Chaos, Chaos, Peace.

Season3 Episode 7 – CRT: Global Edition

Again – CRT stands for Christian Response to Tragedy. Since the tragic events at the Boston Marathon a couple of weeks ago things seem to have gone back to normal, or at least have died down. Yet there continues to be a need for Christianity to have a voice in the midst of such chaos.

In the initial reactions we saw a good deal of jingoism, especially on Facebook – people saying that they loved Boston, etc. and that is good. Yet it can go a little far, it can become commercial in its own way because people are looking for meaning and understanding. What can we do? We can say that we support Boston. We can talk about how we are effected by the bombing. But we cannot do much more. The feeling of hopelessness can be overwhelming.

This is where Christianity has a voice that is needed.

We (people of faith) can point to scripture to offer comfort. For example, Isaiah 40 or Psalm 23 speak to God’s presence and the comfort that can be found in God. We can point to Luke 12 as a passage reminding us that we do not have to worry because with God all will be well. This gets into a specific theology of the cross so it may not help all, but as Christians, I think it speaks to a profound hope that we need.

We can point to chaos and suffering in the Bible and God’s presence in that suffering. This is where the book of Revelation has much to offer. It paints a picture of a time of great suffering and then gives the hope that suffering, violence, and chaos will not be the end. In the end God will prevail. The point is, there is much in scripture that can offer hope.

Now, what should you do? First, pray. Then, take care of yourself. Even if you weren’t directly effected, take care of yourself. This is something that I don’t think many people do well.

Finally, claim that hope in your faith that God’s justice, and mercy, and kingdom will prevail over hatred, violence, and death. In the face of tragedy at a global level it is what we need.

Railage:

Charley is on a rampage against the New York Post. You probably should read the Vanity Fair article to see what has Charley in such a bother.

Jonathan just doesn’t like the idea of the History Channel doing a thing on The Bible. He thinks you can actually read it for yourself and use your own imagination. Is there an App for such an endeavor?

A Liturgical Exegesis

Matthew 1:1-17

I dare you to try to read this passage out loud without stumbling! It is a long list of names, but some that you might not expect. Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba (who is indirectly mentioned), and Mary. If such unexpected, scorned, and unorthodox individuals are brought into the lineage of Christ, then what does that say for us?

Bonus: check out Hannah Lee Corbin, John Leland, and Andrew Bryan

Watcha Into?

Jonathan is excited about his recent crop of Dandelions and his Dr. Who binge.

Charley is bleeding for Christ. Well, actually he is bleeding so his blood can be used to help out others. Actually he isn’t bleeding at all, but he wants people to donate blood. Charley is a vampire.

Next week: Church events that are stupid! Can such a thing exist?

Do We Have To Share?

I know you have been waiting and waiting and waiting. So here they are, the notes for season 3, episode 6:

THE “E” WORD

            I’m not going to keep you guessing, we are talking about “evangelism” (although it does sound like it would be a very interesting cable television show about a bunch of Christians trying to live together and sharing their faith with different people… I’m going to call Showtime). 

This is a word that is dangerous in progressive Christian circles and is bandied about in more conservative, charismatic circles. Yet in our current culture/society it is an idea and concept that is not considered as deeply and sincerely as perhaps it should be.

            First, why evangelize at all? Considering the recent violence and tragedy in Boston I would hope the answer is obvious: we need the Kingdom of God to be here and the majority of Christians believe that such a Kingdom is found and experienced and made a reality through the person and ministry of Jesus Christ. I could go on, but I think what is important is that you consider why it is you are a Christian, why you go to church, and what is the foundation of your faith. How is your life different because of your faith? If you answer that it is not different then perhaps you need to step back and re-look at your faith.

            Second, consider many of the challenges of evangelization. We are facing a bevy of negative views of Christianity (thanks to televangelists, bigots, institutional corruption, my neighbor Ted, …). This does not help. In addition the majority of Christianity is stuck in old paradigms of evangelization. Putting an ad in the newspaper will not work. Having a “bring a friend” Sunday will not work, but is still a nice idea. Waiting for someone to ask you about your faith without telling anyone that you have a faith does not work either.

            We need to take chances. We need to overtly tell people who we are so they might know to ask about our faith. So if you are doing good things (serving food, fixing things, etc.) that is not enough. How will you let people know that you are doing good things because you are a Christian? How will you let people at work know you are a Christian? How will you let people in your school know you are a Christian? What about at your church, how will you let them know? You need to be obvious without being in-your-face, and it is possible to do this. I am suggesting that you take a chance, but do it with a healthy amount of respect for other people’s position and faith traditions.

            Finally, who do you want to reach? Be clear about the difference between church growth and evangelism. Church growth is reaching out to the nice young families with a litter of children who are interested in finding a faith community. Evangelism is reaching out to the people who have no idea who Moses is, who Peter is, and how Jesus could walk on water. Seriously, how on earth could he do that?

            If you believe your faith is important, nay vital, then why not share it? Unless you are some kind of heartless bastard who does not care about other people’s hopeless and directionless lives at which case I would question if you really get the whole Jesus thing in the first place.

