Damned if You Do, Damned if You Don't

Al Roker, astute management expert that he is, along with Mika Brzezinski, whose primary claim to fame is that she is her rather brilliant father’s daughter, have taken aim at Governor Deal and Mayor Reed in pointing out the utter failure of local governments to respond appropriately to the most recent snow event here in the deep south. If, as representative of the media, those two are no more competent commentators on far more important issues surrounding us than this one, then all I can say is “God help us.”

I have no interest in defending either the governor or the mayor. They are big boys and made the volitional choice to be in the hot seats of their respective governments. I’m actually not all that big a fan of government, too many of us who are followers of Jesus are more than willing to let government do the work God has called us to do – on issues of far greater significance than the snow storm. If I understand Paul correctly, as he wrote to believers in Rome, believers do best when they stay under the radar of government, not when they go to bed with the governing authorities. (Romans 13:1-7, oddly enough a text I have, for some time, planned to preach about at Grace: A Community of Faith, this Sunday morning.)

I’m not dismissive of the horrible experiences thousands of people had trying to get home Tuesday or of the school kids who were stuck on school busses or forced to spend the night in school buildings, separated from parents. I spent more than a few hours greatly concerned about my two daughters and my son-in-law who were trying to get home in less than good situations. My brother-in-law ended up spending the night away from home because he simply couldn’t get there. Eventually it seems that those trying situations were resolved in good ways – but I can’t imagine the turmoil of worrying about loved ones stuck on gridlocked highways on a night when the temperature was in the teens.

But, a moment of honesty might make us a little reluctant to be so quick to cast blame on others, without at least a glimpse of ourselves in the mirror!

Independent to a fault. Our southern DNA seems to make us dislike government in general, and the more regional it gets, the less we trust it. Two of the major counties impacted by this snow storm have experienced a rash of “new cities” being created, because they are convinced the larger, county governments don’t have their best interests at heart. Georgia has 159 counties, the largest number of counties in the United States except for Texas. More than a few preachers in Atlanta preach to larger audiences than the population of some of these counties. In some ways, the worst mistake a local politician can make is to act as though he or she is cooperating with the Mayor of Atlanta. I doubt that Roker or Brzenzinski  know the slightest thing about local governments in the metro-Atlanta region.

Keep my taxes low. More than a few of us tend to vote for the politician who will promise at least not to raise our taxes, if not make an out-right commitment to lower them. Of course every local government could purchase the necessary equipment to respond to the once-every-three-or-four-years snow event. But who wants to pay more in taxes to purchase said equipment? And, getting back to our DNA issues, who among us would trust them to spend the money appropriately even if we agreed to be taxed to pay for it?

Not in my back yard. Anyone living in the metro-Atlanta area knows we have transportation issues. But we continue to prefer long, often jammed up, commutes over  mass transit. MARTA can only take you so far and that “so far” is often “so far” from where we live, that only a small percentage of those who work in the City of Atlanta use it. Without better coverage by mass transit, there is no way the governor or the mayor can hope to stagger times for releasing people in a way that prevents the massive gridlock that we all saw happen Tuesday. My son-in-law made it from the Lenox area to College Park in a fairly timely fashion on the train – but it was hours before he made it home from the train station. Having been in major cities in both the US and abroad where mass transit is seen as a key transportation issue, I can’t help but think how differently events like Tuesday’s snow storm would themselves out if we weren’t so afraid that mass transit would allow the “wrong kind of people” to get to where we live. 

No win moments. It is pretty easy to place great blame on local school systems that chose to have students come to class on Tuesday. I’ve seen a lot of that on Facebook the past few days. Some of those same people who are now critical, were equally critical a few weeks ago when school systems cancelled and there was no snow – only very, very cold temperatures for southern heating systems to address. It is inconvenient for parents who work when school is not in session. We don’t want the systems shutting down, but when something like Tuesday happens, and it becomes inconvenient for parents for a different reason – we say the same things about the “idiots” who make those decisions. Honestly, in the “sue-happy” world we live in, I have a hard time imagining why anyone would want to be a school official who has to make these kinds of decisions. 

Of course my more snow-tested friends who live in other parts of the nation are correct when they observe that we southerners don’t know a lot about driving in the snow. How would we?  But if they will quit laughing at us long enough to observe the reality of Tuesday, it really wasn’t about driving skills. Most people sat in gridlock for hours at the time. Why? Because an event like Tuesday crashed our inadequate transportation grid. If you want to make fun of us, make fun of us for being so  utterly independent that we can’t allow elected officials to sit down and come up with a reasonable transportation solution – that includes extending  the rail system beyond Fulton and DeKalb – in ways that would actually come far closer to preventing the nightmare of Tuesday from happening again than any staggered release plan can have any hope to do. If that isn’t a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” reality, I’m not sure I would recognize one.

