I once read somewhere in a comment about weblogs, that with the advent of the Internet, podcasts, and their kin, everyone can be heard. But does everyone have the right to be heard?
Not everyone in the world needs to know my thoughts. And how many biblical proverbs warn about blabbing or speaking too quickly rather than choosing one's words wisely? A good portion of the time I post stuff on here as soon as it comes to my mind, rather than actually thinking it through and praying about it and working it out in my life. That's stupid. So unless I've got something actually informative about my life to say or something that would actually edify you while you read it, I think Beloved Before Time is going to go on hiatus. It's not dead; merely it's going to sleep a lot more. Check back, please. There will be fresh stuff here from time to time. But I actually want your time spent reading this--if there is anyone who reads this anymore--to be constructive, a service to you.
In the meantime, you've got three wonderful options:
1. If you simply want to keep up with the more frequent goings-on of my life, please read my other blog at www.xanga.com/ragamuffin1981.
2. If you want to use your time much more constructively, please purchase a copy of Operation World and spend ten minutes praying for a nation of the world, especially Turkey.
3. If you're still interested in the thoughts in my head regarding theology and its implications in our daily lives, grab some books by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Eugene Peterson, Richard Phillips, John Piper, Martin Luther, A. W. Tozer, or the Puritans. Or you can check out the links to the right side of this page.
Thanks to all who read this.
Friday, April 21, 2006
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Consumerism, part deux
On the cusp of Resurrection Sunday, the words of Paul have come to my mind: "If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied" (1 Cor. 15:19). What the heck? Doesn't this totally contradict Blaise Pascal's famous wager: Even if in the end Christianity proves to be false and there is no afterlife, believers will have been no worse for the wear? Paul writes this in the midst of being shipwrecked, beaten with rods, flogged, hungry, and naked (2 Cor. 11:24-29). He says, in effect, "If there is no resurecction and true heavenly reward for my faith that leads me to do these crazy things, then woe is me!"
This verse stands as a severe indictment of American consumer Christianity. People got fed to lions for the sake of the gospel, while today churches are chosen on the basis of how comfortable the seating is or whether or not hip coffee beverages are available in the lobby (heaven forbid I use the word "narthex"!). And why do we see $35,000 environment-killing SUV's littering church parking lots--or, worse yet, in pastor's garages?
Commenting on the impotency of the Church to act as reform agents in his book The Prophetic Imagination, Walter Brueggemann writes, "The contemporary American church is so largely enculturated to the American ethos of consumerism that it has little power to believe or act. . . . The intenral cause of such enculturation is our loss of identity through the abandonment of the faith tradition. Our consumer culture is organized against history. There is a depreciation of memory and a ridicule of hope, which means everything must be held in the now, either an urgent now or an eternal now." *
Israel was constantly called to "remember" how Yahweh had delivered them from Egypt and brought them safely into a land of milk of honey, how men could earnestly say, "The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want. [He has] anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows" (Ps. 23). Move forward in history and we can see Golgotha and men who said, "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?" (Rom. 8:32). They had memory of God's faithful provision and steadfast love in the past, liberating them from the craving for lesser things and freeing them to embrace the great God of covenant. And they knew and believed in that day when their Lord walked out of his tomb, radiant and overflowingly alive. This hope freed them to love earnestly and sacrifically, because they clung to the fact that in union with Christ they would "depart out of this world to the Father" and that they "had come from God and [were] going back to God" (John 13:1, 3; cf. Col. 1:4-5; Heb. 10:32-34).
Memory and hope. It's no wonder we're forced to live for the now when the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is far from us. We all want joy and fulfillment. But we recognize, deep down, that our lives aren't entirely in our hands. With no hope in Someone greater than us, the Almighty Father full of goodness and power, everything becomes a vain grasping for the little things we can get and control in the moment.
Now I don't want anyone to think I've even really begun to get this figured out and worked into my own life. I still put my hope and desire in visible things and in people, rather than in God. "Though you have not seen Him you love Him" (1 Pet. 1:8). Um, yeah. . . But I know this is a problem, and we all have constant need to be whipped back into order by the Cross of Christ, through which we are reconciled and brought into the care of our Abba and Shepherd, and which tells us that this world has been judged and is passing away, but we have a new life that isn't confined to this world.
