Get Out of Your Church
A friend pointed me to this article from the Abilene-Reporter News, written by a friend and former classmate, Steve Holt. The story was included in this week’s SoJoMail from Sojourners. It’s a good article talking about the importance of churches getting out into their communties to do something about the problem of poverty we often talk about from our pulpits.
Walking the Walk
For many Christians, saying they believe isn’t enough. They have to show it.
By Steve Holt, Saturday, January 26, 2008
Ninety-two percent of American Christians hear their clergy speak out about hunger and poverty from the pulpit, a 2006 Pew Research Center survey revealed.
And in an election year in which hunger and poverty — along with social issues such as health care, immigration, war and the environment — are on the front burner for both Democratic and Republican candidates, those observing America’s religious landscape say they are noticing a broadening of the evangelical church’s agenda beyond one or two hot-button issues and saving souls.
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Only a Pawn in Their Game
A few weeks ago I caught a PBS special on Bob Dylan featuring Dylan concert footage from the 1963, 64, and 65 Newport Folk Festival. I have been a recent convert to Dylan and have listened to his music on and off for a few years, but since I watched this program I have listened to nothing else but Dylan.
The song that got me hooked was “Only a Pawn in Their Game.” I had never heard this song, but it was one of the first songs he sung at Newport, still a few years before his very controversial donning of the electric guitar to sing “Like a Rollin’ Stone”. “Only a Pawn” is a simple song accompanied by the acoustic guitar, harmonica, and Dylan’s trademark voice. The rhymes and lyrical sequence is typical Dylan, yet lyrics are some of the most pointed I have heard from Dylan, with the exception of “Hurricane.”
The song speaks about and from the civil rights era, talking to the “poor white man” who Dylan claims is only a pawn in the political games of the power-mongers who are advancing themselves by waging a war of fear on African-Americans. The politicians who want to oppress the black man peddle to the white man, yet at the end of the day, as Dylan says, “the poor white remains on the caboose of the train.”
The song made me think about how we are today merely pawns in political games. Sure, there are things in our world to fear, but I wonder how many of these things preached against by our are merely ways to get the populous scared so that they yield their rights to those in power. In my own city, we have waged a war on “criminal illegal immigrants.” Many are scared of the “illegals” taking away their jobs, being a burden on our national economy, and taxing our already taxed health care system. But I wonder how many of these fears are merely tools in the hands of those in power used to preserve their power? Is it still true what Martin Luther King wrote in <em>Letters from a Birmingham Jail</em>: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”?
Dylan’s song reminds me to be suspicious when political (and religious) leaders ask me to stand against another fellow human being. It reminds me that oppressing one group for the good of another will ultimately harm everyone. What ways are we merely pawns in their games?
Below are the lyrics to the song. Pay special attention to the second verse:
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Prophetic Ministry
In a few weekends I’ll be attending a retreat in Dallas with some friends and colleagues in ministry on the subject of “Prophetic Ministry”. In light of this retreat, and my own reflection on my calling as a minister in the midst of Empire, I found this post by Jim Wallis to be very interesting.
Evangelical Climate Initiative
A month ago I signed the “Evangelical Climate Initiative“. Though I said I signed it because I cared about the environment and climate change, the real reason I signed it is because Scott Freeman did and he was getting all these crazy interviews with the BBC, NPR and I think even Dan Rather sat down with him over a cup of coffee. I wanted some of the praise too, so I signed up. 
This morning I talked for an hour with Rev. Jim Ball, the writer of the Evangelical Climate Initiative and the president of the Evangelical Environmental Institute. He wanted to talk to all the signatories personally to get to know them, why they signed, and what they are doing to combat climate change.
I gave him a quick tutorial in Churches of Christ polity and the importance of institutions like ACU to ecclesial change. We talked about ACU president Royce Money who is also a signer of the initiative and who invited Rev. Ball to ACU lectureship a few years ago. We both think ACU has great potential to be a leader for Environmental Initiatives, which would not only benefit our global climate but would also benefit ACU through the press it would receive. It would be newsworthy if a small, conservative, Evangelical-ish, Christian school in West Texas oil country tried to make a difference with climate change. Especially one that has benefited so much from oil money, but that’s another story.
