divine or Demonic” 

www.heavenisopen.com/narnia.html  and

www.heavenisopen.com/newsletter/narnia2.html

Ahhhh, here we go! From whence have these revelations come from? A website called "Heaven Is Open". Sounds interesting. Let's visit the first link.

Personally I read these Chronicles twice in my life. 

...

Twice?! That's it?! Honestly, I can't even tell you how many times I've read them. Gosh... a bunch. This guy has only ever read the series twice? Man. (These web pages mentioned here are pretty long, but they're an interesting read. Basically, the author says that since Scripture clearly says not to associate with any form of magic/wizardry/etc., we shouldn't either. It's a fairly straightforward and often-touted argument.) Let's get back to this letter, though.

I am learning to use discernment, and I am learning that just because something has the title of “Christian” on it, doesn’t necessarily mean everything about it is pleasing to the Lord. A wolf, even in sheep’s clothing and a happy face, is still a wolf.

Amen. Here's something we can agree on. 

"Just because something has the title of “Christian” on it, doesn’t necessarily mean everything about it is pleasing to the Lord." Like, maybe, your own organization? I think one might look for the log in their own eye before they'd send out such nonsense to every place with a steeple in a 100-mile radius.

Again, please go through your house and trash anything you may have that contains references to things like magic that are abominations to the Lord. And warn others, too, about these afore-mentioned books, programs, movies, dvds, etc.

Think about these verses:

Leviticus 19: 31 “Regard them not that seek after familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards to be defiled by them; I am the Lord your God.”

Leviticus 20:6 “And the soul that turns after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people. Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God.”

Revelation 22: 14 &15 “Blessed are those who keep his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter into the gates of the city. For without [those not allowed in God’s city] are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loves and makes a lie.”

May we all allow God to purify us and keep our hands and hearts totally clean.

In the holy name of Yahweh,

----------

This letter really set me off for a few reasons, but none of them were that the author thought that The Chronicles of Narnia were wicked and I didn't. After reading through the pages on the "Heaven Is Open" website, I can tell that that author (a pastor of a church in Belgium) feels truly convicted about this series, as well as any other work of fantasy. He seems to feel strongly that, as Christians, we're called to live our lives separate from the worldly influences that surround us, and in so doing, be a light unto the world. Let me be clear - I deeply respect that, and have no problem with "agreeing to disagree" in that regard.

The biggest problem that I had with this letter is that, just a moment ago, I said that "the author thought that The Chronicles of Narnia were wicked." This, though, doesn't seem to be the case. What really seems to have happened here is that the author a) thought The Chronicles of Narnia were helpful in their walk with Christ for themselves and others, then b) came across ONE website, and c) was brainwashed convincingly enough to write a letter and mail it to tens of thousands of people they didn't know and, instead of opening a dialogue about the topic, shut the door and claimed that anyone on the other side was apparently not as "pure" a Christian as they were. What upset me about the letter was that the author, in my opinion, made a complete fool of themselves by assuming their audience were complete fools.

Aside from the obvious questions (Are they really afraid that children will start blue fires and try to resurrect somebody? Do we really have to warn kids that minotaurs do not exist?), what the author seems to ignore is the fundamental truth that things that don't specifically mention Christ can still point to Him. They evidently know the opposite is true ("just because something has the title of “Christian” on it, doesn’t necessarily mean everything about it is pleasing to the Lord ") but don't seem to understand that the great thing about our relationships to Christ is that we relate to Him differently. The allegories in The Chronicles of Narnia have led me closer to God, not further away. They have given me a much richer understanding of Him, and I'm better off for it. 

I really enjoy The Chronicles of Narnia, and certain passages continue to make me twitterpated whenever I read them; just the thought of them can bring tears to my eyes. Where I think the author went wrong, though, is here: "I was fooled thinking the analogies to Jesus made it a great witnessing tool, as this series is promoted largely in Christian circles." No, no, no... you have misunderstood them. The Chronicles are promoted largely in Christian circles not because they're a great witnessing tool to non-Christians, but because they are an amazing tool to help explain Christian-ese to Christians themselves. The instances in the Chronicles where we see glimpses of Christ are meant to be just that - glimpses. They are meant to hint toward a Savior bigger than we could imagine: to a God who loves us and longs for our affection. The Chronicles are allegories so that Christians learn - so that they can see how, no matter what ancient myths and legends have said, everything that has ever been and ever will be is under Christ, so that they can see how Faith makes sense and is reasonable, so that complex doctrinal stances can seem elementary and self-evident.

