Missional Politics: Laughing at Kings

Psalm 1: Like a tree planted by the water...

I'm re-posting updated selections from a previous series on Missional Politics during the current political season.
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Why do so many Christians get so worked up about the results of elections?

Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?  The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,  “Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.”   

The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. (Psalm 2:1-4)

If God thinks so little of them, why do we get so worked up about them?

The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.” 

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’ (Luke 4:5-8)

Notice, Jesus doesn't dispute Satan's claim to having been given all the authority of nations and the rulers of nations.

It's an interesting claim, especially considering the logical next question: If that authority has been given to Satan, who gave it to him? There's really only one logical answer to that question.

God thinks so little of the power of nations and rulers, he's delegated that insignificant part of the world to Satan.

Let Satan have the politics. God and His people have the gospel.

Looked at that way, Jesus' reply to Satan could be read as having a double meaning.

• No, Satan, I won't worship you. As the Son, I will only worship the Lord my God and serve him only."
• Anyone who worships the Lord and serves him should be careful to not elevate concerns about the nations and rulers and all their authority (i.e., politics) above concerns about glorifying God and sharing the gospel.

Go ahead, have and share political opinions. Every Christian is free to be involved in politics and government. Every Christian is free to hold opinions (although nowhere in the Bible are we told we have to have an opinion on every topic, nor are we ever commanded to share what we think about every topic).

But keep such things in perspective. God has given the kingdoms and the kingdom authorities over to Satan. Followers of Jesus should make the same choice He did: worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.

Psalm 119:83 A Wineskin in the Smoke

Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget your decrees.

Psalm 119:83

Jeremy was our first foster child. He arrived in our home, stayed a couple of months, and then left, returning to a less than ideal environment. Almost immediately the social worker brought us another foster son, a newborn.

Five months later Jeremy came back. He had been through tough times. He stayed with us through the holidays, and then, before his third birthday, he left again, returning once again to an unstable situation.

At the same time, the process for moving our younger foster son out of our home and to his grandparents was picking up speed.

We always remembered these children were not ours, that foster parenting is almost always temporary, and that's the ministry God had called us to do. And yet this was wearing on us.

There was one evening when we returned from somewhere and sat in our car in the driveway, the baby asleep in his car seat. We were very much like wineskins in the smoke. Our hearts were broken, our energy was sapped. Our willingness threatened to leak out.

We had a tearful conversation that evening, there in the car. Can we continue to do this? It's harder than we expected. If we're this stretched out after less than a year, can we really keep going?

In the end we made the intentional choice to continue doing what God had so clearly asked to do. We also talked through the details of how we would keep our hearts, our marriage, and our life from becoming brittle and strained.

The key was to not forget the Lord's decrees. To live intentionally according to His Word, to focus on spiritual disciplines and on His calling.

We continued on for a decade, through five fosters sons, before God made it clear we should move on. He made it clear by entangling our lives with those of our former foster children and their extended families in so many ways that we no longer had time for new babies.

Our lives are still intertwined with the lives of those boys. Four of them, anyway. We've never seen Jeremy since then and there will always be a weak spot in the wineskin as we wonder how he's doing. But we trust in God to care for him, and we wait patiently for the day when our hearts will be healed.

Missional Politics: In Season and Out

I'm re-posting updated selections from a previous series on Missional Politics during the current political season.
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Whenever someone asks, "What's your favorite season?", my answer is always the same. It's not Spring, Summer, Fall, or Winter.

My favorite season is baseball season. More specifically, my favorite season is the college baseball season. Go Mizzou.

A lot people love the political campaign season.

I wouldn't say I love it, not like some people do, but I do get drawn in by the campaign season. I read and listen to coverage and commentary and analysis from a broad variety of sources, from NPR to Rush Limbaugh, from Politico to Patheos.

There is one season that draws me in more than either the political season or Mizzou baseball season.

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness— in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, and which now at his appointed season he has brought to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior. (Titus 1:1-3)

Yes, it's gospel season. Which means, as Paul says, it's also preaching season.

When it's college baseball season, the ballplayers are at the ballpark, playing the game. I'm there with the other fans watching the games, talking about baseball.

When it's political campaign season, the presidential hopefuls are on the road, in front of crowds, on the TV, making their pitch to be the next leader of the free world. And politics geeks are watching, reading, soaking it all in, and arguing about politics.

But when it's gospel season, there are no fans, there are no followers, there are no geeks. When it's gospel season, God's people are actively involved, living the gospel, sharing the gospel, preaching the gospel.

