God and politics is one of the themes of Andrew Sullivan’s “Crisis in Christianity.”  For my taste, he pushes a bit too hard for a faith that runs the danger of being “privatized,” that is, kept to one self rather than brought out into the open of public discourse.

For example, when addressing the occasional engagement of Christianity in politics, Sullivan suggests that the church filter the God-talk out of the discussion.

When politics is necessary, as it is, the kind of Christianity I am describing seeks always to translate religious truths into reasoned, secular arguments that can appeal to those of other faiths and none at all. But it also means, at times, renouncing Caesar in favor of the Christ to whom Jefferson, Francis, my grandmother, and countless generations of believers have selflessly devoted themselves.

This seems naïve.  How do you contend for a public policy rooted in a transcendent reality without the language of faith?  Part of the broader crisis of our time is the failure of the public sphere to grant a place for conversation that acknowledges the possibility of a divine presence.  The default, acceptable world view becomes a materialistic atheism, with politics devolving into a scramble of how to divide up the pie.  After all, there is nothing else out there.  Presumably. 

Lots of people, Muslims, Jews, Christians, et. al., say that’s a bad presumption.  I don’t think it is possible to always translate “religious truths into reasoned, secular arguments.” 

Let’s try one.  “God is love.”   Okay.  Let’s see, “Transcendent reality is good, personal, and to be trusted.”  Does that work?  It’s not very warm.  It makes my head hurt a little bit.  And, frankly, I don’t think it will make it through the filter of the secular pluralists Sullivan is asking us to appease.

Sometimes the conversation needs to be frank, honest and hard.  The only way I know to maneuver through that successfully is, well, by being anchored in that simple Truth, God is love.  

Kyle

Miguel Villanueva went on to glory yesterday.  He retired from teaching Spanish in a San Diego area community college in the late ‘80s.  He said he always dreamed of living in Hawaii, always spoken with a twinkle in his eye.  Instead, the Lord had him move onto a canyon wall in Tijuana. 

The space was a squatter’s barrio on the side of a ravine formed by the San Andeas fault.  Tijuana’s poor were gathering there.  Some found work in the new NAFTA factories taking root up the ridge.  Others had migrated from Central America and Southern Mexico hoping for a chance to cross the border into the US.  Most were undocumented, meaning born in the villages and barrios of Mexico without a birth certificate.  Without a birth certificate in Mexico, a Mexican can’t go to school.

Miguel built a small, ramshackle shed and called it a church.  A small handful of mothers and their children started showing up.  One day, a mother asked, “Pastor, when are you going to start a school?”  Miguel’s answer, “There is no school.  We have no money for desks or books or teachers.”  The mother kept asking.  Miguel saw the need, felt the burden, and said, “Tomorrow, we start school.”

He told the story with the same twinkle in his eye he had when he talked about Hawaii.  Miguel had a vision of a school for poor children not only in Tijuana, but across Mexico.  He talked about it with passion, conviction, and hope.  You listened to him and you believed him, or wanted to.  You did what you could to help and watched miracles of God’s provision happen, all the time.

Miguel is with the Lord now.  He’s probably still talking about schools throughout Mexico to educate the poor. Don’t know if that will ever happen, now that Miguel is gone.  But it doesn’t matter.  Miguel had a vision for a school.  He started teaching little kids using the floor of a shack for a desk.  Twenty-some years later hundreds, if not thousands, of kids got an education because Miguel moved to a barrio in Tijuana rather than a condo in Hawaii.

Kyle

Flying back from our first History Makers Journey in Houston, found some inspiring stories in the March 2012 Southwest flight magazine, entitled, Spirit, of all things.  Thought I’d share them.

In April 2008, Sara Tucholsky hit a home run playing for Western Oregon Universtiy.  It was her first one.  Ever.   Rounding first, she failed to touch the bag, stopped, turned, and blew out her knee.  She collapsed in agonizing pain.

The umpires ruled that her teammates could not assist her around the bases.  If a pinch runner came in, the pinch runner must remain on first and the hit would be scored a two run single rather than a home run.  She’d loose her first ever homer.

At that moment, Mallory Holtman, the first baseman for the other side and the all-time leading home run hitter in the conference asked, “Can I help her out?”

Mallory and teammate Liz Wallace lifted the injured Mallory and carried her around the bases, pausing at each so she could dutifully touch each.  The three of them made it home, laughing all the way, while the fans wiped tears from their eyes and cheared.  

