Truth Found in Humble Orthodoxy

While I am confident that Joshua Harris and myself would be at odds with what exactly orthodoxy is, not the definition, but the actual “right beliefs” that Christians should hold and adhere to, I am greatly encouraged by his book.  I believe that we each could certainly sit at a table together to discuss those differences with love and respect for each other.  This is the second book that I have read in the past year that essentially discusses the fact that Christians tend to be on one of two extremes.  It is good to see that each of these books come from, what I believe the authors would agree, different perspectives or traditions.

Brian McLaren’s is the author of Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road.  In his book McLaren argues that most Christians do one of two things well. Their faith is either strong and hostile or weak and benevolent and that we need to have a faith that is strong and benevolent.  Harris argues similarly that Christians tend to have arrogant orthodoxy or humble heterodoxy.  This is what Harris writes regarding humble heterodoxy: “Another popular option is humble heterodoxy.  Heterodoxy is a departure from orthodoxy.  So a person who is humbly heterodox abandons some of the historic Christian beliefs but is a really nice person who you’d enjoy having coffee with” (pg. 7).  Moreover, Harris’ contention is similar to McLaren’s in that we need to maintain a humble orthodoxy (benevolent and strong).

I was able to take away a number of challenging questions and life-applicable quotes from Humble Orthodoxy.  I would like to include several of them here.  Here are some questions I found challenging: “Does God’s word speak to the priority of both humility and orthodoxy?”  (pg. 4).  “…do humility and kindness and engagement with our culture have to involve watering down conviction?” (pg. 8).

And here are some quotes that I found both applicable and challenging to my journey:  “We don’t get to choose between humility and orthodoxy.  We need both” (pg. 6).  Quoting Greg Dutcher: “We cross a line when we are more focused on mastering theology than on being mastered by Christ.” (pg. 27).  “…all of us should be less concerned with whether others are being faithful to God’s truth than with whether we are being faithful to God” (pg. 33).  “Don’t measure yourself by what you know.  Measure yourself by your practice of what you know”  (pg. 37).  “…there’s a difference between having a critical mind that carefully evaluates and a critical spirit that loves to tear down and belittle” (pg. 44).

Orthodoxy is defined as right belief.  Despite all the things that I like about Harris’ book, as stated in the opening paragraph, I believe we would disagree with what the meaning of Christ’s crucifixion means in our lives.  On page 61 Harris writes, “We’re going to be opposed as we preach substitutionary atonement and the truth of God’s wrath toward sin.”  Also, on page 49: “Now, there’s always a need for innovation and new ideas and change in methodology to proclaim the gospel more effectively.  But the conversation that’s taking place in our generation is going beyond mere methodology or practice.  It’s not about how we can be more effective in evangelism.  Really, the conversation is about whether we can reinvent theology and belief.” 

So while I completely agree with Harris that we need to maintain or hold to an orthodoxy that is humble, I believe that we also need to be careful about what exactly our orthodoxy and right beliefs are today. I would argue that theology has evolved since Christ’s crucifixion and continues to evolve today.  How we read scripture should be an organic experience.  Therefore, it is not about reinventing theology but about continuing to wrestle with it; moving deeper into the mysteries of God.  What Harris points to with substitutionary atonement is not really found in the writings of the early church fathers.  It was born out of the writings of Augustine 300 years after Christ and lionized in American culture through seminaries that hold the writings of Calvin, if not canonical, at least close to it.  However, with that said Harris’ book lays the groundwork for people to come to the table to have these discussions and for this reason I would certainly recommend this book.

I received this book without charge from Waterbrook Multnomah for the purposes of this review.

 

Street Reflections

I recall several friends asking me to let them know if/when I wrote a blog entry about my homeless experience.  I thought a lot about what I could write about during the trip.  I expected to have a blog post up within 24 or 48 hours at the most and I had loads of ideas during the trip about angles I could take.  However, in retrospect none of them can capture our experience with the justice it deserves.  Moreover, I really do not want to capture the experience in writing or at least I do not want anyone to live vicariously through our experience on the street.  I even cringe writing that last sentence knowing that it can come across as prideful, but “so it goes.”

Tomorrow it will be three weeks since 8 of us from National Community Church decided to experience what it is like to be homeless.  We walked into National Coalition for the Homeless dropped off our cell-phones and wallets and left with the clothes on our back, a black trash bag containing two blankets, a journal, Bible and a pamphlet from Pathways to Housing that lists locations for services for the homeless.  That pamphlet was our meal ticket if we could not glean locations to eat from those on the streets.

