OMG, 10 People Have the Pig-Flu!!!!!
Don’t get me wrong – this Swine Flu thing could be plague-like. It could be worse than the modern equivalent of the Black Plague we all knew as The Avian Flu Virus from a year or so ago – remember that one, that disease from the winged creatures that originated as God’s wrath on Terrorists in the Mid-East?
But now we have The Swine Flu, popularized by CNN, originating with those boarder jumpers in Mexico. This Flu is likely God’s wrath Mexicans for illegal immigration. And I’d bet those 10 American’s that have contracted it were actually helping these “Illegals” get over here.
Now, seriously, it could be that the concerns of the Media are legitimate and this whole situation could cause an epidemic.
But can I just say that I don’t trust the media?
To me, it seems like Journalists realize that if they don’t make the ‘truth’ all dramatic and scary then we won’t pay attention. And maybe we won’t. But it seems they mostly like to play on our fears and emotions more than they like to inform us. They create a dramatic situation so that we’ll pay attention…even when the situation isn’t all that dramatic!
You know, I have relatives like that. And nobody likes them. They take everyday, somewhat unfortunate events and make them out to be the worse possible scenario. They always have to be causing a ruckus because Lord knows things can’t be well with the family. They do this because if they didn’t nobody would pay attention to them. Like a child throwing a temper tantrum, they simply want someone to pay attention to them (the individual equivalent to ‘ratings.’)
But here’s the thing – everybody knows ‘that guy’ in their family, and everybody knows his motivations. Because of this, we refuse to pay attention to him precisely because we know this person is slightly crazy and it’s best just to ignore him. So why can’t we do this with the Media?
We can’t ignore the Media b/c they own all the information. There are times when we need them. But can I just say that this over-dramatization of everything UNIMPORTANT and under-dramatization of everything important is ridiculous?
So, while the Swine Flu might be more serious than I assume. It seems like the more likely option is that Journalists are often little better than paid narcissists who stand in the corner shouting for someone to pay attention to them. Knowing THEY HAVE CREATED a culture where people care more about tabloids and entertainment, they also know they have to keep our attention – apparently critiquing war, excessive materialism, or greed aren’t attention grabbing enough…either that or it’s just easier to wage war on Swine Flu.
Making Babies with God
I sat here tonight watching my wife hold our sleeping Phoebe and a thought occurred to me – The perpetuation of the human race is the best witness we have of the fact that God did not finish his act of creation on the sixth day of Genesis 1. Each new baby, each new soul, that enters human history is a direct and intentional creation of God. These little creations are just as direct and intentional as the formation of the land, the four-footed beasts, and the formation of the original humans with God’s very own hands in Genesis 2.
But then my brilliant wife added to my thought something really profound – these babies entering human history, though they are witnesses to the ongoing creative purposes of God, are also an indication that God’s creative purposes are accomplished through human action. We humans are, in fact, co-creators with God and children are an everyday testimony to that reality.
Since God’s creative purposes are still ongoing, though marred by human sin, we can still affirm that God sees creation as good and valuable. Each human life has intrinsic value because each human breathes with the gift of God’s breath of life.
God gives the breath of life and recognizes that it is very good. It is very good that we, together with him, create life…good life. It is good that, together with him, we sustain and protect life – encouraging its flourishing, protecting it’s value, and ever giving ourselves to it.
We are co-creators with God in many ways. But tonight I wanted to reflect on the specific act of baby making with God!
Cheers friends.
You Know You’re Right of Fox News When…
Seriously, why does the media continue to pay attention to these people? They’re like that bully in elementary school that, once you stop paying attention to them, they just sit over in the corner and sulk. When you’re Right of Fox News, there might be something wrong with you!
The Demise of American Christianity?