Mallory’s team ended up loosing 4-2. But, of course, in the eyes of all, Mallory won far more than a game.

We love to here stories like this because we want to live like this.  What opportunities are there around us to "carry" those who have fallen?  I'll bet there are a lot more than we realize.

Kyle

The Anti-Gospel and the Gospel: What characterizes your witness?

Two motives reign in you:  Power.  Love.

Power promises security.  The Apostle Paul recognized that “The Law” was a play for security. He said, "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel." Likewise, Christian discourse today is so often all about power and control -- the Law.  It assumes authority to dictate people’s choices and to control people’s behavior.  Moral condemnation is a power-play.

Leadership that functions out of a fallen narrative seeks power, not relationship.

Julius Caesar entered the world and said, “I came.  I saw.  I conquered.”  Jesus of Nazareth entered the world and said, “I came.  I saw. I died.”

Leadership that functions out of the biblical narrative seeks relationship, not power.

Love embraces vulnerability.  The Apostle Paul recognized Faith was a play for genuine connection. He said, "For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." Leadership Beyond is about relationship and allowing others space to make bad decisions.   Love promises freedom.

Two motives reign in you: Power. Love.

What characterizes your witness?

Kevin, Together Growing

We live from an authentic passion: the Father’s love for all he has created.  We kill the vampire when we live from the reality of that love.  We declare without apology or compromise that Jesus came to save that which was lost.  To know him intimately is to share his passion for getting the truth out that God is grace.  He loves all, died for all, and calls us to live for all, with his passion.

With that message we put a stake in the heart of the Secularization Myth.  We can know the truth and the truth will set us free.  We’re not buying the simple silliness that everything is relative, that we can’t know what is true, that “it’s okay for you, but not for me,” that we can live for ourselves without a burden for others. We put deeds behind words, validating the truth of God’s active presence at work in the world today.

We roll on from there equipping people to take responsibility and lead in a culture in the grip of the paralyzing, life-denying Secularization Myth, that taints everything but few really believe.

Tomorrow begins our first History Makers Journey in the USA.  Pray for us as we focus the hearts of the emerging generation on the task at hand.

Folks are dying in America with the question unresolved in their hearts.  “Is there a God, and does he love me?”  They have grown up in a culture heavily tainted with the Secularization Myth, the story that God comes out of an older time and really isn’t real or significant.  Most of the “authoritative voices” we hear presume an impersonal, amoral universe with mindless cause-and-effect forces at the heart of reality.

Our culture really has done a poor job of exploring the aching question in the soul, “Is God real, and does he care?”  The story out there that God is an old wives tale or something best left behind in Sunday School really doesn’t answer the pervasive question. 

The church hasn’t been all that helpful in the public square.  We tend to use language that just sounds kooky to people with real questions, or we convey far more judgmentalism than compassion, at least that’s what seems to get noticed. 

The truth is the real care in the community continues to come from simple people who love Jesus and just want to help.  And do every day.

Earlier this year I went through Joplin, MO with Shawn Spiess, a pastor from Kansas City.  Almost a year after the devastating tornado of May 11, 2011, the church is still at work helping families rebuild their lives.  The same is true of the Alabama tornadoes of April 27^th, and of Katrina, tsunamis, earthquakes, famine, fire, and flood…. Everywhere Jesus' people continue to do the work of caring with active compassion, long after the news cameras have left the scene.

The challenge for us remains to live a life that paints a picture of God’s active presence in the world.  Our dominant culture is unlikely to get the message.  Those who experience the love of God through his people will.

We are more isolated than ever...and in great peril.

Found this over at churchmarketingsucks.com.  “Peter” is Peter Haas from Substance Church  in Minneapolis.  Kevin Hendricks is asking the question.

 You’ve also said that today’s generation is more socially isolated than any previous generation. What do you mean by that and what does it mean for churches?

Peter: Americans are more likely to live alone than any other nationality on earth. Studies are starting to show that we are some of the most socially isolated people on planet earth. We’re also more likely to move away from our families than any people group in the world, and move further distances, and with greater frequency than any other people group. And even when we “plant ourselves,” we commute longer distances than just about any other nation. Then we work longer hours and participate in more socially isolating entertainment experiences than almost any other nation on earth.

And maybe you’re thinking: “But who cares if we’re isolated?…What difference does it make?”

