Community

Sometimes our culture sets us up against God's will for our lives.

As we continue walking out the Outreach Saga in the local park, we're learning things all the time. We are meeting next to a low-income housing complex of 100 or so units. In getting to know the people there, I've noticed that they have their own little community there.

Since it is an area of low resources, the people have learned to pool together to help each other out. They spend more time interacting. Sometimes they have conflict, but living so close together they live differntly than a lot of suburban Americans.

We've been blessed to be accepted by a group of them, and they come on Sunday evenings to fellowship, to talk about the Word, and to encourage one another.

My point in this post is the contrast to how individualistic we are as Americans. We are taught to do things independently. Pull youself up by your own bootstraps. It sometimes is a sign of weakness to need someone's help.

American Christians play into this. We talk about "our walk with God" as an individual thing. We forget that we are called to be part of a body, a family.

I don't think this is God's will for us. Certainly I have to answer to God for my own actions, and I have a relationship with Jesus. The ancient world used to think solely in the concept of the clan or tribe, and the individual didn't matter. According to Thomas Cahill's book The Gift Of The Jews, the idea of an individual relationship with God, an independent reckoning was revolutionary.

Western culture has taken this too far. We are built to need one another. I know some people would rather be hermits. My mother could leave work on Friday and not talk to another soul until Monday morning and it would suit her just fine. She said liked it, but I would argue she let herself get into a mindset that she wasn't really created for.

I would argue that the Western idea of individualism and the Eastern focus on community over a person are extremes, and that the Biblical ideal would foster a strong personal relationship with Jesus in a healthy community of believers that encouraged and exhorted one another.

I'm glad that we're learning as much in this process as the people that are joining us in the park. When you don't have a lot, you have to work together with other more. I'm encouraged by their example, and I hope Christians can wake up to the value of having brothers and sisters in Christ that keep us accountable and build us up. Yes, people can hurt you, but the blessings of opening up far outweight the risks in the long-run.

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CSFF Tour - Bioethics and The Enclave

There's a lot of buzz going on about this month's book, The Enclave. Make sure to check out Becky Miller's blog, as she tracks all of the confirmed posts for the tour at this page.

I really enjoy the CSFF tour because we get some intelligent, creative people who care about faith discussing the books and issues brought up. We often have interesting discussions going on via various blogs that are quite entertaining.

The nature of The Enclave, dealing with scientists at a secretive genetic research complex, lends itself to some serious discussion of issues that are facing us today.

Regarding cloning a child who died prematurely:

"Actually, I consider the whole idea of trying to replace lost loved ones to be futile and misplaced. It might be the same body, but whatever soul God imputes to the child, should she be born, it would not be the same as your [dead] daughter's." (p170).

Another quote on cloning:

"Twenty-five years ago [head of the complex] Parker Swain was obsessed with human cloning, which he saw as a means of attaining eternal life." (p299).

This book may be considered science fiction, but we are not talking about far-future events here. There will soon be many issues confronting humanity regarding cloning, genetic or biologic enhancement, and the ethical dilemmas raised by these issues. Already we are seeing more and more widespread genetic screening of embryos, genetic manipulation of food sources (both plant and animal), and debates related to assisted reproductive technologies (IVF, surrogacy, PGD, etc).

Christians need to be aware of these issues and should have a basic ability to speak into the public square about them, because even if they're not already here, they will be soon. Not all of us can be geneticists or experts on bioethics, but we need awareness.

Literature can be a great vehicle for opening our eyes to such concepts. The Enclave does a good job dealing with the issue of cloning, although it loses some fizzle in the end with the introduction of the laser-beam wielding Nephilim (if that's not a teaser for the book, I don't know what is!). My favorite philosopher to quote regarding these issues is none other than Dr. Ian Malcolm from Jurassic Park: "Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."

Another book that hits this broad range of topics is My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult, where a sibling is conceived as a "savior sibling," selected by preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) with the right match to be a donor. Eventually the sibling has to donate more to the older, sick sibling, but declines being used as a utilitarian tool any more.

