We're Missing an Opportunity

For a church that very much looks like the rest of the world in many areas I would like to bring up a subject few of us want to address. It's not homosexuality or abortion. It's not anything many of us get fired up about. But it is revolutionary. If we followed this subjects implications to their end it could mean the transformation of the world. It would lead to the transformation of hearts. It would cause great controversy within the church. It could only be attained by sacrificing yourself and living in great faith. What I'm talking about is peace.

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If there's anything that I think can set the church (Christ followers) apart from everything else in our age it is the ongoing pursuit and lifestyle of peace. We face 'wars and rumors of wars' almost everyday. Afghanistan. Iraq. Russia. Iran. Cities plagued with murders. Abusers. Death penalties. Guantanamo Bay. It's on foreign soil and it's at home. Violence reigns. Vengeance is deemed our right and our justification.

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But where is the church? Where are the followers of the Prince of Peace? Are we too lining up to support vengeance? Do we participate in the violence of the world? Where is the prophetic voice of the church that decries injustice and the killing of innocents? Have we become so utilitarian to sacrifice the lives of many innocent people for the greater good...or at least what we think is the greater good?

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In such a time of violence and warfare there is no greater thing the church can do than live out its call to peace. Instead of churches rallying toward war they ought to be rallying to prayer...prayer for peace. We need to be instruments of that peace to our families, neighbors, and to the larger global community. I feel this is one of the greatest opportunities for the church in our age. People long for peace. They want to know how to live for it. They want to know how to forgive. They want to overcome hate. We are in a time when we, as the church, have an incredible opportunity to show people the gospel of Peace.

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God only knows what the future may hold. There's no reason to get scared about what tomorrow may bring, but there is certainly reason to be vigilant and to allow the gospel to speak to our current age. The subject of peace is something the church has to bring to the table. It is one of Jesus' central messages. It ought to become ours as well.

Dear Forwarder (of Political E-mails)

The following is something I've composed as a response to those great politically forwarded e-mails I receive...

Dear Forwarder -

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It is election season, and for perhaps this reason I’ve been getting a number of e-mails concerning politics, political candidates, current presidents, etc. I am writing this because I feel the need to respond in a blanket way to the political e-mails I’ve been receiving. This e-mail, because it will be sent as a response to any forwards I receive, etc, is not personal whatsoever. It is instead an attempt to explain my position and wariness of such e-mails, as well as (a small) part of my view of politics. It is also my hope that people will look beyond politics to the greater Kingdom of God, which is not of this world, and thus not of a political party either.

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First, while I do not vote, I certainly encourage you to vote your conscience. Why don’t I vote? These may be over generalizations, but here are a few reasons (and again, these are just personal convictions).

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1. I find it hard to vote for a party that largely supports the killing of infants or a party that supports big business and globalization that leads to world poverty and consumerism. How can you rate one worse by killing by starvation/slave labor or with a surgery? In regard to this concern I feel it more helpful to work for and articulate issues and causes rather than parties. It’s doesn’t work to encapsulate my worldview in that of a political party – democrat or republican.

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2. I wrestle with voting for someone who has the ability to lead to war, which to me means unnecessary death to innocent people, as well as our enemies which Jesus commands us to love and pray for (Matt. 5:44).

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Second, much of what I receive I find (after research) to be very uninformed, a half-truth, or taken completely out of context to make a point…not to mention an attack on someone’s character or the deification of another. Such is the trouble of media…they can make someone to say what they have not said. I find it to be more mis-informative than helpful, and I hope that those who forward things that have been forwarded to them do the research themselves. Just because you are a Republican or a Democrat doesn’t mean you have to forward everything positive of your party or negative of the other. The more important thing is to work to forward truth and good information as much as possible.

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Lastly, I feel as if what people send me I am to agree with. It’s as if saying, “Here’s something…like it!” There is no commentary on it, rather than a few words affirming it. There is no struggle with its meaning or implication and no dialogue with the content or the people it’s forwarded to. Therefore I feel I have to swallow it like a jagged little pill, whether I like it or not.

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All that being said, this is my response to ANYONE, friend, stranger, or congregant, that forwards me things of political nature. I do not mind receiving them, as long as you know where I’m coming from and are willing to dialogue, disagree, and love me in spite of the disagreement. Please know I am more concerned about the bigger agenda of the Kingdom of God than that of politics, and there is a great deal of difference and methodology between the two. Politics will never save us. Jesus has.

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With that, thank you for reading and feel free to forward me what you want inasmuch as you understand where I’m coming from. Please feel free to dialogue with me on the above.

Peace,

Josh

Barth on Living a Contradictory Life

"He who knows the world to be bounded by a truth that contradicts it;

he who knows himself to be bounded by a will that contradicts him;

he who, knowing too well that he must be satisfied to live with this contradiction and not

attempt to escape from it, finds it hard to kick against the pricks;

he who finally makes open confession of the contradiction

and determines to base his life upon it;

He it is that believes."

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God and His Kingdom are our great contradictions. No wonder so many times we feel not at home as we reside in this world. No wonder the call to live out the Christian life seems so difficult and monumental. It is because God and his Kingdom stand in such stark contrast to how we think and operate. In living a contradictory life in comparison to this world and our surrounding cultures is where we have the opportunity to find freedom. However, at least for me personally, I get very weary at times trying to live this way. It is much easier to live on the earthly plane than to live as called to a higher one.

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Can we be satisfied with contradiction? Can we be satisfied and actually find rest in God...the one who contradicts our ways of thinking, behaving, and interacting...who contradicts our understanding, our systems, and our solutions? The one who guides us in the way of peace instead of war, love instead of hate, simplicity instead of abundance, quietness instead of flattery? It's amazing how much we find meaning in the first of those comparisons, and such discomfort in the latter. However, it is exactly in those ways that are so contrary to our 'programming' that we find life and begin to understand God.

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Part of me...the good part...certainly wants to base my life living out the contradictions of the Kingdom. But frankly, I'm scared. It takes more than what I've got to offer. The cost is most likely greater than I imagine. I hope I am able to find peace and rest in living out the contradictions of the Kingdom...I hope I'll be strengthened by it. Like Paul says, "Pressed down but not crushed, persecuted not abandoned, etc."

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Here's to living out the contradictions...