The focus of The Chronicles of Narnia is not in promoting magic, or witchcraft, or Greek gods, or any of the other absurdities that this letter is claiming. The focus of Narnia is to take the reader into a world where they experience deep emotions about characters, like Aslan, that might transfer back into their own world. As Aslan himself says:

This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there. 

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Chapter 16

Amen.

Numb

"...i've

become so numb

i can't feel you there..."

This morning on my way to work, I finished up the sermon I had been listening to and then switched to shuffling some music, and the song "Numb" by Linkin Park came on. 

Have you ever heard it? It's pretty solid, as are some other Linkin Park songs that I've heard. Mostly, what I enjoy about Linkin Park is that all of their songs (even if I don't like them) are full of emotion; I always feel like I'm hearing the very depths of the songwriter's soul.

And such it is with "Numb". When you hear the song, you feel the anger that the author is feeling- it's almost palpable. He's angry with himself because he feels like he's being pigeon-holed into something he's not sure of, and he feels like he's stuck in a rut. He's also angry with someone else whom he feels he doesn't live up to, and is expecting too much of him. He's obviously disappointed in himself and feels like he's disappointed this other person as well.

The chorus - the point of the song, if you could call it that - is that he's had enough. He's becoming numb to the other person, and he's creating a new life that's apart from this person. Apparently, he wants to be more of what he believes himself to be, and less what he thinks this other person wants him to be. The other person is seemingly smothering, seemingly wanting to control this person's life, and he's had enough of being what he thinks is a disappointment to this other person.

::shrug::

I've heard that the writer was talking about a past girlfriend, but ever since I first heard this song, I've heard it as an argument between someone and God. It's between a Christian who's realized that following God is costly, and either doesn't really understand what God really wants from them, or doesn't want to give up that freedom, or both. The singer is (to put it lightly) pissed off at God, because he feels like God wants something that he can't give. 

In our culture, you often hear people saying that you should "be true to yourselves". I think the singer in "Numb" is asserting that, and trying to say that he's finally going to stop following God and start "being true to himself." However, I think he's in error, and has forgotten the very nature of God. Deciding to do "what you want" or falling into self-pity and saying, "Well, I don't think I can please you, God, so I'm going to do my thing for a while" isn't the way out. God isn't like some middle school gym teacher, shouting hoarsely for one more pull-up. God doesn't want to control your life like that. He just.... well, He's just the Creator of all things, and He created you for one thing - to bring praise and glory to His name. He knows what you could be, and that's why He desires things from you.

If we don't wholly direct ourselves to His purposes, we're going to feel mixed up inside. We're going to feel lost and not know what actions or friends we should follow. And we're going to want to do what we think is best for us. Usually this turns out to be what's worst for us. I've been there; I've often wondered and shouted aloud to God, "WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!" But, I have come to realize that it's not God who's pushing me into this box, it's that I'm resisting who He has truly intended me to be. The appeal of certain friendships and actions is, well, appealing. But to think that you should indulge in them because you think you've disappointed God and think you can't ever measure up to His standards.... that's foolish.

God doesn't want us to be robots, and He doesn't want us to give up all our wants and desires. We don't have to create a new life for ourselves that contains all the things that we think God dislikes - we have to acknowledge the simple truth that our true lives, our true selves - contain all of what God wants for us, and nothing that He doesn't. 

Years and years ago, I received a fortune cookie whose fortune said, "God has given us one face, and we make ourselves another." I think you can read it a few different ways, but the way I read it then (and still interpret it now) is that God has created a certain way we are to be. But, we spend most of our lives avoiding it and trying to create another facade. Please don't. Don't go numb. Reach out to Him, and embrace who He has created you to be.