The movie The Island was widely panned, but I really enjoyed it, not only for the action, but the intelligence behind the movie. People think they are the last remnants of society being protected underground, and the lucky ones win a lotto sending them to "the island", the last unspoiled place on Earth-when in reality they are clones being held as insurance for the rich in case they get liver failure from alcohol or are critically injured or ill.

Storytelling has power, as books from Pilgrim's Progress to Uncle Tom's Cabin to 1984 show. I applaud Karen Hancock for shining a light on issues that are looming in our future. There's a lot that can be said about this book, but this is the aspect that really caught my eye.

For more information on Bioethics and these issues, check out these links I've found in a little internet digging:

Breakpoint: The New Eugenics.

The Human Future.

The Center for Policy on Emerging Technologies. I liked this statement on "Enhancements".

The Center for Bioethics and Culture.

Your homework? Check out at least one of these links, and get a little more educated today!
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The Kindlings Muse

I'd like to highlight a resource I've been turning to for the past few months. The Kindlings Muse is a ministry of Dick Staub, the author of The Culturally Savvy Christian (required reading for followers of this blog).

Dick has been involved with faith and culture for many years now. He's a radio host, pastor, author, and champion for the arts. The Kindlings Muse is a weekly podcast from Dick, along with various special guests. I finished listening to a series by Os Guinness this morning (an excellent talk on "You Only Live Once-Calling, the ultimate game plan for life").

Topics generally focus on faith and creativity in some way. When the Oscars rolled around, there is an annual "theology of the Best Picture nominees" show that was very interesting. Other topics I've listened to include theology of the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer and an excellent interview with Anne Rice.

You can subscribe to it for free at iTunes, or just see the site regularly for the updated podcasts. As the tagline for the show states, it is "an intelligent, imaginative, hospitable exploration of ideas that matter in contemporary life."
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Super-sized Families?

The NY Times recently had an article entitled "And Baby Makes How Many?" that was triggered from the woman with the octuplets and 6 other kids, as well as the popularity of shows featuring The Duggars (17 kids) and Jon and Kate plus eight. The article discussed how family size in the U.S. is shrinking overall, which is making large families an exception that is more and more looked down upon.

Replacement level for a population is 2.1, and that is the current American birth rate, even though it has actually been lower recently and only got back UP to 2.1 in the last year stats were available. The article focuses on megafamilies, with 6+ kids, but it stated that people with more than 3 kids often get "raised eyebrows".

The article itself is pretty respectful and non-judgmental, although it mentions that people with larger families could be considered "freak show attractions" nowadays. The comments to the article...now that is a different story.

The commenters mostly decried people having more than 2 kids "irresponsible" and "selfish", trashing Earth's resources for their own self-fulfillment (or more clinically put, "evolutionary need to replicate"-reminds me of the part in The Matrix when Agent Smith compares humanity to a virus). Some were generous enough to deem it appropriate to have 2 kids, then adopt needy kids/orphans if you HAD to have more than two. Heaven forbid the carbon footprint that is left by a family of 4 kids or more.

The majority of comments were disturbing on many levels. Besides the judgments and disdain for some people's "choice" when it collides with their own self-interest, there were some issues that no one in the comments noted. I wanted to post there, but the comments were closed by the time I read the article.

First of all, do we want to become like other societies that have effective "family planning?" Countries like Japan, where a demographic crisis is looming because they are getting older without a young workforce to support the elderly? Perhaps Germany, which is rapidly becoming less German, since German families don't hit the replacement level of 2.1 kids, but immigrant families from Eastern Europe and Turkey are filling the void, keeping their own culture without assimilating to German ways in the process? I know, how about China? Since their one child rule, the percentage of male to females is dangerously imbalanced, which is already causing human trafficking from other Asian countries to provide wives to the men who can't find the very in-demand Chinese women?

Some in the comments cited the 70's era Population Boom scare, which has not occurred as doomsayers were predicting back then. Technological advances have continued to allow us to produce enough food, even if political and infrastructure problems still keep way too many people without proper resources.