In the weeks since the trip I have had numerous people ask me about my experience.  And I have enjoyed those conversations.  It seems that most think this decision to go homeless for 72 hours was at least a bit out there.  Oddly, I do not see it that way at all.  Based on the scriptures, particularly the Gospels and Jesus’ life, we decided to be with those that Jesus would have been with.  I am now back in my comfortable home in front of my laptop and life actually seems a bit off kilter.

Moreover, there are just as many homeless in DC at this moment as there were before we decided to go on this “plunge.”  For those interested the number is close to 6,000 for the District of Columbia.   So, really, what was it we accomplished during our time?  This, I think, is a great question to ask.  For one, I believe all eight of us have a better understanding of what it feels like to be homeless.  We all were required to panhandle and seven of the eight of us thought it was the most humiliating experience of our lives!  Personally, I had several takeaways from this experience.  One is this: there is a really good chance that saying “Hello” and asking the name of someone who is panhandling and not giving them any money at all just might be the bright spot of their day.

In DC there are many services available for the homeless community.  The spectrum of these services is broad, and I continue to learn more about them.  There are currently food deliveries at 5:30 and 7:00 on weekdays at Murrow Park located at 18^th and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.  And on weekends just a few blocks away at Franklin Park located at K street and 13^th there are food deliveries as well as clothing distribution.  Note: these details are included in case any of you may want to stop by and find a new friend.  There are shelters and quite a few places that have hot meals—some secular and some faith based.  I did not visit any shelters but heard some nightmare stories about the conditions of many of them.  Another takeaway is that I am confident that I would prefer living, i.e. sleeping on the street rather than in a shelter if I were homeless.

In my opinion, too many of the services provided for the homeless in DC lack a relational focus.  I recall getting breakfast at one place and feeling like I was herded in and out.  There was something inhuman about this.  That is why I feel so strongly about the power of acknowledging a person panhandling.  Moreover, this is what Jesus does over and over in the Bible; acknowledging someone’s humanity.  Acknowledging someone’s humanity is the centerpiece of the “Good Samaritan” Parable.  Jesus acknowledges the humanity of the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4.  He acknowledges the humanity of the woman caught in adultery while helping those that want to stone her to recognize the humanity in themselves in John 8.

The woman in Luke 8 who had a problem with bleeding, making her a major social outcast in Jesus’ day, touched Jesus cloak and was healed, yet Jesus does not allow her to just be healed he longs to interact with her.  Verses 46-48 are worth quoting here—again the scripture states that she has already been healed yet:

 Jesus said, "Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me."

Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace."

In calling this woman “Daughter,” Jesus acknowledges her humanity—she is no longer the outcast that society has made her.  This is what I hope my time on the streets allowed to me to learn—that I can acknowledge the humanity of anyone and everyone.

6,000 is a large number, but not insurmountable in my honest opinion.  How amazing would it be if we could put all of the homeless NGOs in DC out of business in our lifetime?  This is a God-sized dream, but one I want to be a part of.

While I was on the streets there were so many experiences that I thought I might share, but they are the experiences of our group.  I kind of see them as sacred and am now reluctant to share them.  Besides, for $50 you too can have this experience—it will be the cheapest vacation you ever take and you will have your own sacred experiences as well.  So perhaps that is my biggest takeaway—more people should step into the shoes of the homeless—experiencing what life is like from the other side is one of the best bridge-builders out there.

A Lot to Learn From a Small Town in Iraq--Review of The Gospel of Rutba

I finished Greg Barrett’s “The Gospel of Rutba” yesterday.  I imagine that I will be processing this book for the days, weeks, months and possibly years to come.  It evoked sadness, anger, disgust, guilt, as well as joy, hope and peace within me.  In Rutba, Barrett juxtaposes the macabre realities of war with one of the most amazing stories that you will ever hear of grace, friendship, forgiveness, inclusivity, hospitality and peacemaking.

After reading about the lives of Shane Claiborne, Cliff Kindy, Weldon Nisly, Peggy Gish, Logan Mehl-Laituri, Kathy Kelly, and Sami Rasouli, the primary subjects from the West in the book, and their demonstrations of loving the enemy I am embarrassed to self-apply the term Christian.  Reading this story has challenged me to my core.

With a ridiculous amount of research—the endnotes amount to about a 1/3 of the text—Barrett exposes the tyrannical “Domination System” that the United States has become.  Rutba is the story of Iraq that you do not get on CNN or Fox or even Al Jazeera for that matter. However, it is the stories like these that need to be told.  If enough of them were told we might begin to see the humanity in people—even those that we call our enemy.  It is far from an easy read, but every American needs to read this book—and not just the chaptered section, but endnotes too.

