(note: Originally written my sophmore year of college in January 2003)
Continued from part III (part II and part I)

It is likely that our churches have already given us opportunity to “love our neighbor as our self” through a number of service activities for the area. Maybe you’ve helped out at the soup kitchen, donated clothing, sand carols, delivered thanksgiving baskets. When did we as Americans remove the idea that our neighbors our those who live next door to us? Don’t get me wrong, I am ecstatic that we have understood that that verse means those in need in our city and community and those neighbors we have never meet half way around the world. But what happened to the neighbor next door? Many in America have never met their neighbor, and that is uncalled for.
Is it that we are too scared to face those who are daily in our lives with the truth of our message? Or maybe the truth is we don’t believe it as strongly as we ought. Maybe it’s that it hasn’t changed our lives to the degree that it ought. Let me suggest something: If you have truly experienced the saving grace of Christ, and have tasted the “full” life that Jesus came to bring, you will desire to share it with everyone that you meet. This doesn’t mean you go around talking about Jesus to every person on the street, but your life, your actions, your lifestyle and your words embody that Christ is all to you. Will your neighbor see that Christ is all to you when you have everything they do (maybe more) and you say Jesus is what makes you happy? Maybe. But what if you lived with so much less of the stuff that society says is the pleasures of life, and yet joy emanated off of you? This is and should be a point of struggle for a lot of people. Do not move from this point. Is Christ really the most satisfying thing in your life? If you knew the cure for Cancer would you share it with everyone you could? You have the cure for the emptiness of which every person suffers, and it is Jesus Christ. If you don’t believe that, or if you don’t really feel the truth of that, then maybe you haven’t experienced Christ to the fullness that you need to.

(note: Originally written my sophmore year of college in January 2003)
Continued from part II (and part I)

It’s one of the biggest atrocities of the church that we do not give even close to the ten percent that we as believers should be giving—At LEAST. I would submit that most Christians in America could give 20% of their income without seriously suffering in their day to day life. If you equate suffering with not being able to buy a new car every few years, or any other material possession which you have no real dire need of then maybe there is a slight potential one must suffer.
Do you have any idea what the church could do with the money if each Christian gave 10%? Even assuming ¾ of the people who go to church are not bonified Christians, if the last ¼ all gave 10% the resources would be amazing. We could fund hundreds of missionaries overseas; we could give resources of all kinds to the persecuted church; we could feed and educate hundreds of children in needy countries. But there are so many facets to this, so many.
If we gave to the point that we need to choose a standard or quality of living that was below, noticeably below the people who we might be living around (assuming you haven’t had to sell your middle-class suburban home), what message might that send to your neighbors? Might they “see your good deeds and worship your father in heaven?” What if some of the money you tithed went to giving to the needs of those in your neighborhood? What if you tithed 10% of your time (If there is a resource of capital we budget nearly as much as we do our money its probably our time) to the specific task of tangibly “loving your neighbor as your self?” There are 168 hours in a week, that leaves approximately 17 hours to serve your neighbor. Even if we didn’t count sleep time (8 hours a nights) that would still be 11 hours a week to serve your neighbor, by baking a cake for their birthday, writing cards, shoveling driveways, mowing lawns, babysitting, or maybe just talking. We often talk of the mission field as those countries and tribes far away that have never heard the gospel. We forget that Jesus said we will be His witness first “in Jerusalem,” that is, our home, our city, our community.

This is another one from the archives, I wrote it five years ago at Wheaton College, after the Class Films…

I’m taking a contextualization class at Wheaton College, in it we learn about other cultures and how to contextualize the gospel. It’s a great class and I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve learned. Basically it’s taught me to look at my culture and say, “how are we not contextualizing the gospel into our culture?” It causes you to look at a lot of things.

Take bridesmaids for example. Did you know that originally the reason for bridesmaids was a pagan belief that they came before the bride to ward off any evil eye that someone might have toward the bride. Weird! But, now it’s a regular part of nearly all Christian marriages. Shall we toss it out as pagan, or is it so a part of our Christian heritage and carries none of the meaning it once did for us? Now take prostitution, is it possible to have a Christian brothel? Obviously not, because it goes against so many basic Christian values. Have we effectively contextualized music? The arts? And so many other things? These are the questions you ask in trying to contextualize. So join me in this case study.

A Christian College host a large event for the students modeled after the Academy awards. Four student films were produced, one for each class, and the event consisted of viewing the films and then giving awards accordingly. The evening started with students arriving quite early at the doors of Edman Chapel. A red carpet was laid out at the central doors, where a limo pulled up and those involved in each film where escorted into the theater. There was much cheering, but the focus was on excitement for friends, rather then the glitz and glamor and focus on who is wearing what that is such the focus of the Academy Awards. The doors opened and students rushed in for seats to view the four films which where all of excellent quality.
After the films a pair of people where introduced to come and announce the winner of best supporting actress. After the introduction three people walked on to the stage. The pair that was introduced stepped up to the microphone and dialogged a bit before announcing the winner. The third person, a female, stood silently in the back holding the Academy Award style trophy. She presented it to the winning actress and then escorted her off the stage. Again, a pair was introduced, three people walked on stage, the pair spoke and the third, a female again, stood silently in the back holding the trophy. She presented it to the winner and escorted him off stage. All evening I watched this happen. Near the end of the ceremonies there where some thank yous and congratulations to those who had helped make the evening come together. Never once did any of the females with the trophies speak, never once were their names mentioned. The only recognition they got was some banter teasingly saying they where stealing a boyfriends attention.

