Donald Miller and the DNC

If you didn't see it, Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz, was invited to lead the closing prayer at the DNC last night. Here it is.

For more on his thinking behind doing this, go here.

And then comment on your feelings about the whole thing.

My two cents is that there were all sorts of ways for Don to have done this badly, but I think he did it well.

And, no, I don't know why the audio cuts out.

More For War

Polls show that evangelicals are more supportive of the war in Iraq by at least 10-20 percentage points more than the general public. -from a recent nationwide poll

"I only wish that Christians could be seen by the military to be as problematic as gays. However, until God works this miracle, it seems clear to me that gays, as a group, are morally superior to Christians." -Stanley Hauerwas

When You Find The Kingdom...

While taking Immanuel through a study on the Parables of Jesus, I found myself studying the Parable of the Treasure and the Pearl of Great Price. They are short parables, and worth putting down here:

The Kingdom of God is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then, in his joy, went and sold all he had and bought the field.

Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

The question I've been asking is how we, as Christians, have had to sacrifice in the name of following Jesus. And, if it isn't much, how do we know we haven't settled for less than the Kingdom of God?

It seems to me that when you find the Kingdom of God, you'll know it, because it costs you something.

The Problem of Progress

One of the ablest agnostics of the age once asked me whether I thought mankind grew better or grew worse or remained the same. He was confident that the alternative covered all possibilities. He did not see that it only covered patterns and not pictures; processes and not stories. I asked him whether he thought that Mr. Smith got better or worse or remained exactly the same between the age of thirty and forty. It then seemed to dawn on him that it would rather depend on Mr. Smith; and how he chose to go on. It had never occurred to him that it might depend on how mankind chose to go on; and that its course was not a straight line or an upward or downward curve, but a track line of a man across a valley, going where he liked and stopping where he chose, going into a church or falling down in a ditch.  

-from The Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton

The Other Dark Night

[Beginners] are, in fact, as we have said, like children who are not influenced by reason, and who act, not from rational motives, but from inclination. Such persons expend all their efforts in seeking spiritual pleasure and consolation; they never tire, therefore, of reading books; and they begin, now one meditation, now another, in their pursuit of this pleasure which they desire to experience in the things of God. But God, very justly, wisely and lovingly, denies it to them, for otherwise this spiritual gluttony and inordinate appetite would breed innumerable evils. It is, therefore, very fitting that they should enter into the dark night, whereof we shall speak, that they may be purged of this childishness.

-Saint John of the Cross, Dark Night of the Soul

Our Lifestyles and Desires

"The American lifestyle is not up for negotiation." -former President George H.W. Bush

"Of course you do not desire war, but what you desire makes war inevitable." -author and professor Stanley Hauerwas

An Inklings Manifesto

This probably comes as close to an Inklings manifesto or creed as anything I could have come up with:

Believer and nonbeliever are both voyagers. In the darkness in which the secret courses of human lives lie hidden, [we] are sometimes closer together, sometimes farther apart, than appearances indicate. For this reason, many [of us] look searchingly into the eyes of others, seeking a brother, a sister, who could be anywhere. Among us thrives a[n alliance] of inquiry and concern, even of those who disagree in interpreting the meaning of inquiry -the meaning of human spirit- in the darkness in which we live.  -from Belief and Unbelief by Michael Novak

Proclamation and Authenticity

"You know that joke that goes 'how does every racist joke start?' and the punchline is a turn of the head to see who's looking? I feel like every testimony starts that way too."

My friend Jeremiah said this to me some months back, and it has stuck with me. The concern was with a new trend in Christian circles, a desire to stay under the radar in order to avoid being pigeonholed as "one of those" or simply for fear of being labeled a hypocrite when life doesn't reflect beliefs or even because it just isn't very hip to be a Christian.

The thing is, another big trend in Christian circles is constant use of the word "authentic." Our conversations are peppered with it. Every church wants to be an "authentic" church.

What we mean is real and raw and deep and meaningful. And we are right to want that authenticity. But we're wrong to think that proclamation and authenticity are mutually exclusive.

The problem is that, for too many of us, sharing a story of faith and belief was taught in a sort of car salesman style that was anything but authentic. It felt forced or sappy or fake. It was anything but authentic. So, for fear of being inauthentic, we've opted for our right to remain silent.

(*sidenote: we have taken the powerful teaching of Francis "preach the gospel and, if necessary, use words" and used it as an excuse not to use words. When the opportunity to talk about Jesus and the good news of the Kingdom arises, we get all sheepish on the subject, something Francis would never have endorsed.)

The fact is that faith struggles are a part of any faith walk and so have to be shared in order to be authentic. Sin is shared as a part of our story. And I don't want to encourage anyone to share a "rah! rah!" gospel straight out of the latest "come to Jesus" tract and call that authentic. But if you've heard and experienced good news, why not share it? If you believe Jesus is the Son of God, why not tell people? If you once were lost and now are found, why not spread the news? What if other people are lost too?

Being sheepish about being a Christian because some Christians are overbearing is like being sheepish about being married because some married people are obnoxious. Imagine if a close friend of mine said, after knowing me for even a month, had said, "I didn't know you were married?" and my response was, "well, you're single and I didn't want it to be weird."

I'm not looking for us all to get back to tracts and door-knocking. I'm not advocating street corner evangelism. I'm still convinced that walking the walk is more important than talking the talk. But sometimes talking the talk is a part of walking the walk. My wife should know I love her because I show her, but part of how I show her is by saying so.

The question we have to ask is whether we have good news or not. If not, then the point is moot. If so, than it is time to start being as authentic about that as we are about everything else in our lives.

The Problem of Evil

"...The problem of evil cannot be 'solved' or even understood theoretically. Rather, it can only be met with a practical response: trust God or go insane." -Cornel West