One thing that Rev. Ball said that the Evangelical Environmental Network is trying to do is influence change through the market. It’s not that they are against political influence: that is an important way to fight climate change. But the reality is, economics is the global language and if you are to address a global problem then you need to speak the language. Big companies and governments will do nothing about climate change until it benefits them economically. If consumers start demanding more green options, then companies will produce such.
I believe this is behind my alma mater’s (Lipscomb University) recent “green” initiatives. Though some of it may be driven by the desire for true, social change, the bottom line is they could not have sold it to their Board unless they knew it would be economically beneficial. Because of their initiatives such as building a “green” dorm and creating a new Environmental degree, they have gotten press and will attract a student base to which no other university in Tennessee is intentionally catering.
Since Marti and I have been trying to “go green”, we realize it is not an easy thing to do. In a place like Dallas it is hard to find green alternatives and local support. There are some options, though. Our power company TXU offers an 100% wind-power option, and we have done that since we’ve moved to Irving even though it costs a little more. My wife has worked hard to get us using cloth diapers with Taylor. It is by far a better environmental option. She’s written about the cloth diapers as well as our general going green process on her blog.
A great resource for finding out what you can do is coolingcreation.org. This is a website run by the Evangelical Environmental Network. It offers two options for ordinary folks to “do something” about climate change. The first is simply to do what we can to reduce our carbon-impact. However, no matter how “green” we become, we will never completely reduce our carbon-impact. That’s why they offer option two. For $99 you can invest money though the Carbon Fund in alternative energy and technology initiatives that are working to curb carbon emissions. By doing both of these things, you can offset your carbon footprint in the world.
I realize for many all this sounds so strange and unnecessary. But for most of the world, the debate over global warming is over. Climate change is a problem, and it’s a problem that will not go away on its own. Things will get worse, and when they do it will affect the world’s poor the worst, even though they have contributed the least to the problem. As a Christian, it is my faithful responsibility to care for God’s creation and the creatures that inhabits that creation. It may be uncomfortable at times, politically incorrect, and even cost some money, but in the end it will be what is best for the economy, for my family and for the world.
One Year in Ministry
Three weeks ago marked the completion of my first year in full-time ministry. Two years ago, I had no idea where I wanted to end up. I was teetering between academia and ministry, though deep down I desired a life of ministry. I feared ministry, however, because it was unknown to me (I had been in academia for 7 years and had not yet had a chance to put my learning to practice in the full-time world). But more than that, I feared ministry because I feared being inauthentic.
I longed to do ministry in a place where I was free to speak my convictions and not have to censor the message in order not to offend. I longed to do ministry in a place where I could continue to explore my own faith, never assuming that I had everything figured out. I longed to do ministry in a place where my wife and daughter would be considered full-members of the kingdom of God, with all the rights and privileges thereof. As I interviewed with churches, I was constantly reminded that such a church did not exist. If I were to choose the life of full-time ministry, it seemed I would have to lose a piece of myself in the process.
Then I met Plymouth Park. A friend of mine had just completed a one-year interim ministry with Plymouth Park, and he talked the church into inviting me in to preach. As I learned more about this church, I learned this might be a good fit for me. They had made some important moves towards gender equality. They allowed their ministers freedom in the pulpit. They were a grace-filled church that desired growth and life. After three months of conversation between Marti and I and Plymouth Park, I became their new pastor.
Since I’ve been at Plymouth Park, I’ve preached some things that would have gotten me disfellowshipped at other churches. I’ve voiced opinions that not everyone in the congregation agreed with, but everyone was gracious, listening and trying to learn from my views. At Plymouth Park I have found the freedom to be authentic in my ministry that I did not believe existed in church ministry. Here we have also found a church family that is gracious, loving, and accepting to all, willing to compromise and stick together.
That is not to say there haven’t been challenges this past year, and I know there will be difficulties on our road ahead as we seek to ministry in a community like Irving, but I could not have asked for a better place to begin my ministry, nor could I have planned a better first year in ministry than the one I have just completed.