__________________________________
*Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2001), 1.
This verse stands as a severe indictment of American consumer Christianity. People got fed to lions for the sake of the gospel, while today churches are chosen on the basis of how comfortable the seating is or whether or not hip coffee beverages are available in the lobby (heaven forbid I use the word "narthex"!). And why do we see $35,000 environment-killing SUV's littering church parking lots--or, worse yet, in pastor's garages?
Commenting on the impotency of the Church to act as reform agents in his book The Prophetic Imagination, Walter Brueggemann writes, "The contemporary American church is so largely enculturated to the American ethos of consumerism that it has little power to believe or act. . . . The intenral cause of such enculturation is our loss of identity through the abandonment of the faith tradition. Our consumer culture is organized against history. There is a depreciation of memory and a ridicule of hope, which means everything must be held in the now, either an urgent now or an eternal now." *
Israel was constantly called to "remember" how Yahweh had delivered them from Egypt and brought them safely into a land of milk of honey, how men could earnestly say, "The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want. [He has] anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows" (Ps. 23). Move forward in history and we can see Golgotha and men who said, "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?" (Rom. 8:32). They had memory of God's faithful provision and steadfast love in the past, liberating them from the craving for lesser things and freeing them to embrace the great God of covenant. And they knew and believed in that day when their Lord walked out of his tomb, radiant and overflowingly alive. This hope freed them to love earnestly and sacrifically, because they clung to the fact that in union with Christ they would "depart out of this world to the Father" and that they "had come from God and [were] going back to God" (John 13:1, 3; cf. Col. 1:4-5; Heb. 10:32-34).
Memory and hope. It's no wonder we're forced to live for the now when the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is far from us. We all want joy and fulfillment. But we recognize, deep down, that our lives aren't entirely in our hands. With no hope in Someone greater than us, the Almighty Father full of goodness and power, everything becomes a vain grasping for the little things we can get and control in the moment.
Now I don't want anyone to think I've even really begun to get this figured out and worked into my own life. I still put my hope and desire in visible things and in people, rather than in God. "Though you have not seen Him you love Him" (1 Pet. 1:8). Um, yeah. . . But I know this is a problem, and we all have constant need to be whipped back into order by the Cross of Christ, through which we are reconciled and brought into the care of our Abba and Shepherd, and which tells us that this world has been judged and is passing away, but we have a new life that isn't confined to this world.
__________________________________
*Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2001), 1.
Sunday, April 9, 2006
"Justin case you didn't notice, Detroit is hot"
That was the headline on MLB.com today.
3-1. 14-3. 10-6. 5-2. 7-0. No, folks, those aren't last night's winning lottery numbers. Those are the scores from the Tigers' first five games, leaving Detroit as the only undefeated team in the American League. How are they doing it?
First off, we've had solid pitching throughout the rotation, leaving little need for relief, let alone closer Todd Jones. Even at the bottom of our rotation, Justin Verlander fanned seven yesterday (hence the headline at MLB.com).
Then there's this just plain freakish first baseman by the name of Chris Shelton. Last year he showed flashes of talent, but he hit five dingers in his first four games (with two multiple-homer games). With his 3-for-4 outing yesterday, accompanied by a triple to right field, he's batting over .700!
Then came Thursday's 10-6 victory over Texas. Not one ... not two ... not three ... but SEVEN. That's how many balls the Tigers swatted over the fence. Fierce. Could this be the year to "restore the roar?" Perhaps not, but don't count 'em out yet. (The only thing that worries me is that the only other remaining undefeated team in the Majors is Milwaukee, who's just as notorious as Detroit for posting abysmal win-loss records.)
Detroit is the best sports city in the nation: The Tigers have the best record in the MLB (5-0). The Pistons are the best in the NBA (61-15). And the Red Wings are tops in the NHL (54-15). When was the last time something like that happened? Dee-troit what?!
3-1. 14-3. 10-6. 5-2. 7-0. No, folks, those aren't last night's winning lottery numbers. Those are the scores from the Tigers' first five games, leaving Detroit as the only undefeated team in the American League. How are they doing it?
First off, we've had solid pitching throughout the rotation, leaving little need for relief, let alone closer Todd Jones. Even at the bottom of our rotation, Justin Verlander fanned seven yesterday (hence the headline at MLB.com).