The thing is, it's always gospel season. As Paul said to Titus, now is the time, now is the appointed season for his people to tell the world about the gospel.

Even during baseball season, when I'm cheering on the Tigers in Taylor Stadium, my job is to be on mission, focused more on winning my fellow fans to Jesus than on winning the game.

Even during political season, when I'm having a spirited conversation with my co-worker or some stranger on Twitter, my number one job is to stay on mission, focused more on winning people to Jesus than on winning the political argument.

Keeping your focus on the gospel when the political action is getting hot is not easy. Just as my zeal for the baseball experience has sometimes caused me to forget I'm there to be an ambassador for Christ, many people lose their firm foundation when they get too wrapped up in politics. As I said in my article in the February 2016 issue of Christian Standard, "When someone asks you the reasons for your political stance, do you remember to mention your faith and the name of the One who motivates everything you do? Or would a missional approach conflict with the tone and tenor of your vehement response?"

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. (II Timothy 4:1-5)

During the political season, remember to preach the Word. People will not want to hear sound doctrine. They'll prefer to hear sermons and conversations that satisfy their political desires and play to their political fears. They will turn aside to the myth that the outcome of the next presidential election is the most important event of this season, even though the scriptures are clear about who is in control of every season and every nation.

He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. (Daniel 2:21)

Keep your head straight, rooted in the kind of wisdom and discernment only God can provide. And keep your focus on doing the work of spreading the good news whenever it is gospel season.

Psalm 119:82 Waiting Words

Looking out on a crowd of women in the prison chapel, I see several faces that are weary, their eyes drooping, their light dimming and their liveliness failing.

They've been beaten down by life, long before they ever hit rock bottom and landed in prison. Now their only reason to get up in the morning is to do the bare minimum required to survive another dreary day in prison. The only thing they have to look forward to is that out-date.

They come to the chapel seeking comfort. Joy, hope, and purpose seem too much to hope for. But a small portion of comfort just might get them through this day. Any sort of more long-lasting comfort would be too much to ask.

Many of them would echo the words of David, if their souls still had the capacity for poetry.

My eyes fail, looking for your promise;I say, “When will you comfort me?”

Psalm 119:82

We try to teach them to follow David's example, to carry on a conversation with the God who is the Comforter.

In the original Hebrew, this verse describes an exchange of words.

My eyes fail, looking for a word from you
While I speak a word: When will you comfort me?

It's natural to cry out to the Lord. It's tempting to complain to Him. It's more productive to actually exchange words with Him.

He wants you to cry out. He will listen patiently to your complaints. He loves it when you talk to Him, no matter what you have to say. Pour out your deepest heartfelt thoughts in detail. Tell Him those things you don't tell anyone else. Do it often. Do it for a long time or a short time. Just talk to me, He asks.

In return, He invites you to turn those weary eyes to His words, in His Word. Search the scriptures for those promises. Memorize them. Write them on your heart.

The more you do that, you'll find yourself exchanging words with Him as you go through your day. You tell Him what's on your mind, and His words will come to you in response.

And occasionally, if you're listening, He'll tell you more, guiding your heart and your thoughts, giving you not only comfort but purpose. He'll direct your weary eyes to see others around you who are also weary.

And then, as you exchange words with your fellow weary travelers, a greater comfort and joy and hope will begin to grow in your broken heart.

Missional Politics: Fake it to Make it

I'm re-posting updated selections from a previous series on Missional Politics during the current political season.
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For over fifteen years of being involved in a ministry in a women's state prison, I encountered many different types of seekers.

There are the ladies who went to Sunday School, VBS, or church camp as a kid. Now, when they've hit bottom, they're genuinely struggling to nurture those seeds of faith planted in their hearts years ago. It's a joy to take that childlike faith and help them mold it into a faith capable of sustaining them through the hard times ahead.

There are others who were going to church all along, perhaps even involved in the ladies circle or teaching Sunday School themselves. But there was something else going on in their lives, a dangerous walk on the wild side. They found themselves hitting bottom with a hard thud, in prison. These women often go through an initial period of feeling so much shame, they hesitate to show their face in the chapel. With some time and dedicated nurturing of their faith, they often become leaders among the Christians in prison. They have a fairly decent knowledge of the Bible, combined with a hard-won knowledge of the rougher side of life. This combination gives them the tools to be mentors and friends and counselors to the other seekers.

And then there are the ones who, to use the prison lingo, "Fake it to Make it". They've discovered attending chapel can earn them brownie points or offer an opportunity to get out of their rooms and hang out with friends on the back row.