Old Time Religion

The sign out front says “Old time religion taught here daily.” Past experience with that same church sign reminds me that for them “old time” is somewhere around AD 1611 because that same sign once said, “KJV Only Read Here.” But then when I observe students in their academy outside playing soft ball – I think “old time” must mean mid-to-late 1800s, because one would think that “Little House on the Prairie” was being filmed on their playground because the students are dressed in ways that remind me the Engels’ kids!

That’s the problem with “old time” – it depends upon whose definition of “old time” one adopts. For the folks with the church sign – “old time” seems to refer to what is perceived to be a much simpler age where we perceive it would have been easier to be a Christian because women’s skirts were ankle length and men’s shirts were long-sleeved.

That’s a pretty easy target – but certainly not the only opportunity for reflection on our life and witness as Christians. For some people I know, “old time” is purely and simply mid-1960s worship styles and for others it’s The Book of Common Prayer. Others would cite third and fourth century church fathers. As I passed by a packed church building one Saturday morning, my guess was that for them, “old time” is rooted in Leviticus.

That’s the problem with imposing “time lines” on a timeless God and the Christian gospel which is to be proclaimed until “the ends of the ages” and “unto the ends of the earth.” Even for those of us who wish somehow to “restore the ancient order of things” – there is still the great question of what that “ancient order” must look like some twenty centuries later. For a Facebook page I occasionally look at that is populated with “independent Christian Church ministers,” “old time” appears to be that moment in the past when the Restoration Movement actually “restored the church.”

It is the temptation to regulate the Christian gospel in ways that make us feel comfortable that often gets us into the dangerous territory of distorting the gospel. In part, that seems to be the reasoning behind the writing of Colossians. “If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations, ‘Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch?’ All these regulations refer to things that perish with use; they are simply human commands and teachings. These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-imposed piety, humility, and severe treatment of the body, but they are of no value in checking self-indulgence.” (Colossians 2:20-23, NRSV)

Whatever my “old time” preferences might be, the moment I allow them to become normative approach to life for others I stand in conflict with this text! Learning how to appreciate our preferences without making them prescriptive for other believers may be among the hardest things we Christians are called to do. But we at least ought to try.

What's The Story?

I heard an interesting news clip on CNN this morning while driving to work. It seems that a newspaper photographer took the “required photo” of a homeless man sitting on a grate trying to keep warm in Washington, DC over the weekend. The photo was picked up by the AP and printed in newspapers all over the country, including one in New York. The homeless man’s mother saw the picture and thought she recognized her son, with whom contact had been lost when he left on New Year’s Day without his wallet, cellphone, and everything else you would take if you were leaving.

His parents saw the picture the AP photographer had taken in Sunday’s USA Today. They contacted the newspaper who in turn contacted the photographer, Jacquelyn Martin. With the help of the Washington police department, their son was found, taken to a hospital, and ultimately reunited with his parents. Martin, the AP photographer, said that the episode reminded her “that every person they encounter has a story to tell.” (www.ap.org)

I have no idea whether or not Jacquelyn Martin is a disciple of Christ, but she certainly was expressing an important theological concept when she said “every person they encounter has a story to tell.” In fact, the Christian journey might well be summarized as “the story we are telling God” as we live out our lives.

Some people in our world pretend as though there is no story, and operate on the idea that you are born, you live, and you die. That’s pretty much all there is to life. Others like to pretend that there is a story, and that they are in charge of the plot line. The whole focus is on self – perhaps explaining the rash of “selfies” over the past year. That word was officially added to the dictionary recently and there was even a little press conversation about President Obama taking a “selfie” at Nelson Mandella’s memorial service.  The other option is to recognize that when it comes to story writing, no one does it better than God! There’s an old rabbinic saying that says “God made people because He loves stories.” 

That AP photographer was telling the truth – there is a story behind every person. Unfortunately not everyone knows that when it comes to stories, God has the market on writing the best ones. Equally unfortunate is the fact that sometimes we who follow Jesus don’t stop and think about the back story of a person’s life. Quick to condemn the drug addict or drunkard, the guy who steals from his company’s account, or the lady who just had an abortion – we don’t take time to ask “how did you get to that point?”

When I think about my own story, I’m struck by just how many times God has helped adjust the plot line. He began that “adjustment” with the great parents to whom I was born, continued it all along the way until the very present. A part of that is due the fact that I am willing to let God be an influence in my life, but a part of it also includes the providential placement of people in my life at crucial times.

But what I need to always remember is that the “right decision” I made that seemed to be easy and reasonable, my not be that easy and reasonable to someone who hasn’t had my opportunities. I’m never tempted to shoplift a loaf of bread, but then I’ve never had to wonder how I would feed my family. Circumstances aren’t excuses for bad behavior, but understanding them is essential if I want to influence others for Christ. 

What if, at the beginning of a brand new year filled with opportunity, I take what the AP photographer said to heart – understanding that every person I see has a story to tell? And beyond that, what if I decided to listen to those stories before making judgments?