Railage:

R.I.P. J. David Kuo. Let us not forget the warnings and call he gave to us to be careful about politics and religion. Whenever a faith community gets involved in politics is it compromising its faith. We will all compromise at one time or another, but we need to be careful – politicians are sneaky folks…. But then again so are a lot of church people. Hmmm… maybe we all are sneaky folks

Continuing with than what is with politicians and their lack of vision when it comes to budgetary approaches? Charley has been listening to radical, angry podcasts (not really, just Decode D.C.) and has a problem with the Republicans and the Democrats. Seriously, look at the amount spent on the military, Social Security, Medicare, and realize that there is a lot more to fix than simply slashing the small programs that actually help people. Grrr!

A Liturgical Exegesis

John 21:1-19

Love has many words, many approaches, and many ways of being known. Jesus loves us and many of us kinda like Jesus back. That doesn’t seem equal or right. Yet it is what we find in the give and take between Jesus and Peter. Poor Peter, even after the resurrection he still has a lot of learning and growing to do. Then again, don’t we all?

Watcha Into?

From Jonathan, read To Kill a Mockingbird and watch The Grapes of Wrath. Or do the ole one-up on Jonathan and watch To Kill a Mockingbird and read The Grapes of Wrath. Or watch both. Or read both. Or read one while watching the other at the same time.

Charley wants you to be happy, so read Thrive:Finding Happiness the Blue Zone Way by Dan Buettner. Did you know they have a wholewebsite devoted to this Blue Zone idea and living a long life? Seems kind of cultish. But then again, don’t you want to be happy? It makes us happy to know that you are happy and don’t you want us to be happy?

Let us close by reciting the liturgy first shared by Saints Ren and Stimpy:

Happy, happy, joy, joy. Happy, happy, joy, joy. Happy, happy, joy, joy. Happy, happy, happy, joy.

Don’t forget to like us on Facebook and to offer a comment/rating on itunes! Hey, did you know that we are still celebrating Easter! Doesn’t that make you blue?

No More Heroes!

Here it is – the blog post for Season 3 Episode 5 –We Don’t Need Another Hero… We Need a Village of Heroes

Here are the nuts and bolts of what Charley and I say:

First, there are similarities between churches and other “nice” community groups when responding to moments of crisis. Hopefully people are:

• ·      Present
• ·      Bring food
• ·      Listen
• ·      Offer hugs and moments of compassion (except for me… no hugs from me)

So it is great to know that people are generally nice and try to help others. Yet there should be something about a church community that is different and sets the church apart. To say the least we profess a faith in God grounded in Christ. That is something you most likely will not find with other community groups. They are just being nice. This means we have:

• ·      An awareness of the presence of God in the suffering
• ·      A language of spirituality
• ·      The freedom to create a space for anger and questions
• We can pray for each other. We can sing hymns. We can connect at a deeper level then other community groups can offer.

Now many people and churches have a great ability to screw up and say/do the wrong thing. Here are some things to watch out for:

• ·      Don’t try to fix things. You probably can’t and may make things worse
• ·      Don’t make the crisis about you, we need an egotistic narcissist even less than we need another hero
• ·      Don’t avoid talking about God… even if it makes you uncomfortable
• ·      Try offering scripture, but not in a controlling, demeaning, jerk-like way. When in doubt, turn to the Psalms
• ·      Just because the pastor visited doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. Usually crisis is more than a one day thing and multiple visits from folks can go a long way.
• ·      Don’t be afraid of the loss – covering it up does not help the individual

That is about it. Church communities have something to offer that others don’t – our faith. So close to Easter it should be obvious; the resurrection speaks to crisis and offers hope in crisis. If you own the resurrection then live it and offer it to people in crisis.

But…. No hugs. At least no hugs from me.

Railage:

Okay! Need I say more? Jonathan also railed against Integration Philosophy as he heard about it on the podcast Homebrewed Christianity. It is soft, weak, and not very Christian.

Charley continued with such a railage and took issue with the charismatic emergent folks. People with energy about an idea who give others the idea that there is energy around their idea when in actuality it is only the individual who has the energy. Did you follow that? In other words, just because some folks (Brian McClaren, Peter Rollins, etc.) wave their finger in the air and say, “this is the new thing we have to embrace” does not mean it actually is the new thing we have to embrace.

A Liturgical Exegesis

Did you survive Holy Week? If you didn’t here is what was supposed to happen: Palm Sunday – the story of the entry into Jerusalem

Maundy Thursday – the story of the Last Supper

Good Friday – the suffering and crucifixation of Christ ending at the tomb

Easter – look it up

Charley and I both considered ending Palm Sunday on a serious/somber note as if to set up the passion (suffering) of Christ. Charley even inflicted Mel Gibson’s movie on his people. I am not so cruel.

Watcha Into?

Despite Charley’s snarky snorts and snobbish down the nose views at South by Southwest (SXSW) Jonathan is excited about the festival. He wishes he could go, but he has a family and job to consider. Instead, Jonathan is listening to the Austin 100 mix found on NPR Music. 100 free songs until April 4^th! How can you ask for anything more?

Charley is watching Battlestar Galactica! It is a great, great, great series that takes long and philosophical looks at what it means to be human, what it mean to have faith, and the nature of walking/talking toasters. Welcome Charley, to a deeper and more profound level of nerd culture. There is no escape!

Don’t forget to like us on Facebook and to offer a comment/rating on itunes! Take a break now that you have made it through Lent. If your boss asks why you aren’t working, stand up, look him or her in the eyes, and say, “Christ suffered so I don’t have to.” Then sit down and enter into deep prayer until your boss leaves.