In fact, I plan to buy a case to give to friends for Christmas presents—perhaps it will help “sow the peace.”

Reasons I am Going Homeless This Wednesday Through Saturday

I have been part of a church small group that is led by my friend Jill Carmichael (who will be joining us on the streets as well) and focuses on social justice issues for a little more than a year now.  In August of last year this small group took a trip to visit The Simple Way located in one of the poorest parts of Philadelphia known as Kensington.  The Simple Way is…well it is hard to explain exactly what The Simple Way is other than to say that is a group of subversive friends that have a heart for social justice.  Shane Claiborne is one of the founders of the group and has called Kensington home for more than 10 years now.  He is also a best-selling author.  Our group read one of his books together and we were interested in learning about how The Simple Way approaches Social Justice.  It was on the ride home from this trip where I mentioned, to Jill, “You know, it would be a good, potentially life-changing, experience to see what it would be like to be homeless.”  Jill, being a social-worker for Friendship Place, immediately responded with, “You know National Coalitionfor the Homeless (NCH) does something called a “homeless challenge” where you do exactly what you have mentioned.  You should try to get this approved as an A1:8 trip.”  A1:8 based off of Acts 1:8 and summarized by National Community Church as: “Ordinary people, empowered by God’s spirit, doing what Jesus did, together, wherever they are” is the title for their missions programs.  I did not have to think more than a second at Jill’s chiding.  The next day I was pushing my pastor about doing the trip.

I have several reasons for wanting to do this trip.  Personally, the more I study scripture as a Christian the more I see Christ as a social revolutionary who was relational and had a heart and passion for the poor as well as someone that welcomed interruptions to his daily routine.  Oddly, I have called myself a Christian for more than 20 years, but only in the past couple years would I say that I have seen, or at least gotten glimpses of who the real Jesus is.

I see myself as someone unique in that I am pretty much a classical type A personality and an introvert at the same time.  I am not all that comfortable initiating relationships—I run from most of them.  Also, I am someone who is very task-oriented and who really dislikes being interrupted from my tasks.  These are two personality characteristics that I do not see at all in Christ.  I see the Homeless Challenge as a huge interruption to my daily routine as well as a huge opportunity for initiating relationships with homeless people in my own city—a chance to develop qualities I see in Christ that I lack in myself.

Also, our church is incredibly missional, locally, nationally and internationally.  I believe our faith community can be much more involved than we are locally though.  However, if I make a statement like that, than the finger-pointing needs to be at myself.  My hope is that this trip will be something that our church does every year.  Perhaps, together with NCH, Street Sense, Mariam’s Kitchen, Loaves and Fishes and every other NGO working with the homeless in our city we can put ourselves out of business!  What can I say…I wear a bracelet that our lead pastor had made that reads: “Dream Big, Pray Hard, Think Long.”

Lord Help Me Be More Polychronic

A little more than two years ago I was required to read Brian Fikkert’s When Helping Hurts for a trip to Israel/Palestine.  I recall there were differing opinions about much of the content of the book within our group.  What those differing opinions were has become hazy with the two plus years.  However, there is one section the book that has remained with me and had an impact on how I see people of other cultures, faiths, and walks of life in an amazingly positive and inclusive way.

Last Wednesday I had just parked my car at the Silver Spring parking garage and was walking to the metro station.  I was also a bit behind schedule to get to “The Living Room,”  a gathering of friends that meets in the basement of Ebenezer’s Coffee House in Capitol Hill, DC.  Our group is a gathering of misfits, one might say, that share a meal and study the Bible together.  There are a few of us currently living on the streets, a few of us who formerly lived on the streets, some that have never lived on the streets.  Regardless, come to “The Living Room” long enough and it starts to become an extended “dysfunctional family” as Bobby, one member of our group, likes to remind us each week.

So, back to my short walk to the metro platform to catch the Red-Line heading in the Shady Grove direction for the 5 or 6 stops—I have been doing this ride somewhat regularly for years and one would think that I would know the exact number of stops, but I don’t—To Union Station.  There is frequently a paper vendor outside of the Silver Spring Metro Station selling copies of Street Sense.  Street Sense is a non-profit based in Washington DC assisting the homeless and trying to put an end to homelessness in the city.  One thing that Street Sense does is employ homeless folks as street vendors for their newspaper of the same name.  The paper is about 30 pages long with stories that mainly focus on homeless issues. Many of the articles are written by the vendors.  It is pretty cool to buy a newspaper from someone who may have written one of the articles!  Anyway, Earl is the name of the vendor at the Silver Spring Metro.