Did our attempt to do a Christian Academy Awards miss something? Is displaying females without a name or a voice, and only recognizing what they look like, Christian? I think we can agree that it is missing something, or it is flawed.

(note: Originally written my sophmore year of college in January 2003)
Continued from part I

Initial thoughts of the Christian community in America would say that we are indeed bearing much fruit. Many gain lovely relationships with Christ through the small groups and Bible studies and the sermons of the American Church. And our giving and outreach to the community is certainly there. Let me change our way of thinking for a moment.
I submit that the standard to which we hold our Christianity is nothing but the relative standard of what our non-Christian American neighbors are doing. But our standard should be Christ and His word, nothing less. When the cop pulls you over for speeding it does not matter whether every other car on the road was speeding twice as much as you were, if you were speeding you were speeding. It does not matter how “good” you are compared to your atheist neighbor, God’s standard is not your righteousness in relation to other sinners. And this is were our interpretation of the Bible and it’s words is falling drastically short of what it should be. I present a Bible verse to keep in mind as we endeavor to change our worldview to one that is Christ centered from one that has been self focused. “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” And as Christians in America our suffering is to be honest, completely absent. The Scripture is full of verse about suffering about Christ revealing himself in our need and in our trials. The word is full of calls to serve and to give and to be selfless. There are a billion and a half ways we can and should and need to be doing those things.

(Note: This series was written five years ago when I was a Sophomore in college, January 2003. It does not necessarily represent where I am at today, but that’s not to say it’s maybe more where I would like to be.)

Imagine for a moment that you discovered the text of scripture apart from the society in which you live. To imagine this is impossible almost because your culture and society has shaped the way you see scripture and interpret it and react to it. My premise is this Christianity in America is not Christianity. Those are strong words and I would hesitate to hold fully to it amongst a group of biblical scholars who would argue the theological and doctrinal nuances of the scripture and what “America”* believes. I am not saying that Christians in America are not “saved” in that their “belief” and faith in Christ our genuine and true. My main point is that Christians in America live lives that are so sparse of the fruit of the Spirit that we should be ashamed of ourselves.

*I will use the term “America” for the course of this series, but with the understanding that I am speaking specifically about the USA, or rather, what is commonly referred to in this country as “America.” Though, you should be aware, America is much more than this country, it includes two continents and a great many people who do not align themselves with the values of this country.

Digging into the archives again. I wrote this over five years ago when I was at Wheaton College. It’s a parable…

Once there was a great king who had three servants. The King had big plans for the servants and so he gifted them in different ways to accomplish their different task. To the first he gave a small home and food and immediately sent him about doing the daily chores that were essential to the functioning of the house. The second he also feed and clothed, but he sent this servant away to learn the skills for the trade he had in mind for him. He also had plans for the third servant to participate in the works he had planned. For the third servant he abundantly feed and clothed him; He gave the servant a very comfortable living quarters so that little could distract him from his studies and work. In addition he gave the third servant an abundance of resources with which to carryout his task. After a few years the King returned to check on his servants. The first reported, “I have diligently done those task which you gave me to do since you left, and I thank you for the blessing of food and clothing.” The king replied, “Well done. I have many more joyful works for which you can be a part.” The second servant reported, “I have learned the skills you sent me to learn and am ready for the task that you have prepared for me.” The king replied, “You have been faithful in your preparation, go now and participate in the joyous works I have in store for you.” Finally, the third servant reported, “I am proud to tell you that I have done well in the studies you have put me to. I far exceed in skill and intelligence your second servant, and in comparison to my peers in this school I am quite up to par. I do have a request though, I know the food you provide me is the best there is, but I’m tired of those slaves who provide the food telling me when I can eat, don’t they know who I am?” The king replied, “You wicked and foolish servant! Do you think you are deserving of anything you have been given?! You some how think that the resources and education and provisions you have been given are for your own worldly pleasure?! I have a plan for you to participate in my work in a way that is different, but no more superior to your fellow servants. But you have disgraced me and your fellow servants by using your gifts to satisfy your own desires. You foolish servant! Do you think I do not have your best interest in mind?! I have given you those resources so that you could share in the amazing joy of giving to others. But more importantly you have missed completely the point of your studies. I have not blessed you with your intelligence and put you in this place for you to measure up to the worldly standards of GPA. You lazy glutton! You are throwing away my gifts to you!! You have been blessed with knowledge so that you can bless others. There is a huge part of my body of believers that does not have a through knowledge of scripture. There is a world full of poor to which I plan on my hands reaching through your gifts. There is economic problems, I have given you the knowledge to fix it. There is political problems, I have given you the knowledge and ability to solve them. There are health problems, I have given you the resources and know how to heal them. How dare you take what I have given you and use it for yourself!”