They learn very quickly, often from others like them, how to say the right things, use the right language, and tell a heart-rending testimony - well enough to earn the favor of the religious volunteers, many of whom come from middle class churches and have had little interaction with seasoned hustlers and con artists.

After a volunteer has been working in the prison chapel awhile you learn to pick up on the clues to a fake spirituality. They claim to have been active in a church back home, but their knowledge of basic church culture is sorely lacking. They can quote a few verses, presenting them as "what I found in my studies this week", but their knowledge of how to actually use the Bible is not only deficient (also true of many true seekers), but fake. The things they say are superficial and rehearsed, not a reflection of their hearts.

Every prison staffer and volunteer and chaplain learns to be wary of such fakers. They want something from you, something that will benefit themselves. But they don't really want to know the One True God. If you trust them, give them an inch, you're setting yourself up for the con.

Don't misunderstand me. Genuine seekers in prison often are awkward as they learn to read the Bible and pray and talk about faith. It's easy, though, to spot the difference between a genuine desire to learn versus an act put on for the benefit of people watching.

For a long time we had one lady who would show up in the chapel every three or four months and ask to sing a special or give her testimony. If we turned her down, she put on a show of being insulted and then would disappear for another few months. She only wanted to show off her put-on religion for the sake of others.

These fake-it-to-make-it religious people are like the one red-leafed tree in the picture above. Every Autumn that tree turns before any of the other trees. It looks stunningly beautiful against the green backdrop.

The truth is, that tree turns early because it's dying. Its roots are unhealthy. It will soon look like the dead tree next to it. Unlike the precious seedlings and saplings that are doing their best to grow tall and strong, this tree is putting on a grand show, but there's only a cold and false heart at the center.

I've watched it play out year after year in the fall foliage outside my office windows.


What does this have to do with missional politics?

I pray that Christians will be discerning enough to recognize "fake it to make it" religion when it comes from the mouths of candidates. By their fruit will you know them.

Psalm 119:81 Resources for the Wait

I'm a part time rideshare driver. One afternoon, on one of the hottest days of the summer, I was driving through the city on the way to pick up a passenger. A block from my destination I saw a hitchhiker, standing by the side of the road, thumb out. He was hot and sweaty, waiting and hoping for some to rescue him. Since I was "on the clock" for Uber, I passed him by and drove on to where I saw my rideshare passenger standing by the side of the road, looking from his smart phone to my approaching car. He was hot and sweaty, waiting and hoping for me to rescue him.

The difference between these two hopeful passengers is the rideshare app. My assigned passenger was able to look at the app and see a real time GPS tracking of my car's progress along the app's designated route and a timer ticking down the minutes until arrival. He also, as I pulled up, had before him a picture of my car, its license plate number, and a picture of the authorized driver along with my name.

The hitchhiker had only his thumb and a less-than-hopeful expression on his face.

My soul faints with longing for your salvation,but I have put my hope in your word.

Psalm 119:81

One of the truest lines ever written in a song is found in the chorus of Andrew Peterson's Faith to Be Strong:

Give us faith to be strong, Give us strength to be faithful; This life is not long, but it's hard; Give us grace to go on, Make us willing and able; Lord, give us faith to be strong

This life is not long, but it's hard.

For young people, the idea of "this life is not long" is foreign to them. For the ladies in the prison chapel it can also seem an odd statement. For them, every day is long and all they can see stretching out before them is a repetitive string of long days.

They would agree, though, that life is hard.

From my perspective, in the early part of my seventh decade traveling the 1 road, I know very well this life is not long. And I know from experience life can be hard.

During life's hardest times the wait for rescue makes life even harder.

So what's a weary traveler on the 1 road of life to do?

You can choose the hitchhiker option or the rideshare option.

The spiritual hitchhiker has nothing to rely on but their own efforts. Try to summon up a positive outlook. Explore ways to distract yourself from your woes. Pour all your spiritual energies into pursuing an emotional high that will provide a brief but shallow respite. Flip through the pages of the Bible hoping to stumble on a verse to answer your questions or cheer you up. Or sit down in a pile of ashes and curse the day of your birth (Job 2:8, 3:1).

The spiritual rideshare traveler takes a different approach. Like the hitchhiker, you know there's likely to be a wait for rescue to arrive. But you also know you have a resource to provide you with real, substantive hope.

Like the rideshare app, God's Word (which these days might actually be on an app), provides you with everything you need to navigate the 1 road of life in a god-centered way (II Peter 1:3-11).

This doesn't mean looking for a quick fix in the Bible. Peter provides guidelines on how to make use of what God has provided.