I remember beginning my descent down the stairs toward the entrance of the metro station thinking, “hmmm…I wonder if Earl will be there with his newspapers today?”  I was excited about saying “hi” and getting a paper.  However, this thought instantly changed to, “Man, I am running late I really hope that Earl is not selling his paper today so that I am not late for ‘The Living Room.’”  In that instant I was filled with guilt and simultaneously reminded of Fikkert’s When Helping Hurts.

When Helping Hurts introduced me to two words that have forever changed, as stated in the opening paragraph, how I see those of other cultures and faiths and how I believe we, as people, should interact with them.  In his book Fikkert describes two very different cultures.  One is a monochronic culture and the other is polychronic.  If there was a poster-child for monochronic  culture the United States would be it, and much like DC is the capitol of the United States it makes a strong case for being the capitol of monochronic culture as well. 

People living in a monochromic culture tend to: concentrate on the job, commit to the job, be timely and efficient, and adhere religiously to plans.  On the other hand, those living in a polychronic culture tend to: allow distractions and manage interruptions well, change plans often and easily, be committed to people and human relationships—things that drive most westerners crazy including this one. 

However, I have had the privilege to spend time in Mali, Israel/Palestine, and Egypt and see polychronic culture up close!  I was and am humbled and convicted by the love these people had for one another and how much more important relationships rather than tasks were to them. 

Of course, there are positive and negative aspects to both of these cultural leanings, but we need to recognize that one is not right while the other is wrong as well as recognize that both exist.  I would argue that living on the far end of either spectrum can lead to a less fulfilling life – whether by being so task-oriented that relationships suffer or even fail to be developed, or by being so people-oriented that nothing ever gets accomplished.  I know that for me personally to be less focused on tasks and more focused on relationships is something that should be incorporated into my life. 

Sadly, Earl was not selling papers that day so I really do not know if my monochronic leaning would have pushed me by Earl without saying “hi” and getting a paper in order that that I could obtain my goal of making it to “The Living Room” on time, but I certainly hope not!

Disappointed with Robison's God of All Creation

It has been several weeks since I have finished James Robison’s God of All Creation.  If there was one word to describe how I feel about this book I think it would be ambivalent.  Robison’s uses his pet dachshund and other wildlife as his lens for how we can live Godly lives or at least attempts to show life lessons that can be learned through animals.  

Waterbrook Multnomah provides me with books free in exchange for fair and honest reviews and this is one of those books.  I chose this book to review frankly because I thought there was a strong possibility that I might really like it—I have really disliked the recent books that I have received from Waterbrook and it is much more fun to write a positive review than it is a negative one.  Moreover, despite not owning any pets of my own I have many friends who have dogs and cats and I was hoping that this would be a good book to recommend to them.  Sadly, this did not turn out to be the case.

I did manage to break the string of disliking books from Waterbrook.  There were things I liked about this book which were pretty balanced with the things that I disliked hence my ambivalence.  I would first like to share three quotes/stories from the book that I found either convicting and/or applicable to my life.  Then I will share a few things that I did not like.

Robison writes “It’s easy to say that we believe the Bible, but sometimes it seems difficult to live by it.  Which raises the question: What do we really believe?” (Pg. 84).  I think Robison is being a bit too gentle here actually.  If we say we believe something and then do not actually live it out in our daily lives I think there is a word for that.  That word is hypocrite.  Moreover, all of us at some point in our life, regrettably, will say one thing and do another.  Paul was no stranger to this and writes about it in Romans 7.  Robison gets it on acting out what you believe.

Perhaps the best corollary to animals and lessons regarding God is Robison’s comparison about rattlesnakes and sin.  Most people will generally be more scared of a large rattlesnake than a baby rattlesnake, but it is the babies that are more dangerous because they are quicker to bite and they do not always have control of how much venom they inject when biting.  Robison writes “Sin is like that too. People tend to look at the ‘big’ ones, such as murder, adultery, or theft, and ignore the ‘small’ ones, such as pride, bitterness, or envy.  This tolerance of the ‘small snakes’ leads to a lot of pain.  Just because something isn’t out in the open or punishable by law doesn’t mean it can’t destroy a life.  To the contrary, the sins that tend to go unnoticed can be the most poisonous to our souls” (Pg. 102).

Finally, Robison shares a story about some neighbors that would feed feral cats by placing food outside but do nothing more.  “They treated them as unwelcome guests, putting out a token dish, but not taking in the animals as their own…Christians can treat God like a stray.  Like our neighbors with the feral cats, we may give God a token gift when it’s convenient but never invite Him in.  Sure, let God visit, but stay?  Not a chance.  That requires giving up some things, taking on responsibility, and admitting ownership in the relationship.  But God is not looking for a place to visit; He is looking for a place to live.”  

