Posted tagged ‘religion’

« Words from WW Blog home page

Separation Being a Follower of Jesus From Waving Our Flag

March 29, 2024

I’m an American Baptist.

In saying that, I must clarify what it means. American Baptists trace their roots to Roger Williams, a 17th-century Puritan minister who sensed the tension in a church-state union and established the Providence Plantation in Rhode Island. The plantation was a place where people, according to their convictions, could worship freely, a place where the freedom of religion was valued more than the mandates of the governing body.

Thus, there is confusion these days when the name of my denomination is mentioned. It is assumed that American Baptists are clothed in red, white, and blue and leaning heavily to the right side of the political pendulum. Truthfully, the American Baptist Churches, U.S.A., is about as diverse as a denomination can possibly be.

But I AM an American, firmly planted in the roots of freedom and a student of American History. In fact, I’m currently reading a lengthy biography about James Garfield. Two of my favorite books are Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals and The Bully Pulpit. I love our country. I recite the Pledge with my students each school day, and I take my hat off in respect and honor whenever the national anthem is sung.

In these confusing times, I am mindful of the increasing tendency to mix my spiritual freedom with my national freedom, as if they are peanut butter and jelly jammed together.

A new Bible recently introduced includes the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, and Constitution within its cover. I am thankful for those incredible documents, which form the foundations of our democracy, but I am troubled by their inclusion in any copy of the holy scriptures. It’s another indication that many Americans have a hard time separating their personal walk with Jesus from their commitment to their country.

I can sense it inside church communities where people fear being ostracized for having a different view on an issue. Many communities of faith have been transformed more into resembling political caucus gatherings rather than the coming together of the faithful followers of Jesus. Amid it, the younger generation has become disgusted with the hypocrisy and has largely looked elsewhere, or not at all, for their spiritual fulfillment.

Quite frankly, the new Bible that has recently been introduced ($59.95 plus shipping and handling) seems as if it is more an attempt at gaining the support of a certain group of voters than it is in easing the biblical illiteracy of the American population.

Thus, there is an unsettling intertwining of two very different kingdoms, one not of this world and the other too much of this world. One that is better characterized as humble pie and the other more enamored with the heat rising from apple pie.

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

Mis-naming

January 20, 2024

A few years ago, I discovered that my parents almost named me Silas Dean Wolfe instead of William Dean Wolfe. Silas was the name of one of my grandfathers, who had been killed in a mining accident when my dad was in his growing-up years. Not knowing about my “other name” until I was in my fifties made me consider the possibilities. Would a name change have made any difference?

On the opposite side of the situation, would someone else assuming my name make a difference? Whereas, if I would have been christened “Silas Dean’ would not have altered my life course, if a different person took on my name after all these years would have been different, even suspicious.

It would be like a Chevy Chevette masquerading as a Corvette. Some of the same letters would be used but the car would be a real discouragement.

Thus, it is with the name “evangelical.” What it meant a few decades ago has been replaced with something uncomfortable and shaped differently. (Picture the Chevette with a Corvette name taped onto the car’s back panel.) The uncomfortableness can be seen in how the media uses the term and also in some of those who identify themselves with the term.

The roots of the word “evangelical” come from the Greek word “euangelion”, which means “the good news” or “gospel.” It emphasizes the proclamation of Jesus and the good news that He offers of eternal life.

In recent years, it has morphed into an identifier of a conservative political group with strong ties to the Republican Party. In the recent Iowa political primary, many of the evangelicals openly admit that they are not connected to any community of faith. In essence, the political party that they have invested their money and time into is their church.

The effect is that to be an evangelical is viewed as a defining label of one’s political views and only slightly connected to the gospel of Christ. Even certain broadcasters will place a sneer into the prouncing of the word. The interesting thing is that the National Association of Evangelicals, founded in 1942, was meant to be a moderate group placed between two factions of conservatives and liberals.

Over the years, things have changed. The good news is now viewed with suspicion. Let me say it again. The good news of grace, peace, love, salvation, and forgiveness of God is now viewed with suspicion.

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

Being Salty People

April 3, 2016

WORDS FROM W.W.                                                      April 3, 2016

                                        

“You are the salt of the earth…” (Matthew 5:13)

I find it interesting that Jesus used the present tense in teaching a large crowd of people gathered on a hillside about what it means to be a person of God’s kingdom. In the church we are more prone to talk about “becoming a disciple.” Our language indicates that it is like a destination that we haven’t reached, like driving to Alaska. In the church’s approach it’s as if Jesus said “You will some day be the salt of the earth.”

But, intentionally…without a stutter or mixing up words…Jesus said this is who you are right now. The crowd, most assuredly, would have been almost all Jewish, if not all Jewish. They knew what it meant to be Covenant-followers. They knew the Mosaic Law and the emphasis on being the holy people of God. Being the salt of the earth, however, was a new spin for them. Salt added taste, and their religion had lost its flavor. Salt preserved the essence of what had been packed in it, but the passion for and love for God had been stifled.

When Jesus tells the crowd that they are salt he’s taking them with him on a new journey. As soon as he finishes speaking to the people the scriptures tell us that he encountered a man with leprosy…one of the unclean people to avoid…and Jesus touched him. He tells him “Be clean!” And the scripture continues with these words: “Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, ‘See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’” (Matthew 8:3b-4)

Jesus didn’t discredit the Covenant of Moses. He simply dusted off the rigidness, the tastelessness, that had caused it to be mis-used.

“You are…”

Jesus was bringing the Covenant-followers to a new journey of being Christ-followers. It’s kind of like coming to Colorado and seeing the mountains, but then having someone invite you to come up with him into the mountains. Either scenario has the mountains as a part of it, but being in the mountains gives you a new perspective, a new level of intimacy and understanding.