• II Peter 1:3 - Study the scriptures with the goal of knowing the heart of God
• II Peter 1:4 - Study the scriptures with the goal of training your own heart to be like God's heart
• II Peter 1:5-9 - Study the scriptures to learn how spiritual disciplines can produce spiritual fruit that will sustain you and grow your faith
• II Peter 1:10-11 - Study the scriptures to learn what God has called you to do and how to remain steadfast in fulfilling His mission

While you wait through this life that is not long but often hard, keep the Word ever before you. Then when the rescue comes, you'll already know His face and He'll richly welcome you.

Missional Politics: What is Truth?

I'm re-posting updated selections from a previous series on Missional Politics during the current political season.
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Kevin Drum of Mother Jones magazine did some data crunching of 2016 results from Politifact's fact-checking service (How Honest is Your Favorite Candidate?). The actual ranking of specific candidates is irrelevant for the purposes of this blogpost. My goal is not to tell you who to vote for, or even which party. If you want the details, you can click and see for your self.

What is most interesting to me is this little nugget:

"Among Republicans, honesty is the exact inverse of popularity. Jeb Bush is the most honest, and he's got the lowest poll numbers among the serious candidates. Donald Trump and Ben Carson are the least honest by quite a bit, and they're also leading the field by quite a bit. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are in the middle on both honesty and popularity."

As Drum says, "It's almost as if the Republican electorate wants to be lied to, and the more you lie, the more they like you."

If you distrust something published by the left leaning Mother Jones, a Fox News poll in November of 2015 polled people on which candidates are honest vs. not honest. Ben Carson scored highest, at +34.  Hillary Clinton came in at negative 28.

The question then arises: When someone talks about honesty, what do they mean by that word? Obviously the folks at Politifact have a different definition than the "1,230 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide" who responded to the Fox poll.

As I read and listened to what was being  written and said about the 2016 presidential candidates, two distinct concepts of honesty keep popping up. They couldn't be more different.

The first approach to honesty is one I heard over and over during that campaign season and have continued to hear throughout the past two years, summarized succinctly in this quote:

“His honesty, he’s blunt, he tells it like it is...” (a Trump supporter, quoted at breitbart.com)

That sentiment is spoken often about Donald Trump, but similar comments have been made in reference to other candidates as well.

At the other end of the spectrum is a comment made by Ashe Schow, on Observer.com. Schow is ranking the candidates after one of the GOP debates last October, and says this about Jeb Bush:

"Where he excelled: His answer to the very first question about his greatest weakness was more honest than any of the other candidates. He actually gave a weakness: He’s impatient, and the presidency calls for patience."

Whatever you think of Jeb Bush or of that answer in particular, it certainly is an example of a much different definition of honesty. It was blunt in the sense that it didn't hold back. He did indeed "tell it like it is". But he was being blunt and to the point about his own weakness, not bluntly rude and scathing in pointing out the weakness of an opponent or a policy.

I'm not here to talk about the accuracy of either of those statements about the candidates' character, nor am I trying to build up or tear down any specific candidates.

My concern is about the definition of honesty, from a biblical point of view.

I've heard (and read on social media) several Christians use the phrases "he tells it like it is" and "blunt" and "he really lets them have it" in describing the honesty they see in some candidates.

If these same Christians were preaching or teaching about Jesus as the Truth (as in, "I am the truth, the way, and the life"), would they use those words to describe Jesus' honesty? For that matter, even if you don't think of yourself as a preacher or teacher, but just a "regular Christian", is that the concept of honesty you talk about when you're sharing your faith with your friends and neighbors and co-workers?

One biblical character famously scoffed at the idea of a perfect standard for truth.  "What is truth?" he famously asked. The words were spoken, of course, by Pontius Pilate, a politician who was such a slave to politics that he ordered Jesus to be executed.

Some will (and have) objected: We're not electing a preacher-in-chief. We're electing a commander-in-chief.

Yes, that's true, but I would counter: There's only one definition of truth and honesty, and it should apply in your fishing boat on Saturday, in church on Sunday, in the office on Monday, and on the campaign trail, no matter what day it is no matter who you are. In season and out of season.

Many people fail miserably and many more fail occasionally to live up to the biblical concept of honesty. Many of those who fail are believers, like me.

The biblical concept of truth and honesty is defined by Jesus himself, the perfect example of honesty.

Was Jesus direct? Did he speak the truth even when it was unpopular? Did his honesty sometimes offend and upset people? Yes, yes, and yes, you'd better believe it.