In light of a few recent articles on the demise of American Christianity, I found this post by Greg Boyd to be extremely thoughtful and right on the mark. My thoughts lined up quite nicely with his as I read the articles he references. While people like Albert Mohler are fighting to maintain Christianity as America’s Civil Religion, Boyd is calling for a distinctive witness that is authentic and not concerned at all with relevance or efficiency. Let me know what you think…
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“Don’t Weep For the Demise of American Christianity”
I’ve come across two very interesting and insightful essays this week on the demise of American Christianity. The first is Michael Spencer’s “The coming evangelical collapse” published in the Christian Science Monitor, and the second is Jon Meacham’s “The End of Christian America” published in Newsweek. Meacham discusses the decline of Christianity in America in general while Spencer discusses what he believes is the soon and inevitable demise of Evangelicalism in particular. In this post I’d like to provide a brief overview of both articles (supplemented by some information from Christine Wicker’s The Fall of the Evangelical Nation: The Surprising Crisis Inside the Church (HarperCollins, 2008), and then offer my own assessment of this demise.
The Demise of Christianity
There are many indications that Christianity in America is in rather rapid decline. For example, the percentage of self-identifying Christians has fallen 10 points over the last decade (down to 76 percent). According to a recent Newsweek Poll, the percentage of people who think that America is “a Christian Nation” has dropped 7 percent in the last year (down to 62 percent). And the percent of those who say that religion “can answer all or most of today’s problems” is at a historic low – down to 48 percent (it never dropped below 58 percent until the last few years).
There are indications that conservative Christianity (Evangelicalism) is being hit particularly hard by this downward turn. (See Christine Wicker’s The Fall of the Evangelical Nation for superb research supporting this claim). While some megachurches continue to grow, the majority of smaller evangelical churches are shrinking (in part because many of their members are migrating to the “full service oriented” model of the megachurches). Yet, there is an over-all net loss of church attenders each year, though this is somewhat concealed by the fact that most conservative churches are reticent to take members off their membership rolls as well as by the tendency of evangelical churches and organizations [especially Southern Baptists, according to Wicker] to grossly exaggerate their numbers (see The Fall of the Evangelical Nation for a full exposé on this trend).
Also significant is the fact that the average age of attendees in conservative churches is rising and there are many indications that the largely personality driven mega-church phenomenon was a “baby-boomer” trend that will likely die with this generation. In light of these and other indications, Spencer goes so far as to predict that ”[w]ithin two generations, evangelicalism will be a house deserted of half its occupants.” “The end of evangelicalism as we know it,” he argues, “ is close.” More generally, Meacham argues that America is entering into a “post-Christian” epoch.
The Cause of the Decline
What has brought about this decline? The answer to this question is, of course, very complex, but from these essays two factors stand out.
First, as Spencer notes, American evangelical churches have been, to a large degree, gutted by good old fashion American pragmatism. We’ve become preoccupied with being “relevant” and “efficient” at the expense of holding fast to the theological depth of our biblically based traditions. Megachurches in particular are guilty of this – which in part explains why they become megachurches, for relevance and efficiency sell well to baby boomers. (To younger folks, not so much.) Spencer refers to this, quite appropriately, as the “megachurch vacuity.”
Spencer wonders whether “the coming collapse” of Evangelicalism will “get Evangelicals past the pragmatism and shallowness that has brought about the loss of substance and power?” He’s not very optimistic, however. While he’s quite sure Evangelicalism will continue to decline, he also somewhat caustically anticipates that “[t]he purveyors of the evangelical circus will be in fine form, selling their wares as the promised solution to every church’s problems. I expect the landscape of megachurch vacuity to be around for a very long time.”
A second important factor, which both Spencer and Meacham stress, is that Evangelicals “have identified their movement with the culture war and with political conservatism.” Spencer notes that “[w]e fell for the trap of believing in a cause more than a faith.” Even some of the staunchest guards of conservative Evangelicalism are beginning to see this.
For example, Alert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, concedes that “[t]he worst fault of evangelicals in terms of politics over the last 30 years has been an incredible naiveté about politics and politicians and parties.” Manifesting typical Constantinian triumphalism, many conservative American Christians naively thought we could transform American society in a “Christian” direction by acquiring political power to enforce our (self-proclaimed) superior views on selected topics (especially abortion, gay marriage, creationism in schools and stem cell research) on the broader culture. It has not gone well, to say the least.