Not All Tears Are An Evil

...a few weeks this summer I used clips from The Lord of the Rings movies to help illustrate points in my Bible Studies. After all, the Lord of the Rings trilogy is filled with examples of people being heroes to others, but also having struggles along the way. They're all very human, but also noble, and want to be heroes.

It worked well, I think. On Friday, I liked to show the end of The Return of the King, where Frodo is talking to himself while he's writing his part of the story. The voice-over is great. What he says, in essence, is that after you go through something intense, you can't simply go back home to what you were used to. That, you slowly understand: you are changed, and there is no going back. ("How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on? When, in your heart... you begin to understand - there is no going back.")

And so it is with camp. Whenever I used that clip with campers, I tried to explain how it was going to be the same with them; that camp had affected them and that when they went home, they'd be different. It's the same with staff members. The summer is so deep, so compounded, that it'd be very difficult for it to not affect you. Andy said something interesting last night which I hadn't ever thought of before: Lakeview Chapel at Casowasco is his home church. If you figure that we're in the chapel seven days a week (not at all on Saturday, but twice on Sunday) for at least eight weeks, that's fifty-six times you're there per year. That leaves forty-four Sundays at your local church. Truly, Casowasco is home to a good many of us.

So it follows that it'd be emotional as the summer draws to a close. At times yesterday, it was a struggle to fight back the tears. Before I knew it last night, the cape was off the cross, the set was torn down, and staff were leaving in droves, including myself. We pour so much into the kids, so much into the rest of the staff, only to have all of them disappear in what seems like a blink of an eye. And we're left with the sort of questions that don't have any answers: Did I make any sort of impact? Will anything I said stick? Did I show any of them enough of His love? When it comes down to it, will they make wise decisions? Will they acknowledge God and make Him the center of their life? .......I don't know.

My Friday morning Lord of the Rings clips didn't end with Frodo lamenting over how you couldn't go home again, though. No, they ended with Gandalf saying, "I will not say 'do not weep', for not all tears are an evil." Having the summer end is incredibly sad, and it happens very fast. We run and run and run and finally hit the proverbial brick wall like Wile E. Coyote did so often, and we're left with little things buzzing around our heads, making us wonder if the whole summer was a dream. But it wasn't a dream. It was hard, and felt long at times, and made us want to scream and laugh and sing and praise and fall on our knees, but it wasn't a dream. It was great work, and we've earned the right to be remorseful that it's over (for this year). We did great work, and we've earned the right to cry tears of joy.

On Gift-Giving

As you may or may not know, my birthday was a few weeks ago. I spent most of it driving in a snowstorm, then staying up until about 2 in the morning. On the upside, I did get to talk to an extremely cool staff member from camp last summer and spend some quality time with some of my awesome kids from church, so it really wasn't too bad.

One thing that was difficult about it wasn't anything that actually happened on my birthday exactly, but one of the presents I received a few weeks in advance. Since January, we've been working through the entire series of The West Wing. I own Season 1, so it wasn't too much of a problem until we got to the end of the season and, if you know anything about the way the finale ended, you just can't stop there: you have to watch the next season premiere. Of course, once you rent the next disc to watch the next few episodes, you can't stop there either, and get sucked into watching the rest of the Season 2. Phew. It would be wise to point out now that the show went on for seven seasons.

.....yeah. So we rented the first three and a half seasons from the rental place, which wasn't too bad because we got some two-for-one deals sometimes, other discounts, etc. Sure, it was going to be expensive to watch the rest of the series (especially because they went all cheap on us in Season 3 and started using single-sided discs, so you have to rent twice as many to finish the season.... dirtbags), but hey, what are you going to do? Buy the whole series? Yeah, right, it's like $200 on Amazon. It'd be only a fraction of that to rent it, and there aren't any other options, so... ::shrug:: that's the breaks.

Until one night when we finished up a Season 4 disc and needed to run to the store to grab another. That's when an early birthday present is given to me: The West Wing - The Complete Series Collection. It's even in a little briefing case, with the Seal of the President embossed on the front.

