St. John Studies

Sometimes I leave the television on in the garage. This past Saturday I was working on my truck with the background noise of MSNBC, CNN or FOX in the background. I can’t remember which. The political pundits were hard at work in constant analysis of the current political election. Endless analysis…

There was a man and a woman, addressing the “struggle” that Christians are having with this election.   The man asked the woman “With one candidate accused of lying and the other accused of inappropriate conduct with women, how can a Christian support either candidate? I just don’t understand it. Both candidates are so very unchristian in their behavior.”

From listening to their commentary, I thought I could tell the man was not espousing ideas that you would think would come from a Christian.   He was very judgmental of Christians, with the attitude that Christians are all hypocrites. They try to live by “the Book” and in their effort to mirror the life of Christ, they say one thing and do the opposite. That is exactly what he sees is happening in this election.

His comments bothered me as they should all Christians as we see “evangelicals” [what the pollsters call us] take to television and declare their views for the whole world to see. There does not seem to be any awareness about the idea that our public declarations can be used as evidence against us. Unchurched people don’t need any more ammunition than they already have.

I post this blog at stjohnstudies.com but I also post it on Facebook. Sometimes I check Facebook to see if what I have written has been posted. I don’t stay on Facebook long because I see too many of my Christian friends who post political broadsides that I guess are designed to incite a reaction from those of the opposing party.   The problem is not the reaction from the other political party; it is the unchurched people who see the post and wonder about the true nature of our faith.

When I began to blog on Adam Hamilton’s book Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White, I had a Methodist minister who was very familiar with Hamilton’s writing say to me “you sure picked a “doozy” of a book to blog about”.   The implication was that it is going to be tough. I began posting on the book on March 29, thinking it may do me good and someone else good to have a political discussion about avoiding extremes.   Maybe in this country founded on free expression we could dialogue without reacting in a hate-filled manner.   I could have never predicted on March 29 that this country could be mired in an election of this nature.   I don’t use the word mired loosely. Look it up; it means to be stuck in the mud.

I watched the primaries with some interest as both parties wound their way to the presumptive nominees and then I watched with interest the candidate’s behavior at the political conventions.   As this election season began, I soon began to understand that all of the prior rules of civil discourse would be thrown out. I have cringed many times as charge and countercharge has been leveled at the opposite side.

In the last debate, there was only one peaceful moment when the person from the audience asked if either candidate could say anything good about the other.   Hillary Clinton talked about Donald’s Trumps nice children and Donald Trump said he admired Hillary because she was not a quitter. That got them to shake hands, which was noticeably absent at the start of the debate. Otherwise, the whole town hall forum was one uncivil attack after another.   I winced as I heard things I thought I would never hear at a Presidential forum.   When it was over, I was so glad for the last question and the handshake, a modicum of civility.

Don’t get me wrong; I am going to vote. But I am going to try so hard to be even-handed in my last posts on the book. The drama is intense on a daily basis as no one knows what tomorrow may bring. My goal is to comment on politics and ethics just like Adam Hamilton tries to do in his book. I am not trying to sway anyone to vote one way or the other.

I just want Christians who read this blog to think long and hard about the value of trying to push one candidate or the other in a public form–the cost of that declaration.   Not only does it cost so much mental energy on your part to twist your faith to fit a candidate’s behavior but it may cost even more than that; you may cause an unchurched observer of your behavior to remain unchurched.

That day in my garage I waited to hear what the woman would say in response to the man who had such a negative view of Christians. She said she understood why he would be so disturbed by Christians who stood by their man or their woman. She then said a key idea. “Most Christians believe in the doctrine of grace.   None of us is perfect. We all need God’s forgiveness. Maybe Christians are just extending grace to the candidates.”

Think hard about what you are getting ready to do on November 8. It will be your vote and your vote alone. You will have a curtain to pull as you cast it. That privacy is a good thing. Think about the cost of your public declaration.

Public declarations can cost you, but maybe more importantly, public declarations can cost others even more as they listen to your words and find just another excuse to turn away from the church.

John 17:14-16  “I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.”

I have already posted about how Christians just don’t seem to fit into the climate of this current political election [see my post on October 3^rd].

However, anyone who really knows me will tell you I am not prone to just throw up my hands, dig a big hole and crawl in it. At times, during this election year, I have been tempted to do just that, but what good would that do?

The short answer; it won’t do any good at all.

So what are Christians to do? We have to find some way to survive this toxic political climate. In fact, we should vote.   We are citizens after all and to have a vote is a privilege, even though we may not be happy with the choices.