I am willing to become a better steward of our resources, and I want to see poverty eradicated so people in undeveloped countries have more opportunities other than having many kids so some will have a chance of surviving. However, the crass hypocrisy and judgmentalism from the commenters is pretty remarkable in a country where all sorts of "freedoms" are promoted, unless it goes against the current postmodern, environment-worshipping culture we seem to have at this time. Overall, as a parent of four wonderful children, whom I plan on educating to be the best possible citizens of Earth during their sojourn, even as I hopefully help them reach their potential in the Kingdom of heaven, I want to say as carefully and intelligently as I can to those commenters:

Mind your own business.

(Bonus-I love some of the comebacks from parents of the megafamilies:

How can you afford so many? “Lifestyles are expensive, not kids.”
Don’t you know what causes that? “Oh, yes, I now wash my husband’s underwear separately.”
Do you get any time for yourselves? “Obviously, or we wouldn’t have six kids.”)

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Faith and Culture Devotional

I've been enjoying a new devotional that I recently picked up: A Faith and Culture Devotional: Daily Readings in Art, Science, and Life. I saw it mentioned on The Point blog, and so far I haven't been disappointed. I'm not very far into it, but it has already had articles from or quoting from Francis Collins of the Human Genome Project and Francis Schaeffer, with future articles from Erwin McManus, Chuck Colson, Scot McKnight, Dallas Willard, Lee Strobel, and J. P. Moreland.

The subjects are collected under Bible and Theology, History, Philosophy, Science, Literature, Arts, and Contemporary Culture. Quite a diversity, but the reading I've done so far is quite thought-provoking.

As a teaser, here's a quote from "Art-A Response to God's Beauty" by Lael Arrington, with an extensive quote from one of my favorites, Francis Schaeffer.

Schaeffer concludes, "What a Christian portrays in his art is the totality of life. Art is not to be solely a vehicle for some self-conscious evangelism...Christians ought not to be threatened by fantasy and imagination...The Christian is the really free man-he is free to have imagination. This is our heritage. The Christian is the one whose imagination should fly beyond the stars.

My Favorite Book from 2008

I posted last week about my favorite books from 2008, but I must confess that it was a list of my favorite fiction from '08. The book I read that meant the most to me was The Culturally Savvy Christian: A Manifesto for Deepening Faith and Enriching Popular Culture in an Age of Christianity-Lite by Dick Staub. It is a mouthful of a title, but it was a powerful book that encouraged and challenged me deeply. I blogged about it before I finished it, and it held true through the end of the book.

I'm very interested in discussing the intersection of faith and culture, as the dearly departed site Infuze Magazine used to put it. I've always tried to be serious about Jesus and His Kingdom, concerned not just about the "sweet by-and-by", but also the "nasty here and now." I learned about understanding life through a Biblical worldview at a fairly early age, so I've tried to view the culture I partake in through that lens. As I've delved into writing as a hobby and hopefully part of my vocation, I've become more focused in this area.

The Culturally Savvy Christian is a book that fully reaches the sweet spot of faith and culture, yet it is very worth reading for its insightful analysis of our current faith circumstances in the West as well as popular culture.

My original post for this started to break the book down, but I realized quickly that the book was too deep to properly address in one post. Check back over the next week or so as I attempt to break down the book a little bit, and hopefully we'll be able to discuss our own opinions on faith and culture.

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Linkage

I've come across a few links today that I'd like to share.

Conversant Life is a community that discusses faith and culture. This is right up my alley, and so far I've enjoyed searching through its many offerings. Looks like a new favorite for me. I'm even posting to some indie music they let you sample.

I Am Second. What do Jason Castro, Joe Gibbs, Greg Ellis, and others have in common? I encourage you to check it out. Be curious.

Finally, win 10 bucks!
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A Must Read

I haven't had much to say recently, but I am reading a book that is so impressive I have to give it a shout out right now. I've mentioned Dick Staub and his book The Culturally Savvy Christian before. I didn't report the subtitle: "A Manifesto for Deepening Faith and Enriching Popular Culture in an Age of Christianity-Lite." So far it truly is a manifesto, and I am highly impressed with it.