I couldn't believe it, I was so humbled. This was expensive, this was... it was completely unnecessary. It was more than I needed or deserved. It... it was nice gesture, but I couldn't accept it. It was too much. They shouldn't have, really.... really, they shouldn't have. But "no" wasn't taken as an answer. It was given as a gift, they wanted me to have it. They were so enamored with finishing the series as well that they admitted it was kind of a selfish gift, that they wanted me to have it as much as they knew that I'd like to have it. And, as they pointed out: what does cost matter? This is what they were giving to me, this is what they wanted me to have; what does its cost matter?

...::sigh::... they had me. It doesn't help that I had just been listening to a series of podcasts from North Point Community Church called "Choosing Christmas," which revolved around the problems of accepting a gift that didn't seem to be genuine, that seemed too good to be true. The gist of the message was that we all have trouble accepting gifts, because we never want to feel like we "owe" someone, even if we might need help. In our lives, we might not want to accept the gift of Jesus Christ because we're too proud: we want to feel like we can do it ourselves, that we don't need saving. We don't want to feel like we "owe" God something.

....the problem is, a gift isn't meant to cause any sort of guilting at all. It's a gift- free of cost to you and absolutely free of strings. After all, what good is a gift if you put conditions on it? No, a gift is given by someone who truly cares for you, who wants what's best for you, regardless of the price they may have to pay for it.

There's a song that I've been thinking of recently, "Above All." I have it on tape somewhere, and I used to listen to it on my way back and forth from my student teaching. I'm not sure why it's been in my head, but the chorus is pretty poignant:

Crucified, laid behind a stone
You lived to die, rejected and alone
Like a rose trampled on the ground,
You took the fall and thought of me
Above all

Christ, as He was being crucified, was thinking of us above all else. Why was the gift given to us? Because God loved us so much, He couldn't help but give it. Was it a high price? Absolutely. Do we deserve it? Absolutely not. I didn't deserve to get the entire West Wing series either. But that didn't matter. What mattered was that the gift-giver wanted to give it.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

The Foundations Of Faith

I was feeling like Peter a couple weeks ago. I was about to head out to Confirmation class at church when I read an article about a story that was breaking on Monday. It was about the alleged tomb of Jesus, his alleged wife Mary Magdalene, son, etc. ....and as I read the article I thought, "Wow..... that's stupid." ......but, to be perfectly honest, the entire drive to church I was thinking about it and worried about it. Yeah, worried. I'm not sure why, but I guess that my certainty over the historicity of the Gospels (and, by extension, the New Testament) seemed to be laid bare. "What if....?", I thought. ...."What if this was true, and they discovered some incontrovertible way to disprove the authenticity of the Gospels, what would I do then? Where would my faith be?" ...I'm sad and, actually, ashamed to say that for those fifteen minutes on the way to church, I was scared about my faith in God. I was afraid that I had made Him up somehow, that the miracles that He performed in Scripture were just fanciful stories meant to inspire people, and not an actual account of real events. I was afraid that everything I had come to know was wrong. Here I was, on my way to help kids believe in the saving power of Jesus Christ, and for fifteen minutes now I kept thinking to myself, "Wow... maybe I'm wrong."

....suffice to say, it was not a position I wanted to be in.

And so, Peter. Peter was out in the boat with the other disciples when Jesus came out to them on the water. And Peter, quickly realizing the connection between this story and "the loaves", asks Jesus to ask him to come to Him on the water. Jesus does, and Peter steps out on faith and walks on water.

He walked on freaking water.

.....though I didn't ask for it, this article- this stupid story that will be buried in a moment's time, with its unprovable claims and incendiary nature - this, to me, was asking God to ask me to go to Him on the water. Ye of little faith, why did you doubt? ....Why did I doubt?

What I came to remember was that all the historical evidence for Jesus Christ's life, death, and resurrection was not why I believed in Him. It may have bolstered my faith as time has gone on, but I don't believe in Christ because of the hisorical evidence presented to me. The foundation of my faith, the reason I believe in Jesus Christ, is because I'm alive today. I believe in Jesus Christ because at several moments in time, something unexplainable happened to me. I believe in Jesus Christ because I have felt His presence and His love. You ask me how I know He lives? ...He lives within my heart.