I could recommend that you read the newspapers, go to the internet and flip between MSNBC, CNN and FOX but what good will that really do?   Each source has its bias and instead of reporting facts in this election, most news sources merely report their own opinions.

What is a Christian to do?

First of all, if you are a Bible reader, now is a good time to turn to God’s word. Let the words of Jesus inspire you to lead the best life you can lead and ask yourself if you can discern any love coming from the political candidates in this race. The New Testament contains reflections of the early Christians on what they did to follow Jesus. They took the ideas of Jesus and tried to apply them in the most difficult times, times when they were persecuted for following their Lord and Savior.

We complain about the election being a difficult time but this time pales in comparison to the struggles of the early Christians. The Bible is full of guidelines to help us understand what to do. Follow those instead of some biased political pundit.

Secondly, what can we learn from the tradition of the church? Ethics has been at the forefront of concern for the Church for the past two thousand years. It is hard to cut through all the information that is thrown at us on a daily basis but if a candidate’s behavior violates our Christian sense of right and wrong, we should be justified in ruling out that candidate.   Think about our standard regarding lying. Think about God’s admonition about humility as expressed in James 4:6 “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Think about God’s standard regarding money that we see in 1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs”. For years, leaders of the church have spoken about ideal behavior that should stem from following a Christian life.

Thirdly, we might get wise counsel from our church community. It is a fact that sometimes a church member will have a political agenda and they will carry that into church and express it. I have been in Sunday school when inappropriate things were said for or against a political candidate. I have been in a church men’s group when a man told a very racist joke about President Obama before the last election.

I have strong feelings about this.

It should not happen.

It is hard to stop politics at the church door but we should make the effort. Biased opinions for or against political candidates are not what I want to hear when I ask my fellow church members how they feel about lying, pride and the love of money. I want to hear how others feel; I can evaluate their opinions, I can apply their ideas. I don’t have to hear another person’s political bias.

In short, I have to make up my own mind. I seek guidance, not someone to direct my choice in the voting booth.

Sadly, the choice for President is not easy for most of us.

“To see the world in black and white is to live within the contours of extremism. This outlook neatly divides the world into right versus wrong, good versus evil, and yes versus no. This thinking is dependent upon such words as always and never. Especially in times of crisis, the black and white worldview is looked upon as strength and courage to the casual observer….[However] our political leadership has been at its best when those leaders have dared to enter the world of gray….It requires far less courage to live in a black and white world than it does to live in the gray. The world of gray requires that we show up and be present. It does not afford us the luxury of putting life on automatic pilot.” Byron Williams*

This election calls for us to be more than casual observers.   We need to participate. We need to inform ourselves of the issues and as Christians, we need take the Word of God, the ethical standards of our faith and the guidance from wise members of our church community and figure those into our decision.

You know, that tough decision that must be made on November 8.

*Rev. Byron Williams is one of the leading public theologians in the nation. He is a columnist, author, and the former pastor of the Resurrection Community Church in Berkeley, CA.

Adam Hamilton cites Joseph Fletcher, an Episcopal priest who wrote a landmark book entitled Situation Ethics. In his book he tries to find middle ground between people who believe there are absolute rules that all must follow and people who believe there are no rules that must be followed at all. As we encounter situations in everyday life, Fletcher feels our guide is the love we should feel for others. If we follow the guideline of expressing love for our fellow man, we will avoid the negative judgements associated with absolutes and the dangerous behavior of no-holds-barred living.

As Christians, this love is manifest in the “Christian love” for our fellow man, the kind of love that Jesus called for in Matthew 22: 37-39: And He said to him, “‘you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

This means as Christians, we have a standard for behavior and that standard is love.

The WWJD movement (What Would Jesus Do) of the 1990s was predicated situation ethics, that Christians should demonstrate the love of Jesus to others. As you may recall, the WWJD wristbands were designed as reminders of our calling.

But how do we fit into what is happening to our country today?

Where do we fit into the upcoming national presidential election?

In my own personal opinion, we are not a good fit at all.

Politicians want our vote.   There is no doubt about it. Christians are referred to as the “evangelical vote.” Both candidates have courted evangelicals.

The problem is how do we square our commandment to love our fellow man with what the candidates offer?

Again, we are not a good fit. I am reminded of John 15:19 “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”

As we near November 8, the charges and counter-charges are so crass, that I cannot say I am comfortable with the whole campaigning process. Add to that the idea that I know what the candidates really want from me: all they want is my vote…and that’s it.