Then there's this just plain freakish first baseman by the name of Chris Shelton. Last year he showed flashes of talent, but he hit five dingers in his first four games (with two multiple-homer games). With his 3-for-4 outing yesterday, accompanied by a triple to right field, he's batting over .700!
Then came Thursday's 10-6 victory over Texas. Not one ... not two ... not three ... but SEVEN. That's how many balls the Tigers swatted over the fence. Fierce. Could this be the year to "restore the roar?" Perhaps not, but don't count 'em out yet. (The only thing that worries me is that the only other remaining undefeated team in the Majors is Milwaukee, who's just as notorious as Detroit for posting abysmal win-loss records.)
Detroit is the best sports city in the nation: The Tigers have the best record in the MLB (5-0). The Pistons are the best in the NBA (61-15). And the Red Wings are tops in the NHL (54-15). When was the last time something like that happened? Dee-troit what?!
Wednesday, April 5, 2006
Oh, heal our wounds!
Yesterday an number of recent thoughs congealed in my mind concerning consumerism in America. Maybe it's because I saw that Joel Olsteen's bestseller Your Best Life Now is now available in Turkey.* Perhaps it sprouted from reading the book of Malachi or the ever-prophetic Eugene Peterson and Walter Brueggemann (but please, read them with discernment). Or it could've been explaining to Turks why America has such alarming divorce rates. And lastly, it was not without considering how I've managed to not buy anything for myself all year, save for a few CD's.
"This is another thing you do: you cover the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping and with groaning, because He no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. Yet you say, 'For what reason?' Because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant." (Malachi 2:13-14)
"What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war against your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel." (James 4:1-2)
The afflictions of the American consumerist mentality are rampant. (1) How many people merely "go to church" or go "church shopping", seeking a place chiefly for how entertaining, novel, or motivating it is? The Bible says rather that we are "members" of a church "body", and we ought to consider in choosing a church where we can best serve others.
(2) A friend of mine here in Turkey asked what is meant by the saying, "What do you do for a living?" He thought it meant, what do you eat, do for recreation, or how do you choose to spend time with others. He became perplexed when I told him it means "What is your job?" We're sucked into working excessive hours just to afford things--be it clothing, cars, housing, or music--that we think will bring pleasure or fulfillment to our lives. And then we work so much that we can't actually enjoy the things for which we've labored. We're idiots. You see, in America, we sort of live to work, but here people work to live.
(3) The worst and most subtle is seen in Malachi's indictment of the people. When a friendship or marriage is on the rocks or when it has ceased to become pleasurable or exciting any longer, how quickly do we call it quits and move on! Friendship, dating, marriage, and sex are viewed for what we get out of it. When the newness wears off or we actually find ourselves in a position where we must make sacrifices for the sake of reconciliation and faithfulness, we moan, "She's just not doing it for me anymore" and seek out a new partner. Planned obsolesence was never meant to be applied to humans beings! (Nor economic systems, for that matter. My two pairs of shoes, three pairs of pants, and 1997 Honda Civic work just fine, thanks.)
But to call consumerism a disease would be mistaken. Rather, it's a mere symptom. It's the inevitable outcome of the real disease: failure to know and cherish the greatness of God. Without the "surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord," we cannot bear to "suffer the loss of all things" nor will we learn "to be content in whatever circumstances" (Philippians 3:8; 4:11). Instead, we seek to find fulfilling pleasure in the finite, transient things of this world. Grasping for physical comfort and gratification in banality are the only things left for us. The cure for my homeland is not moralizing nor economic pitfall; it's the gospel: The eternal and infinite Almighty became flesh, dwelled among us, and died and rose again to bring us to himself, that we might know and enjoy him. So until God, in his mercy, takes away our blindness and stupor and reveals the light of his truth to us, there is no hope. Kyrie eleison! Let's hope America doesn't crumble and eradicate itself before too long.
_________________________________
* I haven't read the book, but if his televised messages at his Texas mega-mega-multiplex-church are any indication, this guy is the quintessential modern self-fulfillment guru, a modern Gnostic of the highest regard. He spoke for over an hour without condemning sin or mentioning the cross or Jesus Christ.