At Confirmation class that evening, we read Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 talks about all these people who lived their life by faith, suffering many hardships along the way. Here's the money quote: "These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised." (Hebrews 11:39) The author here points out what might not seem obvious at first glance: all the great leaders in the Bible lived their life by faith even though they had no practical reason to do so. They lived their lives by faith and still did not see, even as they lay dying, what God had promised them would happen.

As I've mentioned before, I've been reading through the Old Testament a lot. Habakkuk was up recently, and I found this verse to be poignant:

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” ~ Habakkuk 3:17-18

...even when there is no hope, Habakkuk is like the other Old Testament heroes - he trusts in his God, his Savior. That's how I want to live my life. I want to live knowing that I won't always understand and see the end goal. I want to live trusting even when it doesn't make sense. I want to work toward what God asks of me, even if I won't see the benefits of it. I am a life that was changed, and nothing can destroy that- just like nothing could change Peter, or Habakkuk, or the author of Hebrews.

They walked by faith. I want to as well.



Postscript:
You should read through the comments of that NYT article. They're fascinating... and sad.

The Real Thing

I am a West Wing fan, almost more than a fan. If I could buy one that looked professional, I would get a "Bartlet for America" bumper sticker and slap it on my car, and I don't even like bumper stickers. I'd lobby for the repeal of the 22^nd Amendment so he could run again (albeit fictionally). I'd want to be a part of that administration.

I am also, quixotically, an Apple fan. I have read the entire history of the origins of the Macintosh at Folklore.org, I have sat amazed at the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984, I have even watched The Pirates of Silicon Valley and the 1997 Boston Macworld Expo keynote speech. I read about Apple and Macintosh news, scan Macintosh-oriented blogs, investigate Macintosh software and hardware. ::sigh:: I don't even own a Macintosh.

But even more than either of these, I am a fan of Jesus Christ. I will praise His name until the day I die, I will go the tallest mountain or the lowest valley to proclaim His glory, He has but to call and I would answer. It it only because of Him that I am alive, and His love and grace are what keeps me going.

I've been watching Season Four of The West Wing, and read something yesterday that caused me to stop, pause, and think about each of these things of which I am a fan and how they relate to one another. Why do I get so worked up about each of them? Why do I spend my free time thinking about politics, or Apple, or my faith? What I came to realize was that my fascination with them is that they embody the same virtue. Or, rather, the first two echo the virtue of the third.

Whether it's Josiah Bartlet or Steve Jobs, or the cultures surrounding them, their single most valuable virtue is their ultimate and infinite reality. And I don't mean that in a small way, I mean that in a big way - they are completely real, completely open with who they are and what they believe. They might not always be 100% honest and forthcoming, but they're never trying to be someone they're not. They are, in short, "the real thing."

In The West Wing, this shows up in a dramatic way. At the beginning of Season Two, we're shown flashbacks into the early days of the Bartlet campaign, before the campaign even began. We're shown how Josh is originally working for Hoynes, and we already know a bit about his character by then. On his way to see Governor Bartlet, Josh stops over to see Sam in New York. As the conversation wraps up...

---------------

JOSH
It's good seeing you.

SAM
It's good seeing you. I miss you.

They start to walk in separate directions.

JOSH
Hey, congratulations on that partnership.

SAM
Josh!

They turn and face each other.

SAM
Hoynes. He's not the real thing, is he?

JOSH
See, that- ...the thing you gotta know about Hoynes is-- [approaches him]

SAM
It's okay.

JOSH
I-I'm saying--

SAM
Josh..... What are you doing?

JOSH
I don't know. What are you doing?

SAM
Protecting oil companies from litigation.

Josh nods.

SAM
They're our client. They don't lose legal protection because they make a lot of money.

JOSH
I can't believe no one ever wrote a folk song about that.

Sam grins.

JOSH
If I see the real thing in Nashua, should I tell you about it?

SAM
You won't have to.

JOSH
Why?

SAM
You've got a pretty bad poker face.

---------------

Josh then goes to Nashua, NH, where he hears this exchange between Governor Bartlet and a man in the audience:

---------------

MAN
Governor Bartlet, when you were a member of Congress, you voted against the New England Dairy Farming Compact. That vote hurt me sir. I'm a businessman. That vote hurt me to the tune of maybe, 10 cents a gallon. I voted for you three times for Congress. I voted for you twice for Governor.