I know some individuals who try to justify their choice in various ways, citing one candidate’s lifelong commitment to a particular church.   Another candidate says they will appoint Supreme Court Justices who will uphold conservative values. Truly what does this mean?

They just want your vote.

Today’s younger generation has become fed up with Christianity. It is a well-known fact that the US has a growing percentage of adults who just don’t find church appealing anymore. The percentage in 2015 is 23%, up from 16% in 2007. **

I fear that times like today just fuel these attitudes. How can people of God support a process that seems so antithetical to Christian teaching? The word hypocrisy comes to mind.

Jesus seemed to be apolitical. The Pharisees wanted to trip him up by asking what He thought about taxation.   They hoped he would show some sign that He wanted to rebel from Roman rule. He bypassed their trap by His famous response “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” I take that to mean that taxes need to be paid but we also have a true indebtedness to God; that payment is as important as government taxation.

Many Jews in Jesus’ day wanted a leader who would overthrow Roman rule and instead they got Jesus. They wanted a strong, confident military leader who would take back the Holy Land and The Temple but instead they got Jesus.

Let’s return to the WWJD admonition and try to figure out what Jesus would do about participating in today’s election.

Of course, I am not sure what He would do but I suspect He would vote.   Again, He is not an advocate for overthrowing the government. But let’s go further. Would Jesus be pleased by how we are behaving in our political campaigns?

I surely doubt it.

The situation we find ourselves in right now in America is challenging. As Christians, where do we fit in?

We don’t fit in.

As American citizens what should we do? We should vote because we have that privilege. Every morning I start my day with a prayer for America, asking God to show us as a nation a way to live together in love.

It is a prayer that I wish God would answer.

So far, I am waiting…   waiting…

*I try to post every other day but for the past nine days, I have been vacationing with my wife and internet connection and vacation activities have kept me from my regular posting. Sorry…

**A closer look at America’s rapidly growing religious ‘nones’ from the “Fact Tank Website” May 13, 2015

Here it is…40 days until the next presidential election.

I have enjoyed blogging on Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White* but it seems as if I have been on this book forever. Finally, I have crossed the threshold into part III: “Politics and Ethics in the Center,” the last part of the book.

My plan is to write on the current state of politics from the point of view of a Christian seeking peace [using the book as my springboard] and I plan to have the book wrapped up by November 8. Then we will begin a new book, maybe on prayer, maybe on healing [not sure yet]. I suspect [as a nation] we will need prayer and healing after November 8.

Some of you may have wondered why I would pick a book like this. I am going to explain myself by being blunt: too many people in our world today see life in a polarized way. They see their perspective as the right perspective and anyone not having their viewpoint is wrong. They see the world as black and white.

How did we get this way?

I am going to present three of my theories, knowing you may discard them outright. They are only personal theories, attempts to explain behavior and of course they are not scientific.

Information Overload:   Today we have so much media exposure. We are bombarded by messages all day long.   How do we cut through all the stuff that is tossed our way through TV, computers, phones? We usually latch on to the information that grabs our attention.   Media people know that the most sensational presentation of information will have an impact. That is why they put so many BREAKING NEWS reports on television today.   News does flow faster than it did in the past because so many of us are connected to media and so many of us connected people have a way to film something and post something but we must keep this in mind: all news is not BREAKING. When we hear the sensational, we attend to the sensational at the expense of other things that are happening in our world.

Laziness:   This is tough to admit. It is for me. When we are the recipients of so much information, it taxes our brains to handle all the stuff that comes at us.   To get at the truth of what is going on in our world requires great commitment.   You have to dig deeper than the headlines. You have to go beyond the news anchor who says 50 words telling you what has happened. You have to start doing a little research yourself. Most of us are too lazy to do that.   We just accept the bits and pieces that are tossed at us and we develop an opinion and then we move on.   If you have a rock-solid black or white attitude to begin with, the information gets categorized as information I agree with or information I don’t agree with and you know what happens next: thinking stops.

Exaggerated Sense of Importance:   Blame it on the media, blame it on technology… no it is really our fault. Too many times we fall prey to feeling that we are the center of the universe. We are asked to log on and chat with people who are producing our favorite show, we are asked to vote for our favorite dancer on DWTS, we are encouraged to post the events of our life on Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat.

Stop…

Why?

Should anyone really care?

The answer is no…they shouldn’t.