I have no idea why that young man left his parents on New Year’s Day and they had no idea of where he was or what had happened to him. No doubt there is a story to tell. I hope his parents listen! More than that, I hope that in the mix of all of this, there will be some disciple of Jesus who gets an opportunity to make a difference, eternally speaking.

“To Hell in a Hand Basket” or “Blessed by God”

I am far too private a person to more than an observer of Facebook. The technology of smart phones with cameras that can almost instantly upload a picture of what I ordered at some fast-food joint still amazes me. Not so much the technology, but the fact that I might think that worthy of sharing with my so-called “friends” on Facebook. 

A report on one of the morning news programs, Today, I think, was about a survey some sophisticated researcher of humans habits had done about smartphones and cameras. The researcher’s conclusions contained the idea that people who spend lots of time taking smartphone pictures at events, places, etc. often have much less memory of that event than those who simply “looked and took it in” rather than saving it on some digital device. 

That conclusion made me wonder about Facebook. Could it be possible that we actually miss a whole lot of the life that is going around us as we instantly post and comment on life as we perceive it to be? Is a picture of the cheese and pretzel appetizer at Applebees posted on Facebook as important as the community around the table eating it? If it is some new recipe I tried at home and succeeded, that’s worthy of a post, but is that also true of something a fast food place will sell a million of today?

I’m not trying to be anti-Facebook – just asking some questions. I typically look at my home page on Facebook several times a day. I find keeping up with friends and family enjoyable and informative. I love commenting on a post when a student, former student, friend or family member has posted something of worth. Facebook is a great place for some self-deprecating humor and it is always good to see such humor still exists.

The beginning of a new year has provided all sorts of posts, many of which can be placed in one of two categories. Either the world is headed to hell in a hand basket and it is about time; or this is the year I am going to be blessed by God and that means wealth. I started counting posts, but soon realized I couldn’t do that in my head and gave up. But if those two alternatives really reflect our culture – and perhaps our Christian culture – then I think there is little reason to be confused about our lack of influence in pointing our culture to Christ.

I’ve always wondered about this “love Jesus and you will be rich” theology. Let’s be honest – this is the Jesus who once said “foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” (Matthew 8:20) We’re talking about the Jesus who said that “denying self” was a crucial step toward following Him. (Matthew 16:24) And I can’t forget about the rich ruler who was told that he should  sell everything and give it to the poor and then come follow Jesus. (Matthew 19:24) To make matters more bothersome, I am a bit embarrassed when I compare my income to the rest of the world (http://www.globalrichlist.com/) 

It also seems odd to me that followers of Christ would ever develop a defeatist attitude about the world God made and declared to be “very good.” (Genesis 1:31) I am aware of the impact that sin had not only on Adam and Eve, but on the whole cosmos. But unless I’ve misread the Jesus story, His coming was to renew and restore creation to its God-intended purpose. Perhaps that is why “all creation waits with eager longing . . .” (Romans 8:18-25) for the day God fully completes what He began on that first Easter morning when Jesus came forth and the first fruit of this new creation. 

Followers of Jesus stand hand in hand with creation in our longing for that day, but not for a day when God just obliterates the universe, but rather for the day when renewal and restoration are utterly complete. God seems to have great plans for this marvelous universe He created. He taught us to pray “your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 69ff) and the most glorious portrait of heaven found in Scripture describes “the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God . . .” (Revelation 21:2ff)

Having read through the New Testament (and the Old) a time or two, I just can’t find where it is that I should interpret “blessed by God” as meaning I will be wealthy or a place where it seems acceptable to care so little about the universe that I should be a defeatist and long for the day God sends it “to hell in a hand basket.” Yet, if I didn’t know better and based my theology on what I hear believers say and what I read posted on Facebook, I would probably assume that a real Christian is a person who is filthy rich because he is blessed by God and can’t wait for God to vaporize creation.

N.T. Wright makes a very succinct statement about this whole subject: “the central Christian affirmation is that what the creator God has done in Jesus Christ, and supremely in his resurrection, is what he intends to do for the whole world –meaning by world, the entire cosmos with all its history.” (Surprised by Hope, page 91) If Wright’s summary is correct, shouldn't that be our “central Christian affirmation” as well?

If I make the minimum wage in the United States, work 40 hours a week, and get paid 52 weeks a year, the Global Rich List puts me in the top 6.88% of the world’s population when it comes to wealth. So it will be a little difficult for me to point to the Bill Gates of the world and say “he’s rich” while thinking “but I’m not.”  It is equally as difficult for me to read Scripture and think that it is acceptable to not care about the cosmos God has called me to be His co-worker in renewal and restoration.

A few weeks ago, while thinking about the death of a very godly believer most people would call “rich,” I was thinking “what a different world it would be if every rich person were as generous as this man was.” Then it hit me – “what a different world it would be if every follower of Jesus – rich or poor – could care enough about renewal and restoration to be generous with whatever it is that we have.”

I think I just found my New Year’s resolution!