We see Josh again, still reading the newspaper.

MAN
And I'm here sir, and I'd like to ask you for an explanation.

BARTLET
[pause] Yeah, I screwed you on that one.

Josh looks up, surprised.

MAN
I'm sorry?

BARTLET
I screwed you. You got hosed.

MAN
Sir, I...

BARTLET
And not just you. A lot of my constituents. I put the hammer to farms in Concord, Salem, Laconia, and Elem.

Josh looks really shocked and is now watching Bartlet.

BARTLET
You guys got rogered but good.

The man sits down.

BARTLET
Today, for the first time in history, one in five Americans living in poverty are children.

We see a still surprised Josh.

BARTLET
One in five children live in the most abject, dangerous, hopeless, backbreaking, gut-wrenching poverty, one in five, and they're children. If fidelity to freedom and democracy is the code of our civic religion then surely, the code of our humanity is faithful service to that unwritten commandment that says "We shall give our children better than we ourselves had." I voted against the bill 'cause I didn't want it to be hard for people to buy milk. I stopped some money from flowing into your pocket. If that angers you, if you resent me, I completely respect that, but if you expect anything different from the President of the United States, I suggest you vote for somebody else. Thanks very much. Hope you enjoyed the chicken.

The audience applauds. Josh claps too.

---------------

Just reading it now, my eyes begin to water.

Here is a politician that risks his political career for his morals. He is willing to sacrifice public opinion for what is right. He's not even doing it because he thinks it'll play well- he's saying it because he actually means it. In the next episode, we see Josh going back to see Sam in New York.

---------------

MR. GAGE
Sam!

Josh knocks on the window, causing Sam to look over to him. Josh is pretty much just standing there, looking really wet and vaguely... prophetic.

MR. GAGE
Sam.

Sam can't take his eyes off of Josh.

FEMALE LAWYER
Sam, we're in the middle of a meeting.

SAM
Yeah.

MR. LOCH
Sam, we're not indifferent to the concerns of the environmentalists... Excuse
me, Sam?

Josh points to his non-poker-playing face.

SAM
Yeah.

MR. LOCH
It doesn't quite feel like I have your attention.

SAM
Yeah.

Josh is still pointing to his face, smiles and nods slowly, Sam laughs.

SAM
Yeah! Yeah.

He shuffles his papers, then pulling away from them.

SAM
I'm not going to need that.

MR. GAGE
Sam? Sam! Sam, please keep your seat! Sam, where are you going?

Sam gets up from the table and walks to the door. Josh opens the door for him.

SAM
[shouts back] New Hampshire!

---------------

Why go to New Hampshire? What has Josh found? ....The Real Thing^® . Bartlet, throughout his presidency, strives to be The Real Thing. Compassionate, articulate, admirable, noble, just... but more important than any of these things: he is real. He doesn't say what he says in order to please anyone in particular, he says what he thinks, what he truly believes. He's real.

So is Steve Jobs. Lots of people have varying opinions of the man, but being a historian in part, I strive to find as many primary sources as I can to assemble an image in my head of who he is. I invite you to do so as well. Search for his quotes, his speeches, his interviews, stories about him, etc. (Fake Steve doesn't count). Folklore.org is a great resource, partially because it tells a wonderful story, but also because it gives you a much more rounded view of Steve Jobs' character than you might read from any of the unauthorized biographies.

One of the most distinct features of Steve Jobs is his "reality distortion field." To quote those who experienced it firsthand: "In his presence, reality is malleable. He can convince anyone of practically anything." Some have chalked this up to him being an amazing salesman; that he could sell screen doors to the Navy, that sort of thing. But I have long suspected that this wasn't true, and blogger John Gruber put it this way last fall:

Jobs’s extraordinary marketing savvy and famed reality distortion field leave some people with the impression that he’s a talented fabulist. That’s wrong, though — Jobs, in my opinion, is a terrible liar and a poor actor. When he’s able to convince people of things that aren’t true, or that are exaggerations of the truth, it’s because he believes what’s he saying. The reality distortion field isn’t something he projects willfully; it’s an extension of his own certainty. Remember his on-stage demo last year of the Motorola Rokr iTunes-compatible phone? His contempt for the device was palpable; when he failed to successfully switch from song playback to accept a call, he seemed poised to just toss the thing off-stage and cry out that it was a piece of garbage.