I heartily encourage anyone interested in the Christian walk to get it. It is a book about modern culture as well, but Staub is doing a great job in sharing what is needed - transformation from God individually, so we can go positively affect culture. Put it on your Christmas list, go to Amazon, or call your library, it is worth it.

I hope to discuss it more when I am finished.

Consensus

Getting Christians to a consensus on a lot of things can be interesting. However, T.M. Moore from Breakpoint and Chuck Colson's Centurions project thinks he may have some suggestions on how to do this regarding Christians engaging the culture. This is along the lines of my Seven Spheres series from a week or two ago.

Breakpoint talked about it this week and had this great quote:

How do we do this? Our task is two-fold. First, we must participate in culture at the same time that we are engaged in a biblically based critique of culture. For too long, Christians have ignored the arts and have, thus, failed to realize that culture and the arts can be conduits of God’s truth, grace, and beauty.

Second, as the body of Christ, we need to support those among us who exercise their God-given artistic gifts. When we join together “for creative engagement in culture matters,” T. M. argues, we can “create a greater sense of unity in the body of Christ,” as well as increase our impact on culture.

Read the whole article here. I haven't read the book yet, but I'll be interested to check out Culture Matters down the road.

Seven Spheres - Government

Alright, time to wrap this one up. And yes, this is posted on Friday with a Wednesday date.

Did anyone guess what major area of society was left? Has anyone heard a little something about an election this year?

The final sphere of influence listed is Government. This is a no-brainer that it is an area that seriously needs positive influence. Since it leads and guides society in so many ways, it is imperative that Christians are willing to get the training to serve in such an important area.

I personally would want to see believers going into these areas to serve to truly act according to the mind of Christ as listed in Philippians 2. I get very tired of politicians who loudly shout of the evils of unrighteousness and tear down opponents in the process, even for a "good" cause. I am not the authority here, but I would rather see a politician or public servant who is humble, who works with people rather than against people, and find ways to make the best impact on culture without polarizing everything. Maybe the best example of this type of influencer would be William Wilberforce (though he could be polarizing when needed).

So that is it for discussing the Seven Spheres of Influence. I hope that we will see more Christians moving out into areas of culture intentionally, to make a difference through Spirit-led, Biblical principles. From Act One to International Justice Mission to Business Men's Fellowship and many more examples, there are people working to make a change in our nation and in the world. Everyone is called to do something. We can even have Christians making godly highways. Or...something like that (just checking to see if Mark is paying attention).

Seven Spheres - Media

(So no one noticed that this post is listed as Tuesday, yet it is coming out late Wednesday, right? Good.)

The series of Seven Spheres of Influence has the Media for a prayer emphasis on Tuesdays. I'm sure that many people would say that Christians should have a presence in the media. Then I'm sure that an equal number of people would say that we don't need another Fox News or Rush Limbaugh. I'd say that both are true.

I don't have anything against Fox News. Rush? Another story. But Christians in journalism and the media shouldn't be shrill junkets that can't speak credibly. Being called into the media as a mission field means that it will take great wisdom to speak truth. I would love to see reporters who can speak critically of things that deserve it, even within the church. Of course it will be nice to have people who come from a Biblical worldview when speaking of issues that deal with faith, but they really need integrity to speak accurately even when "our" position may be in the wrong.

One more day. Any guesses what we've missed?

Seven Spheres - Family and Home

For those who may remember, there was a great book by Bob Briner that discussed the same topic I've been addressing lately: Roaring Lambs. I can't believe it is from 1993! (How long ago was that again?) It may be hard to find now, but it should be well worth it. His idea was basically that Christians needed to be salt and light in the world. Definitely not a new concept, but it seems that God's people constantly need reminding about getting out and reaching people. Just like the disciples who wouldn't leave Jerusalem in Acts until there was persecution to force them out to Judea and Samaria.