After 40 years of intense political involvement, Evangelicals have little positive to show for their efforts. To the contrary, we’ve arguably only succeeded in getting multitudes of non-Christians [or simply non-Evangelicals] to distain us and the “Good News” message we’re supposed to be bringing. (A great book on the [mostly negative] non-Christian perceptions of Evangelicals in America is UnChristian by David Kinnamen and Gabe Lyons). Now that the political parties and positions Evangelicals largely identified with have fallen on hard times, Evangelicals have, to a significant extent, fallen with them.
Is The Demise of the Christian Religion a Bad Thing?
For those who are heavily invested in the Christian religion, at least as it’s usually been understood in America, the news that America is entering into a “post-Christian” epoch is understandably alarming. As Meacham makes apparent in his article, people like Albert Mohler find the indisputable evidence of Christianity’s demise in America deeply disturbing. Mohler vows to fight this demise tooth and nail, predicting that a “new generation of young pastors” is about to rise up “to push back against hell in bold and visionary ministry.” “Expect to see the sparks fly,” he adds.
Personally, I strongly suspect that all such “spark flying” efforts on the part the righteous to protect us sinners from ourselves will only speed Christianity’s demise.
Others of us interpret the demise of Christianity and America’s descent into a “post-Christian” epoch quite differently. Indeed, I and many others see this as good news! Yes, the loss of a Judeo-Christian civic religion may bring about a greater degree of moral and religious relativism and intensify American’s moral decadence. This is admittedly unnerving. But here are six reasons why I do not think Kingdom people should weep over the demise of American Christianity.
1. America has never been, and will never be, a “Christian” nation in any significant sense. Among other things, America, like every other fallen, demonically-oppressed nation (see Lk. 4:5-7; 2 Cor. 4:4; I Jn. 5:19; Rev. 13), is incapable of loving its enemies, doing good to those who mistreat it or blessing those who persecute it (Lk. 6:27-35). By applying the term “Christian” to America, we’ve massively watered down its meaning — which undoubedly helps explain why the vast majority of American Christians assume being “Christian” is perfectly compatible with hating and killing your national enemies if and when your earthly Commander and Chief asks you to. The sooner the label “Christian” gets divorced form this country, the better. It provides hope that someday the word “Christian” might actually mean “Christ-like” once again.
2. Related to this, there’s a good bit of research demonstrating that the majority of American’s identify themselves as “Christian” when asked by a pollster, but when asked what this label actually means in terms of core values and lifestyle choices, it becomes apparent that for the majority of them the meaning of “Christian” is basically “American.” I submit that the main problem Kingdom people confront in spreading the Kingdom in America is that a majority of people assume they are already in the Kingdom — they are “Christian” — simply by virtue of being American or because they prayed a certain prayer or go to Church once a year, or whatever. If fewer people are identifying themselves as “Christian,” this is good, for it means there’s one less major illusion that Kingdom people have to confront and work through as they invite these folks into the Kingdom.
3. If Evangelicals lose all their political clout, we may be less tempted to lust after political power, which means we may have one less distraction from actually doing what God called us to do — namely, manifesting God’s reign by how we humbly live, love and serve.
4. As my friend Alan Hirsch demonstrates in his great book, The Forgotten Ways, the Kingdom has always thrived — and really, has only thrived — when it was on the margins of society. The Kingdom is, by its very nature, a “contrast society.” If Christians lose all their power and position in society and become marginalized, this can’t help but be good for the Kingdom. If Christians become persecuted, it likely will be even better. We’d be turning back the clock from the disaster of Constantinian triumphalist Christianity in the direction of Apostolic, servant Christianity.
5. The “Christian” element of American culture was never deeper than the thin veneer of a shared civic religion. A major problem Kingdom people have faced on the mission field of America is that the majority of people mistook the civic religion for the real thing. So it is that so many think that being “Christian” is focused on preserving the civic religion (e.g. fighting for prayer before sports events, keeping the ten commandments on government buildings, holding onto a “Christian” definition of marriage within our government, etc.). Not only this, but this veneer of Christianity causes Jesus followers not to notice the many ways foundational assumptions that permeate American culture are diametrically opposed to the values of the Kingdom. If the civic religion of Christianity were to die, Kingdom people would be less tempted to associate Christianity with symbolic civic functions and would become more aware of how the Kingdom sharply contrasts with foundational aspects of American culture.