But we keep on doing it anyhow. We have to express ourselves.   Don’t get me wrong; expression is not a bad thing [after all, I am writing a blog post] but to express ourselves with the idea that other people should care about our every thought is carrying it too far.   Someone somewhere may get something from your expression but for the most part, most people will not.   This leads to people who are so self-centered that they share information on a social media network that should be left unshared.   Sometimes it may be personal, it may be political, it may be judgmental of others but for many it does not matter. They share it anyhow. They don’t have a “filter.” Then they get a response that is emotional from someone who does not agree.

Where is that response coming from?   Someone who just does not see the world the way they do.   Maybe you have expressed an idea that is from a “black” point of view but someone else is looking at the world through a “white” lens.

What can happen to us if we think before we speak? What can happen to us if we keep an open mind before we come to a conclusion about something?   We may begin to understand that other people have valid points of view.

It is called “walking in someone else’s shoes.”

Like many people this past Monday night, I watched a presidential debate and one debater used a word which was very meaningful to me—implicit bias. “Implicit bias refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner. These biases, which encompass both favorable and unfavorable assessments, are activated involuntarily and without an individual’s awareness or intentional control.”**

In that debate context, so many people were watching the two candidates through black or white lenses but the two words implicit bias are words we all have to own.   Every one of us has this and it is the lens we look out of when we look at our world. It is part of being human. Yet we don’t want to admit that we have it. We want to get others to think we are above having it, but the honest truth of the matter is, we all have it. “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” That’s Paul from Romans 7:15.   That’s honesty. I have cited it before. Paul is putting himself out there and his statement is brutal. He admits being human.   He admits that he is controlled by his human nature.

We should consider following his lead. When it comes to the next 40 days it would be best for us to be honest. We need to admit our limitations and work with them as much as we can. We need to admit that none of us have the corner on the market of truth.   We only have our own little opinions.   We probably need to make an effort to understand others because people with different opinions than your own are rarely purely evil.   They have good ideas that can usually complement our good ideas.

We need to find a way to make the best choice we can on November 8, live with how we came to our choice and whatever the result, come together as a nation and try to make our country better.

Take a moment and just think about these simple but profound words from the Preamble to our Constitution: “in Order to form a more perfect Union.” To me, we are not there yet: the perfect union.   We will never be there.   Our country is in the process of trying to form a more perfect Union. We are always trying to get it right.

Have you ever thought about this?

Maybe the process continues with you and continues with me.

*written by Pastor Adam Hamilton

**From the “Kirwin Institute Website”, 9/29/16.

I like the early morning hours, the feeling of being quiet with my thoughts, with my prayers, a chance to sort out my priorities. I like the way my mind slowly unfolds from a night’s sleep with quite a bit of help from caffeine. I like the fact that I am getting a do-over. The morning is a fresh start, a blank canvas on which I will do something, maybe even “paint a picture.” Who knows?

In my last post, I expressed a very negative view of the Christian life, the fact that we all struggle to no avail a lot of the time. I promised that in this post I would “shine some light.”

To be honest, that last post did not have much light. It may have had some excruciating truth but little light. Jesus said in Matthew 5: 16 “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” That means live a positive life before others, not taking credit yourself. Let your Father get the glory.

What can we do to be positive about our spiritual growth? How can we develop some light to shine?

First of all, we need to be serious about it. It is important. God knows we are not going to attract unbelievers or minister to the needs of others if we are in the doldrums, living a mediocre life, going nowhere.

Secondly, we need to quit searching all over the place for the magic bullet that will grow our spiritual life. It is not in a book about spirituality.   It is not in thoughts from your pastor. A spiritual retreat or conference will not give you long-term spiritual growth. All those things will help temporarily but they won’t help in the long-term.

What will help?

We need to realize we are on a journey. The trip is not a journey from point A to point B. There are many, many detours we make in our journey. Sometimes it may even feel like we are starting over on our journey as we make our share of mistakes.

But it starts every morning when we get out of bed. We advance in the day ahead or we retreat. Who is in charge of our spiritual growth?

We are.

To grow spiritually, we have to take the action that will advance us in our connection with God. No one can do this for you. It is a daily seeking to love God and to love your neighbor. Remember Jesus took an extremely complex idea of spiritual growth and said “Love God and love your neighbor.”   For Methodists, John Wesley said “Avoid doing the things you know are wrong.   Do good to everyone that you can, as often as you can. And pursue those practices that encourage you in the faith and draw you near to God.”

Simple stuff.