Within Christianity today it is troubling to me that so much interpretation of Scripture is simplistic.  Don’t get me wrong, I am a believer that keeping things simple is a good practice.  However, there is also a danger with always opting for the simple answer or interpretation to things, particularly Scripture.  I have read the following observation in two books the past year.  There are three stages when it comes to faith: orientation, disorientation and reorientation.  Many of us enter the orientation stage of faith and remain there for the entirety of our faith journey.  Why?  Because we are too uncomfortable or scared to enter the disorientation phase.  Frankly, I believe these people lack authentic faith. I call their faith shallow because they are not willing to allow their faith to be tested—they see the status-quo interpretation of scripture and accept it blindly, without embracing the tension; a tension that while frustrating will ultimately lead to growth.  If this remaining in the orientation stage is what is meant by keeping things simple then I believe that is where the benefits of keeping things simple cease to exist.  I believe that Robison has lived his life and faith stuck in the orientation phase.

For example, Robison shares the quote from John 9:1-3: “Why was this man born blind?  Was it because of his own sins or his parent’s sins?  It was not because of his sins or his parent’s sins.  This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.” And has this to say about it: “This is not to say that suffering is always the result of someone’s sin” (Pg. 51-52).  In an orientation paradigm one sees that suffering can be something that God does to someone merely so that his glory can be revealed and it ends there.  This passage for me is a great example of disorientation.  I literally have a problem with a God that needs to cause someone to suffer in order to demonstrate his glory—this passage creates questions for me.  Jesus does not say that “God caused this…” but, “This happened so…”  Did God cause it?  If so, why?  Why is anyone born blind at all?  How do our parents sins cause us suffering?  Do our  parents sins cause us suffering?  How do our own sins cause us suffering?—for me this is a disorienting piece of Scripture.  I believe that God desires and wants us to seek him—I believe Jesus spoke in parables and never answered a yes-and-no question with “Yes” or “No” during his entire ministry because he knows that growth comes through disorientation.

Another example is Robison’s classic interpretation of the Parable of the Talents found in Matthew 25:14-18—the classic interpretation that so well fits our capitalistic culture where the master is seen as God and praises those that have a good return on their investment while chastising the servant that buries his talent.  There is an alternative interpretation to this parable that Robison does not even consider—perhaps he has never heard it but it goes like this: the Master is the oppressive Roman Empire and the servant that hides the talent is Christ who is rejected by the system. 

Obviously these two interpretations are diametrical to one another.  And the two interpretations definitely create disorientation.  My faith is more or less in the state of disorientation.  Honestly, it is a really difficult stage to be in but it does not end there.  I also believe that bits and pieces of my faith are beginning to reorient themselves and I must say that it is the light at the end of the tunnel.  It is in the reorientation that we begin get to see slivers of light, that are Jesus, shine through—it is where we really get to know what it means to love and serve Jesus.

THIS PEN

About a month ago, in the thick of the Christmas season, I sat in the performance area of Ebenezer's Coffee House located in the basement.  Ebenezer's is located in Capitol Hill, DC and is a former crack house that my church (well not my church it is God’s, but I do attend there) National Community Church (NCC) purchased.  For a number of years now NCC has been doing something called “InService.”  Every Wednesday the homeless are invited to share in a meal, Bible study and fellowship with other followers of Christ.  The homeless in my city now have a Bible study in a former crack house!  I love that!

I have been attending InService for several months now and to be honest it is a challenge.  Building relationships across cultural and economic barriers is not easy, at least not for me.  It takes time and patience.  Perhaps that is true for all relationships though, thus making InService not that unique.

Anyway, getting back to my experience a month ago I was struck by what took place at InService that night.  Struck by the fact that the homeless, the neglected and ignored in our cities, have so much to offer us.  One of our homeless men that comes on Wednesday nights, Ivan Johnson, performed an act that leaves me humbled, convicted and challenged!  He took the last bit of money in his pocket and bought a package of ink pens.  You might ask yourself why would Ivan decide to do this?  Well he showed up to our group, mentioned that it was the Christmas season and that we wanted to give all of us a gift.  He then explained that he wanted to give us each a pen so that when we were reading the Bible and something hit us we would have something to write it down with or if we had spiritual thoughts throughout the day we would have something to capture it so that we could look back on it for encouragement.  And this he did with the last dollar to his name.  Amazing!

Part of me wants to frame this pen as a reminder for what it means to give out of my poverty!

Luke 21:1-4: As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. ² He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. ³ “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.

⁴ All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”