Was Jesus ever rude or vulgar? Was Jesus sarcastic in his truth-telling, ridiculing people? Did  he shade the truth in order to gain popularity? No, no, and no again.

Fellow believers, support whomever you will. Vote for whichever candidates you think will be the best among the available choices.

But please don't destroy your witness and lay down a political stumbling block for seekers by using the word "honesty" to describe any politician's dishonesty. Let's not praise the ones who practice deception by putting a politically motivated spin on everything they say. And let's not praise the alternate flavor of deception, the ones who try to pass off rudeness and sarcasm as honesty.

Missional politics means always being more concerned about winning people to Christ rather than winning them to a political candidate or viewpoint. As I said in the February 2016 issue of Christian Standard magazine (Theology in the Public Square),

Have you considered whether your freedom of political expression might interfere with your ability to be heard when you talk about Jesus?

When it comes to honesty, the mature Christian will avoid the craftiness of deceitful leaders and will instead speak the truth in love, just as Jesus did.

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. (Ephesians 4:14-15)

Psalm 119:81-88 Kaph

Over 15 years of leading worship in a women's prison chapel, there were three types of songs the ladies most often requested.

One favorite was the old hymns. Amazing Grace. The Old Rugged Cross. They liked these songs because they reminded them of a simpler time when they went to church as children, often with a grandparent who was a spiritual mentor.

They also love songs that focus on the emotional aspects of faith. They compensated for the drudgery and depression of prison life by singing hyper-emotional spiritual songs. These are the songs that either lift you to your feet with your hands in the air or reduce you to sobbing tears. For our crowd of women in prison, this meant songs like Cry Out to Jesus. Or This is the Air I Breathe:

And I ... I'm desperate for you for You...And I ... I'm lost without You

The most popular type of song, by far, are songs about heaven. They love I'll Fly Away:

When the shadows of this life have flown, I'll fly away; Like a bird from prison bars has flown, I'll fly away.

But the number one requested song by far is I Can Only Imagine, by Mercy Me.

Over 15 years our chapel attendees changed. On our last Monday in the prison chapel there was no one in attendance who was there back at the beginning. We had turned over our regular crowd numerous times. And yet week after week, year after year, the most-requested song was I Can Only Imagine.

They like that song because it talks of a better place and a better life than they know now. That's certainly a repeated theme of scripture, and songs about the hereafter have been favorites in congregations everywhere for ages. Roy Weece once said his favorite song was When We All Get to Heaven.

Sadly, an obsession with the hereafter among the ladies in the prison chapel betrays a common problem with their spiritual lives.

Many of them have given up hope of any real joy in this life. They know they've messed up their lives in a huge way. Prospects are dim for reassembling the life they once knew before they did whatever landed them in prison.

They've discovered (or rediscovered) faith in prison, but they see it as something that gives them some comfort, not as something that can re-energize their daily lives. They cling desperately to God's promises of a better life in heaven, and that's what they want to sing about.

Our goal every Monday night was to to build on the three aspects of their faith as expressed in their worship.

We wanted to cultivate the seeds that were planted in their hearts when they were younger. Those grandparents and Sunday School teachers faithfully planted the Word of God in their young hearts and watered them with love. Now, when these women have reached the lowest of lows, those seeds are sprouting, and we did everything we could to help their faith grow strong.

We also wanted to harness the energy of their hyper-emotional faith and train them to sow seeds to the Spirit and keep in step with the Spirit. We did this by teaching them to practice the spiritual disciplines of prayer, study, meditation, fasting, journaling, and more.

And we worked hard to teach them how to live a life of adventure by being on mission for God. The rugged roads they'd traveled are the very tools God could use for His purposes. We told them that every church needs someone like them, someone who has been through hell on earth and come back victorious, someone to remind the people in the pews of the power of grace and the importance of reaching out to "the least of these."

In this stanza of Psalm 119, David is expressing his struggles to continue moving forward on the long and rugged road of life. These eight verses are about waiting for the joy of the journey's end, not by sitting around sighing, but by putting down deep roots in the heart of God.

My soul faints with longing for your salvation,but I have put my hope in your word.My eyes fail, looking for your promise;I say, “When will you comfort me?”Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke,I do not forget your decrees. How long must your servant wait?When will you punish my persecutors?The arrogant dig pits to trap me,contrary to your law.All your commands are trustworthy;help me, for I am being persecuted without cause.They almost wiped me from the earth,but I have not forsaken your precepts.In your unfailing love preserve my life,that I may obey the statutes of your mouth.