"This is another thing you do: you cover the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping and with groaning, because He no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. Yet you say, 'For what reason?' Because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant." (Malachi 2:13-14)
"What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war against your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel." (James 4:1-2)
The afflictions of the American consumerist mentality are rampant. (1) How many people merely "go to church" or go "church shopping", seeking a place chiefly for how entertaining, novel, or motivating it is? The Bible says rather that we are "members" of a church "body", and we ought to consider in choosing a church where we can best serve others.
(2) A friend of mine here in Turkey asked what is meant by the saying, "What do you do for a living?" He thought it meant, what do you eat, do for recreation, or how do you choose to spend time with others. He became perplexed when I told him it means "What is your job?" We're sucked into working excessive hours just to afford things--be it clothing, cars, housing, or music--that we think will bring pleasure or fulfillment to our lives. And then we work so much that we can't actually enjoy the things for which we've labored. We're idiots. You see, in America, we sort of live to work, but here people work to live.
(3) The worst and most subtle is seen in Malachi's indictment of the people. When a friendship or marriage is on the rocks or when it has ceased to become pleasurable or exciting any longer, how quickly do we call it quits and move on! Friendship, dating, marriage, and sex are viewed for what we get out of it. When the newness wears off or we actually find ourselves in a position where we must make sacrifices for the sake of reconciliation and faithfulness, we moan, "She's just not doing it for me anymore" and seek out a new partner. Planned obsolesence was never meant to be applied to humans beings! (Nor economic systems, for that matter. My two pairs of shoes, three pairs of pants, and 1997 Honda Civic work just fine, thanks.)
But to call consumerism a disease would be mistaken. Rather, it's a mere symptom. It's the inevitable outcome of the real disease: failure to know and cherish the greatness of God. Without the "surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord," we cannot bear to "suffer the loss of all things" nor will we learn "to be content in whatever circumstances" (Philippians 3:8; 4:11). Instead, we seek to find fulfilling pleasure in the finite, transient things of this world. Grasping for physical comfort and gratification in banality are the only things left for us. The cure for my homeland is not moralizing nor economic pitfall; it's the gospel: The eternal and infinite Almighty became flesh, dwelled among us, and died and rose again to bring us to himself, that we might know and enjoy him. So until God, in his mercy, takes away our blindness and stupor and reveals the light of his truth to us, there is no hope. Kyrie eleison! Let's hope America doesn't crumble and eradicate itself before too long.
_________________________________
* I haven't read the book, but if his televised messages at his Texas mega-mega-multiplex-church are any indication, this guy is the quintessential modern self-fulfillment guru, a modern Gnostic of the highest regard. He spoke for over an hour without condemning sin or mentioning the cross or Jesus Christ.
I'm going back to the classroom ...
... but not quite yet. Yeah, that's right. It's looking as if I'm going to spend another year here in Turkey with our organization. I keep finding myself talking and thinking as if I'm going to be back, lobbying for where to live next year, thinking about how I'd like to go about things differently. Plus, my closest Turkish friend, "Henry", I think is going to become one of God's redeemed. ("Although, if you're Reformed, he already became one long ago," said my teammate Ted, chuckling.) We hang out a lot, have fun, and often talk about Jesus, Christianity, and this ridiculous thing called grace.
It's been difficult for me to go through a lot of conversations with students that seem to go nowhere at all or take surprising turns for the worse. For example, last week Paul and I began talking with a student sitting next to us in the warm spring sunshine. He immediately asked if we were Christians and had questions about the Christian source of goodness. We talked about how it results from knowing God and his love, and how we can only begin to be "good" when the blood of Jesus purifies us from our sins and his Spirit makes us new in heart. He really seemed engaged, only to say while leaving for class, "Well, if we are to meet again, it will be destiny." Then he just got up and left.
But I'm learning that the "progress of the gospel" (Php. 1:12) doesn't only consist in seeing people actually repent and believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior. To Paul, this also consisted in others' knowledge that we are in our present circumstances for the sake of Christ, and when Christians testify boldly (Php. 1:13-14). Both of these come from the work of the gospel in the lives of believers.
