Red-White-And-Blue Lens

Apparently this pictured angered a bunch of folks. Imagine that, the gospel of Jesus making people angry. Maybe thats a clue to the American church, that our gospel doesn't seem to be as radical as Jesus'. I am not trying to imply a message that attacks folks, but when Jesus preached, people had 3 responses, fingers in the ears, trying to kill him, or following him. I think our gospel has become retail merchandise. We live in a culture where we buy products to fix us. Maybe we have bought the gospel for the same reason? What if the gospel is about empowering us, what if the gospel is a radical call to leave yourself. What if the gospel will actually ruin your life (as we know it). I believe Christ's work on the cross forgave sin, reconciled man's brokenness to himself. But Christ didn't stop there, so why do we? Why are we so comfortable that we have hijacked the gospel. Jesus says sell everything and give it to the poor, and we say Oh that's a metaphor, or he was just talking to the ruler who was greedy. But when it comes to inheriting the kingdom in all its splendor, of course he is talking specifically to you and I. When he says to take care of widows and orphans and feed the hungry and clothe the naked, we ignore that. Because we don't want to invite the least of these into our homes or lives. That would be inconvenient and uncomfortable.

My frustration is that I was born American. (Now I like America, and If I was born somewhere else I would be writing about a different set of cultural assumptions.) And everything I see is tainted with this red-white-and-blue lens. I want to follow Jesus in a real and true way. I don't need to follow the path of home ownership and early retirement if its not going to get me closer to God. And if America declares someone an enemy I want them to know Christ still died for you. I think we often forget that Paul was a terrorist too.

Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?

My God My God, Why have you forsaken me? How many times have I asked this very thing. Sometimes at moments of injustice I find myself asking, God where the heck are you. It turns out I'm not the first. God himself, incarnate as the man Jesus asked the very same thing at the world's greatest moment of injustice. Ps 44:24 - Why do you hide Your face and forget our affliction and our oppression? David asked the same question. Why does it seem like when injustice is abounding, God feels so far away. When some preachers/priests are wrecking lives, where was God? When the religious puritans were murdering Native Americans, where was God? I think he was bleeding for us. He was bleeding for me, the Natives, the puritans, the protestants, the catholics, the Muslims and the preachers/priests.

To hear these words of agony we know the suffering Jesus must have felt in this moment. It's not recorded what the father cried, I bet it would be too painful to hear.

What's in a name?

We just had our 3rd child the other day. I lobbied hard for the name Alita, my wife really wanted Lydia. We went back and forth, what will I get if I give you this name, yadda yadda yadda. Looking back it's kind of surreal. We both felt we had to give up what we wanted or the other person had to be convinced that my way was the true right way. About a week before the birth, we were going back and forth about this in bed. I just said what about Alidia. Instantly we both loved more than our previous choices. It's amazing how God has brought renewal and transformation to our marriage over the last year. This name evidences to us that God redefines the terms of the question and offers us a third way. We both looked at the question as what do I do to get what I want, and God rewrote it to be what would happen if you both got more than you're expecting. It's just a unique name that means her parents love her and each other and are in awe of what God has done in their lives.

Numero Uno

This doesn't have to be meaningful does it? I have always wanted to give this a try. I have no method, or agenda. Mostly what I write is a compilation of stuff I have heard elsewhere, so we could call it unoriginal, but in Portland we call it recycled.