Well, studies show four jaw dropping ramifications of isolation:

1.      Life expectancy for isolated people is dramatically less.

2.      Your statistical odds of happiness will virtually wither up and die.

3.      Both crime rates and violence tend to increase in direct proportion to a societies’ relational isolation.

4.      Individualism necessitates materialism. Because you’re isolated, you have to buy your own chain saw rather than borrowing one. This requires more debt, which requires more work hours, which compounds your isolation.

 In other words, people have less community than ever before. This must change the way churches need to think. The most valuable commodity the church can peddle isn’t Bible information or even church services, but community.

 Although I’m uncomfortable with the notion that churches are supposed to “peddle” anything, I do like Peter’s take on the need for community.

This from Reuters on Friday, March 09, 2012:

Demand for 'survival services' rises in US cities

(Reuters) - Many cities across the United States are still scrambling to help their residents overcome the economic recession that officially ended more than two years ago, according to a survey released on Friday by the National League of Cities.

The league, which represents hundreds of civic officials, found that demand for "survival services," such as food banks and housing shelters, had increased in 31 percent of cities over the last six months. It had fallen in only 8 percent of cities over that time.

Paul was pretty clear about the practical implications of our salvation:

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.  (Ephesians 2:10)

So…what are you doing to provide “survival services” in your community?

Kony 2012 is up to 52.5 million this morning, four days after launching onto the web..

Produced by Jason Russell of Invisible Children Inc, in a high production quality, documentary style, Jason and his team's goal was half-a-million viewers by the end of the year.  Their aim was to “make Kony famous,” (Joseph Kony, very bad guy from Uganda, now in Congo). 

 Their vision is a world without Joseph Kony, built upon the eternal value of justice.

The moment has caused quite a stir.  Some simple observations:

1. Kony 2012 highlights the potential of social media to move masses of people.

2. Kony 2012 focuses on a clear villain with a clear vision: "Stop him!" 

3. The true story isn’t as easy to convey and would have never gone viral.  (See Kevin's comment from yesterday's post.)

4. Kony 2012 offers a sense of unity for the emerging generation, giving a sense of purpose, meaning, and identity around a perceived justice issue with easy ways to get involved: post the video, wear a bracelet, donate a few dollars.

5. Commend Russell for his passion, but why Joseph Kony? As evil as Kony is, he is a spent force,yesterday's news, if the Ugandan's are to be believed. There is much more in the world to be concerned about. For example, many more children die of starvation than are affected by Kony's LRA. clean water, sex trafficking, energy issues, Chinese labor practices, economic disparity, godless consumerism, are greater evils.  Oh yeah, and billions without Christ.

6. Where is God in all this?  Without a shared commitment to Christ and his kingdom with the discipline of participation in a discerning community, what we see are millions touched by the media savy of a effective team, yet lacking the discernment to track with truth and hear what the Lord would have.

The Kony Craze gives us a great opportunity to pause and ask, What are the best ways to process this kind of viral intensity? 

My son Nick called from college to get my take on the latest viral action driven by Facebook and Twitter, Kony 2012.

He was concerned by what he experienced as kids on campus getting caught up in a frenzy to stop an injustice, but not taking the time to check out the facts, look into the details.   Jason Russell of Invisible Children Inc., produced the video.

Here’s Nick:

Their strategy is to have strength in sheer numbers and unify our generation in a worldly cause. I just don't want people to fight for a cause that glorifies a "tower of Babel" scenario. It is scary that a video like this can do so much in the church. I'm mainly concerned that God is not involved. It’s what gave rise to the Nazis, bad propaganda.

Nick has jumped on a key concern when he labels the Kony Craze a "'tower of Babel' scenario."  Social media provides the power to start a stampede.  Slow down, take a breath, is the Lord in this or not?  We've reached a place where it seems "nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them" (see Genesis 11.)

Since this Tuesday (yes, March 6^th), the video has been watched by over 26 million people reports Youtube.  Russell’s goal is “to make Kony famous” so the US government will be pressured to keep the pressure on Kony.  The problem is the issue is far more complex and nuanced that Kony 2012 makes it.  According to Youtube It is most popular with girls aged 13-17, young men aged 18-24, and boys aged 13-17, not the most discerning cohorts.

I’ll have more tomorrow.  For the time being, go to The Guardian in the UK for the best reality check on the aims and claims of Kony 2012.