If he struck you as at least somewhat unenthusiastic on-stage at WWDC, I say it’s because he was unenthusiastic, because he really couldn’t bring himself to be happy about showing these Leopard features that aren’t ready to be shown.

I really couldn't have put it better myself (probably because I'm not a full-time technology blogger). Jobs is clearly someone who doesn't like to sacrifice what he thinks for what he feels people want to hear. He is creative, inventive, and most of all, real. Bill Gates has made some statements in random interviews about digital rights management (DRM), and they might have been genuine, but by posting an open letter yesterday about DRM and saying:

The third alternative is to abolish DRMs entirely. Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music encoded in open licensable formats. In such a world, any player can play music purchased from any store, and any store can sell music which is playable on all players. This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat.

Steve Jobs, well... sounds convincing. His argument is thoughtful and eloquent and, wouldn't you know it, believable. I'm not quite sure what it is, but when I hear Bill Gates talking about DRM, I'm not sure if I believe him. I'm more likely to believe he's just saying it to win favor with a segment of consumers. After reading about the original Macintosh and seeing its introduction, I can see reality itself in Jobs. He's not putting on a show for anybody, he's The Real Thing.

When Christ was here on earth, there was something obviously different about Him. In Matthew, Jesus approaches two life-long fishermen. Jesus walks beside them, says, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." At once, they left their nets and followed him. At once. Then He came across two more, and a similar situation takes place: he called to them, and immediately they left their boats to follow him. In the same way, Jesus called to Matthew the tax collector, and he followed Jesus. These men, and others like them, gave up everything they had ever known (some, like Matthew, living quite successfully), to follow this "Jesus" guy. This "Yeshua bin Yosef", son of a carpenter from Hicksville Nazareth. Why? What was it about Him that made them drop everything for Him? My suspicion for a while now has been that there must've been something different about Jesus that got their attention, something that caught their eyes and shouted out, "I am The Real Thing^®. I want what's best for you and I can even see inside your hearts... you yearn for The Real Thing, and I am The Ultimate Reality. Follow Me."

As my banner states, "These are a shadow of things to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ." (Colossians 2:17) I contemplated several themes and ideas about what to call this blog, but one idea that kept coming back to me was the concept of "shadows", used by C.S. Lewis often in both his novels and Christian books. In The Chronicles of Narnia (specifically The Last Battle), the "shadowlands" are used to describe the physical worlds in which we live. The "true" lands are their Heavenly equivalents. In short, everything in this world is merely a shadow of things in Heaven. That some of the feelings we have are only based on Heavenly feelings, that things exist in a sort of shallow way here on Earth, only to echo to what is true and real in Heaven.

This past Sunday, the sermon at church was on "Thin Places." These, the pastor described, are places or things in your life that allow you to see God. Almost as if there was a curtain between here and Heaven, a sort of sheer curtain of rippled glass that, at places, had spots in it where you could see through to Heaven clearer. I believe that there are really physical places here that are like that, but also believe that experiences, emotions, and relationships serve the same purpose. They can, at times, allow us to see clearly through the curtain toward Heaven, toward what God had originally intended for us to have and experience.

So why do I like President Bartlet and the other characters of The West Wing? Why do I admire Steve Jobs and Apple? It's not because they're saints, but rather because they, at more times and in more ways than many other things, echo that which seems to be Heavenly. All the good qualities which I see in them, I see even stronger in Heaven.

But, they are merely shadows. It is nice to admire Bartlet and Jobs, but why settle for the sizzle and not the steak? The Reality, The Real Thing^®, is Christ Himself. Let's seek that and put it on a bumper sticker.



Postscript:
The image above, with the iMac G4 bowing in front of the cross, is used without permission from the Christian Mac Users Group, CMUG. I'll contact them at some point soon and ask for permission.