Also, I see Turkey as a place where God is seeking to refine and renew me and bring me toward greater maturity (Col. 1:28; Jas. 1:2-4). I find this nearly impossible to believe, because the Holy Spirit has revealed more of my fallenness to me this year than ever before. But God has not forsaken me! And at a worship time at a local international fellowship this past weekend, I was reminded anew of his great fatherly love for his children and how much he desires to pour out the riches of his grace to heal and perfect us.
With Opening Day a few days ago--and I must say, the Tigers did a mighty fine job handling the Royals--it also sort of hit me that the things I love, baseball and, more importantly, cycling, are presently gone. It's weird to see how much I've traded those things to be here. My lack of available exercise here is going to make it difficult to "get back in the saddle" when I return home, and I can just plain forget about racing for several years. I loved the racing scene and effort and rigor of training. At least I've got VeloNews.
I do think a lot about going back to teaching, and I'm presently confident that I'll do so. Biology--especially ecology and environmental science--is just so cool! Plus I just sort of shake my head at comments like, "Isn't it weird how batteries are lighter after the stuff gets used up?" *(I actually heard this a few weeks ago.) But as this opportunity to spend another year in the Near East is open, I don't think I should miss it.
________________________________________
*No matter actually leaves a battery. It's totally sealed. What happens is that negatively-charged particles called electrons are transferred from one substance inside the battery (often a solid such as zinc) to another substance (usually a liquid such as sulfiric acid). This creates the flow of free electrons we know as electricity. Normally, the two substances are kept separate, but when you connect the two ends of a battery with some sort of conductor like metal, electrons can flow. Eventually, all of the free electrons from the zinc will be released and accumulate on the negative end of the battery, and the reaction stops. Then the battery is "dead".
It's been difficult for me to go through a lot of conversations with students that seem to go nowhere at all or take surprising turns for the worse. For example, last week Paul and I began talking with a student sitting next to us in the warm spring sunshine. He immediately asked if we were Christians and had questions about the Christian source of goodness. We talked about how it results from knowing God and his love, and how we can only begin to be "good" when the blood of Jesus purifies us from our sins and his Spirit makes us new in heart. He really seemed engaged, only to say while leaving for class, "Well, if we are to meet again, it will be destiny." Then he just got up and left.
But I'm learning that the "progress of the gospel" (Php. 1:12) doesn't only consist in seeing people actually repent and believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior. To Paul, this also consisted in others' knowledge that we are in our present circumstances for the sake of Christ, and when Christians testify boldly (Php. 1:13-14). Both of these come from the work of the gospel in the lives of believers.
Also, I see Turkey as a place where God is seeking to refine and renew me and bring me toward greater maturity (Col. 1:28; Jas. 1:2-4). I find this nearly impossible to believe, because the Holy Spirit has revealed more of my fallenness to me this year than ever before. But God has not forsaken me! And at a worship time at a local international fellowship this past weekend, I was reminded anew of his great fatherly love for his children and how much he desires to pour out the riches of his grace to heal and perfect us.
With Opening Day a few days ago--and I must say, the Tigers did a mighty fine job handling the Royals--it also sort of hit me that the things I love, baseball and, more importantly, cycling, are presently gone. It's weird to see how much I've traded those things to be here. My lack of available exercise here is going to make it difficult to "get back in the saddle" when I return home, and I can just plain forget about racing for several years. I loved the racing scene and effort and rigor of training. At least I've got VeloNews.
I do think a lot about going back to teaching, and I'm presently confident that I'll do so. Biology--especially ecology and environmental science--is just so cool! Plus I just sort of shake my head at comments like, "Isn't it weird how batteries are lighter after the stuff gets used up?" *(I actually heard this a few weeks ago.) But as this opportunity to spend another year in the Near East is open, I don't think I should miss it.
________________________________________
*No matter actually leaves a battery. It's totally sealed. What happens is that negatively-charged particles called electrons are transferred from one substance inside the battery (often a solid such as zinc) to another substance (usually a liquid such as sulfiric acid). This creates the flow of free electrons we know as electricity. Normally, the two substances are kept separate, but when you connect the two ends of a battery with some sort of conductor like metal, electrons can flow. Eventually, all of the free electrons from the zinc will be released and accumulate on the negative end of the battery, and the reaction stops. Then the battery is "dead".
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)