As Christ-followers we are to be salty. Not “assaulting!” There are some Christ-followers, who although passionate, have a way of peppering their proclamation in ways that drive the herds away…like dumping the whole bottle of hot sauce on your taco! People run screaming to the water fountain!

Being salt is more about flavor, bringing flavor to a bland existence. It is a question that any church needs to be asking itself: How do we, as the salt of the earth, add flavor to this community and to the lives of people who live here?”

In my cupboard is a container of Morton Salt. Last week we feasted one night on steaks that were grilled. The salt came out and got sprinkled on the sirloin to add that little extra taste to it. To often the church is the salt in the container spending time with the rest of the salt in order to…what, make it saltier?

Being the salt of Christ means we’re touching the lives of those who need the flavor of hope and the taste of being valued.

“You are salt!”

Categories: Bible, Christianity, Community, Faith, Grace, Jesus, love, Pastor, Story, The Church, Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

Christian Discouragement

November 4, 2014

WORDS FROM W.W.                                                   November 2, 2014

                                   

Philip Yancey’s new book Vanishing Grace begins with the bad news about the good news. The cultural view of Christians is not good. He uses a recent survey of 18,000 people from all over the world to share what is hard to hear. The question was asked “Is religion a force for good?” In total, 52% of those surveyed judged that religion does more harm than good.

Wow!

How did we get to a point where more people would be glad for religious beliefs to take a break…a long break?

It took a while…but we managed to get there!

Yancey recalls an article that Tim Stafford wrote for Christianity Today magazine a few years ago where Stafford, using biblical times parallels, said that Christians in America often think they are like the Jewish people taken in captivity to Babylon, living in a culture that trumpets values that are against their faith. Stafford makes the point that Christians in our country  are more like Samaritans living right beside the Jews and not getting along. In other words, sometimes Christians are polarized from non-Christians because we can’t get along. We are prone to use spiritual language to describe it, like “spiritual”, “holy”, “holy people of God”, “morally upright”, and other terms that show that we are godly, but we also seem to enjoy being in one corner and our culture in the other corner…and never the two shall meet unless we’re ready to jab and punch.

The separation, whether we like to admit it or not, often makes us look snooty and Pharisaic.

Many will disagree with me, and I’m okay with that, but could it be that instead of Christians isolating themselves in a desperate attempt to obediently follow Christ that disciples should instead take a few steps towards our culture. That does not mean that we become accepting of beliefs and lifestyles that we don’t agree with. It simply means that we are open to listening and slow to our race to judgment. I refer back to Yancey again. He makes this statement that I’ve underlined with a yellow highlighter on my iPad:

“It takes no grace to relate to someone who looks, thinks, and acts like me.”

     Of course, I entitled this post “Christian Discouragement.” That’s because I see a lot of discouraged Christians and a lot of depressed churches. Joy seems to have fled to the mountains for the weekend. I’m optimistic that it will return and find new lodging in our sanctuaries, communities of faith, and pilgrim journeys.

The good news can be seen again as good news for all…that God loves each and every one of us no matter whether we have requested it, denied it, avoided it, or…yes, it can happen…accepted it with tears of thanksgiving.

It’s funny! The older I get the more I seem to write about grace. I think there’s a key there, perhaps a revelation, that it marks the road between discouraged and encouraged.

Categories: Bible, Christianity, Community, Faith, Grace, Jesus, love, Pastor, Story, The Church, Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Comments: 1 Comment

The Resurrection Financial Bonanza

March 30, 2012

WORDS FROM W.W.                                                                         March 30, 2012

There always seems to be an outcry at Christmas-time about the commercialism of the season. Blow-up nativity scenes, houses that are so lit up it requires sun glasses to be able to look at them, crowded mall parking lots…we know the seasonal routine!

Resurrection Sunday…also known as Easter Sunday…which follows closely on the heels of Good Friday…is becoming a financial bonanza as well! My wife went to purchase some new “resurrection eggs” ( a product that comes in an egg carton, and tells the story of the cross and resurrection) at a local Christian supply and gift store and she was started that the price to tell the story of Jesus with a visual aid had risen substantially. Evidently, “rising prices” goes hand-in-hand with Jesus rising from the dead.

I can just imagine Jesus “buying into” Passover; or being a walking example of the Mosaic Law. “Ten Commandments Chain Necklace!” A t-shirt that says “I Am the I Am that I Am Talked About!” That would have gotten some attention. Perhaps a “burning bush” inflatable on the Sea of Galilee beach!

Go into a Christian book store these days and you will be amazed at how many things you can buy that have the words “He has risen!” stamped on them. “He’s alive!” on a t-shirt is a hot seller. Pretty soon the open tomb will come in an inflatable as well; or maybe with a blow-up boulder that can be anchored in the grass of the front lawn.

Why the commercialism of Easter? Could it be that the gap in the midst of our culture between the religious and not-interested; or the “determined” and the “embittered”, is so wide that Christians are going to the next level in terms of displaying our identity?

Not necessarily inflatables for the front yard, but products that offer us a bit of assurance that we’re people of the Way! My cynical nature tells me it’s less about proclaiming the celebration of the Risen Savior, and more about our growing uncertainty as to how to verbally testify who he is, and why we follow him. It’s less threatening to us…me..to buy a picture for my living room of a pile of empty cloths in an open tomb than it is to talk to my neighbor about the hope that I’m experiencing in my life.

And do you know what will happen if enough Christians flock to Christian book stores and buy Easter products?

Walmart will get into the action! I cringe at the thought!

Categories: Christianity, Faith
Tags: ,

Comments: Be the first to comment