6. Finally, and closely related to this, if Jesus followers lose all their position and power and become a minority (or better, revealed to have always been a minority) in American culture, this will expose the idol of American individualism we have bought into for far too long and perhaps help us realize that we need to cling to each other and that the Kingdom is inherently communal. We are called to manifest God’s uniquely beautiful love and bear witness to the reality of Jesus Christ by how we share our lives and serve one another (e.g. Jn. 17:20-26; Acts 2: 42-47. 4: 42-45). But its very difficult for many of us to embrace radical Kingdom community when we can get along very well (by American standards of “well”) without it. The demise of Constantinian American Christianity would serve us well by stripping us of the privilege of individualistic living.
Other possible positive outcomes of the demise of American Christianity could be listed, but this must suffice for now. I hope it is enough to show that, from a Kingdom perspective, the demise of American Christianity is not something we should weep over. To the contrary, its actually good news. Yes, it will likely bring about cultural disarray. But, as has often been noted, the Kingdom thrives best when the broader cultural is falling apart. The God-given mandate to Kingdom people is not to keep the broader culture from falling apart, but to offer all who are hungry a radically different, far more beautiful, way of doing life. And often people will not take this offer seriously until everything else is crumbling around them.
Let the civic religion die. And if the culture crumbles, it crumbles. Our task is to live in a way that gives people hope.
HT: Greg Boyd – http://www.gregboyd.org/blog/dont-weep-for-the-demise-of-american-christianity/
I Miss You Dad
I miss you dad.
It’s been one year since you passed away, but the pain and sorrow are still as real as they were that night.
I’ve already told your new granddaughter how wonderful you were and how I know your face would light up at the sight of her. Her life will always be missing an important piece.
I love you, Dad.
The Call of Abraham
Divine Imperative: Vs. 1
The waw consecutive with the imperfect prefixing our first verb (rma) signifies the sequential nature of 12:1-4 with 11:26-32. That is, Yahweh’s call presupposes the deaths of Abram’s father and brother and bares in mind Sarai’s barrenness.
Yahweh’s imperative of command, “Go forth” (^±l.-%l,) , governs all the verbs through vs. 3, indicating that apart from obedience to Yahweh’s command, Abram will not experience Yahweh’s blessings and He will continue in the barrenness and death marking his life to this point.
The imperative’s force does not merely lie in Abram going to an unknown destination, but in leaving all his stability and identity – from your land (^ïc.r>a;me) , your family relations (^ßT.d>l;AM)miW), and the house of your father (^ybi_a’ tyBeämiW). An element of climax operates within Yahweh’s list. He moves from lesser to greater intimacy, climaxing in the necessity of Abram leaving his father’s house.
A. Land → B. Familial Relations → C. Father’s House
With a concluding contrast, Yahweh promises to restore the stability and identity Abram will lose: as opposed to all your land and family, you will go to a land that I show you and I will give you a large family, etc. Despite all Abram is commanded to leave, Yahweh only promises to bring him to a land “which I will cause you to see” (&’a<)r>a; rv<ïa]). The Hiphil stem is causative – God will cause Abram to see the land and Abram will participate as the one being acted upon. The ability to access this land is not within Abram’s volitional capabilities, but with the resolve of Yahweh to fulfill His promises.
Divine Promises: Vs. 2
This verse begins a series of blessings received upon Abram’s obedience to Yahweh. There are seven total blessings, the first four of which appear here. Of these, the initial three are imperfects and the last an imperative.
The first blessing involves Yahweh making (‘^f.[,a,(w>) Abram into a great nation. This initial verb is a Cohortative of Resolve which implies that Yahweh performs an action (in the future) which lies within His ability to accomplish. There is a certainty with regards to this blessing – Yahweh is willing and able to fulfill His promise.