That is the problem for most Christians.  The spiritual silver bullet is too simple.   It is like grace. What does a sinner need to repent of his or her sins? Ask God for forgiveness. God will extend His grace to you and forgive you if you are truly contrite. What can you do to earn grace? Nothing. God wants you to have it and there is nothing you can do to earn it.

Really?

There has to be more to it than that.

No there isn’t.

The fact of the matter is it is deceptively simple. Extremely profound ideas are like that. God knew that love God and love your neighbor was enough to keep us all busy for our whole lives. The concept is challenging. He knew we would struggle with the simplicity and He knew we would fall short.

And we do.

Every morning we begin a new day, it is our challenge to live out Jesus’ admonition. There will be days when we feel peace, and joy and hope and there will be days when we feel like we are utter failures at this “Christian thing.”

That’s ok. We never need to give up. We need to continue to pursue a relationship with God, no matter what life throws our way.

I guess you may be wanting to know where that magic bullet or that silver bullet is; you know that thing you have to do to kick-start yourself in the positive spiritual direction.

Here is where it is.

It is in your heart.

You have to give your heart as much as you can to Jesus Christ and if you do that you will have the source that will grow you. Your light won’t shine every day. That’s too much to ask. But it will shine some days.

You know, those days when you are doing the things that help you to be more like Christ.

You feel the peace that passes all understanding.

You fight the war with temptation and you win on a daily basis.

You can pray without ceasing.

You rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

Yes, you think your faith can move mountains…

Not!

Don’t all Christians wish they could do some or all of the above, but the sad reality is that most of us fall short on a regular basis.

What do we do? We go to church and put on the false front that we have it all together. We hang with our Christian friends and we keep our troubles to ourselves. It would be too embarrassing to admit how poorly we are doing on the spiritual front. Our prayer life is almost nonexistent. Our study time gets shoved to the end of the day and then it never happens because we are too tired and after all, don’t we deserve to watch “Dancing With the Stars?”   I want to serve other people but I am too busy taking care of my own needs and the needs of my immediate family. I want to share my faith with others but at times I ask myself the tough question that has the same answer. What faith do I really have to share? The answer comes back—not much.

The reality of the Christian spiritual life.

What do we do? There are several options.

Search for the special book that will do the trick. There are many books on the market that purport to grow your faith. I have blogged on some of them. I have enjoyed them from time to time. I get a good idea, maybe even a tingle of excitement but it does not last very long. In the daily hustle and bustle of life, the idea goes away over time.

You attend a Christian conference or go on a retreat. You are surrounded by people who “feel the spirit.” You begin to catch fire too. The excitement and enthusiasm is great but you can’t stay at the conference all your life. You go home and get into your normal routine and the spirit begins to diminish.

You have so many questions and feel so confused that you go to your pastor. You expect your pastor to tell you the key to spiritual growth but they can’t. You listen to sermons every Sunday and when there is a Bible study at church you go. But the growth that you seek just does not happen. You long to serve your Lord and Savior but it just does not feel like you are doing that.

At long last you hear about spiritual disciplines. That sounds good. These spiritual practices are supposed to get you somewhere. You grab a copy of Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline and you read about the daily habits of prayer, reading the Bible, attending worship, meeting with other Christians and even fasting. The problem is that word discipline. What happens is you are confronted with the fact that you have none.

You accept mediocrity.

That option is the most common and the saddest. We just give up and live with the fact that our spiritual growth is not happening.   We slog through life thinking we should be getting closer to God but we know we aren’t.   Everything in life seems to be a distraction away from our spiritual needs. The fact of the matter is that as Christians we have to be in this world but we are not supposed to be of this world. That phrase from John 17 means that the world is supposed to not influence us that much. We should seek to live our lives by God’s standards, not the world’s.

Mediocrity is living a life that is not good. You know you should develop a special ability to do something well, but you are not doing it.

The vast majority of humanity is mired in mediocrity and Christians are not exempt. There are many Christians who act like they believe but they really don’t. Sadly, belief for them is just an act. They are Christians in name only.

As I get to the end of this post, I realize that “the dark side” has captured me this morning. I have written about all that is wrong rather than what is right.

Why? Maybe I have thought too much about “the messy truth of spirituality”.*   Maybe the daily news of human behavior has made me negative.   Maybe I just have not been “feeling the spirit” much myself lately. I have fears of slipping into mediocrity.

Down deep inside…don’t we all?**

*Chapter 16 Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White Adam Hamilton

**In my next post, I promise to “shine some light.”