Nations, incidentally, imply autonomy and territory. While vs. 1 suggests that Abram will be given a plot of land, that land remains unknown. Yahweh commands Abram to be a wanderer before He will make him give him the security of nation status.
The next verb (^êk.r<b'äa]w) is the first of five recurrences of $rb. Yahweh saturates Abram’s obedience with blessing. Obedience remedies Abram and Sarai’s barreness by the bestowal of blessing.
The writer employs a second Piel stem and speaks of Yahweh making Abram’s name great. In the ANE, having a great name communicated that one was a morally upright and virtuous person. Yahweh is not only saying Abram will be recognized as a virtuous person, but He resolves to make Abram a virtuous person.
Finally, Yahweh uses an imperative in the fourth line (hyEßh.w<). The employment is odd, however, as it seems to command Abram to “be a blessing” to others. However, this is most likely an Imperative of Promise where the speaker assures the recipient of the imperative that He will take the action in the future, although the action is outside the power of the receiver. Yahweh will make Abram a blessing even though Abram, on his own, does not have the ability to be a blessing.
Additionally, the imperative surfaces in center line of a seven line structure. There seems to be no indication of a Chiasm, but placing this at the center of the structure seems to indicate some importance which I could not determine. Whatever the case, it should be noted, again, that this blessing is still conditioned upon Abram’s obedience to the original command for Abram to “Go forth.”
Divine Protection: Vs. 3
The waw consecutive prefixing the first verb is consequential. The result of God making Abram’s name great is blessing and curses upon nations in accordance with how they relate to Abram.
Initializing a series of three Piel’s, hk’r]b”)a]w: begins a chiastic structure operating throughout this verse:
(A) I will bless (hk’r]b”)a]w: )
(B) the one’s blessing you (^yk,êr>b”åm.)
(B’) The one cursing you (^ßl.L,q;m.W.)
(A’) I will inflict with a curse (rao=a’)
First, mysteriously the two participles do not agree in number. Whatever this may signify, the conjunctive waw on the second participle is adversative, indicating strong contrast. Blessing Abram inevitably results in a contrast cursing of “the one” who does not bless Abram. Nations, even individuals, are blessed or cursed in accordance with their relationship to Abram.
Second, different words used for “curse” are employed. llq occurs eighty-four times in the Hebrew Bible and refers, among other things, to Yahweh’s cursing of the ground in the Flood narrative. But within the Abrahamic narratives, the word is used two other times in reference to Sarai’s despising of Hagar, even to the point of having her removed from the community of blessing. In the Piel form, it indicates a declaration of someone being cursed or abused.
Rra, however, communicates the idea of being deprived of divine benefits or placed under a ban. The strength of the statement is reinforced by the Qal stem which highlights the activeness of the cursing.
The end goal, and climax of these seven lines, is the blessing of all nations through Abram. The Niphal stem is a bit difficult to work with primarily because it could legitimately be passive or a reflexive. The passive seems most likely, as it is difficult to see how the nations could bless themselves when the whole of the passage points to them being blessed by Yahweh according to their relationship to Abram.
Abram’s Obedience: Vs. 4
The $lh in the final verse forms an inclusio with the first word of Yahweh’s command in vs. 1. The writer places the word upfront, not only as a matter of sentence structure, but also in order to clearly and immediately demonstrate Abram’s obedience.
Abram’s obedience paralleled Yahweh’s command (rB<ÜDI). Furthermore, the author tells us that when Abram and Lot were obedient to God’s command, Abram was seventy-five years old. This is possibly an exaggerated number intended to boost the honor of Abram in later generations. But really, such an assertion falls outside the realm of the narrative and the text.
Conclusion:
Genesis 12:1-4 follows on the heels of eleven chapters of primeval history, providing a bridge from there to the history of Israel’s patriarchs. This pericope demonstrates that, though the nations have rebelled against Him, Yahweh is not finished with humanity. In the midst of cosmological mutiny, Yahweh calls a man with no heir (11:30) and makes him the father of, and blessing to, many nations.
**Sorry about the Hebrew fonts. I was having trouble even posting this thing for some reason, let along getting all the fonts to show up correctly.**