Today's sphere is the Family and the Home. This may not seem like a field that Christians would go out into as a professional, but there is no denying the influence that family and home has on culture in general and people specifically. We know that people can turn out well from broken households, and a good family is no guarantee of kids growing up well. Yet the vast majority will stay true to what they are raised with at home.

I think fields like counseling move into this arena. There's a lot of secular ideology in the counseling and social work fields - all the more reason to have Christians who are strong in their faith and a Biblical worldview to enter this area to touch families where it is needed.

Everyday Christians can do a lot to minister to individual families of kids that come into their lives. Of course, prayer is a vital area, and this is one that we should not neglect. God longs to put the lonely into families - it is His heart, so it should be ours as well.

Seven Spheres - The Church/Religion

I have to say that I'm feeling pretty rushed through this little series, and I don't feel like I'm always able to get my thoughts out the way I want. Before the end of the year, I'd post at lunch at work, and I had time to get my points together. Now I'm squeezing blogging into home and family time, and I fear I'm not coming across the way I want. But there's nothing else to do but press ahead, for now.

One more thing to say in general regarding the Seven Spheres of Influence. Like I said originally, I learned this at YWAM. This teaching was meant to emphasize that we can be missionaries wherever we are called to. Not every one is meant to stay in YWAM - most aren't in fact. The leaders there realized this, and began to work on training people to be missionaries in every field, not just under the specific term "missionary".

Saying that, Sunday's sphere of influence is actually the Church. Yes, the church needs people to come to it with the idea that they will do everything for God's glory and to reach people with the gospel. It may be a sad thing to say, but sometimes this doesn't happen. But it is also more benign than that. There is no denying that religion is a major sphere of influence in culture, and we need to recognize that.

I don't pretend to have the goods to change the church in general. However, I hope my blogging can bring up issues that enlighten people to things they haven't thought of. Also at church, I try to be a catalyst for things that God may be trying to show us there. Since I have had some varied experiences, I try to bring that to the table and offer it up for consideration.

We need to be as mission-minded in church as we are in any other endeavor we take on. It shouldn't be overlooked just because it is our own backyard.

Seven Spheres - Art/Entertainment

Today's focus on Seven Spheres of Influence on culture is the reason I wanted to talk about this on my blog. Saturday is a great day to consider the impact Christians can have on the Arts and Entertainment.

I am very thankful for the worlds of Christian publishing and music. However, there is no reason why we shouldn't have more Christians involved in creating the highest quality entertainment and art in all fields: theatre, movies, literature, music, painting, and more. I've talked plenty about this subject before. I won't necessarily rehash all of those points again (unless anyone out there has questions).

It is very sad that Christians had abandoned the arts as far as producing it to appeal to the masses over the last 50 years or so. As a group we have had so many striking individuals, from Bach to Lewis and Tolkien, contribute great examples of their craft that was appreciated by the world. I don't know why there was a large move away from this in America over the last several decades.

Thankfully, some of this may be changing. The need to engage in creativity and excellence is being noted by Christians across many artistic fields. I think of Barbara Nicolsi as a Hollywood script writer and activist for encouraging faith in her field. David Cunningham is the son of YWAM founder Loren Cunningham, but his mission field is being a major film director. Fiction from a Christian perspective won a major victory with Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, as it won the Pulitzer Prize in 2005. These are just a few examples of what is happening in this arena.

I really hope that we can see more Christians enter the artistic fields, offering up challenging, beautiful art, that is a credit to our faith and our Creator. We know how much influence entertainment can have on a culture. Let us rise up as people who love Jesus to be excellent in our respective craft and make a difference.

Edit from 1/13: Got this link for the article "Christians, Get Creative" from The Point.

Seven Spheres - Business/Commerce

I'm continuing on with looking at seven areas that pretty much encompass all of society, dubbed "Seven Spheres of Influence." I know this is a very late Friday post (read: Saturday), but in the YWAM prayer diary it suggests praying for Business and Commerce on Fridays.

This is a pretty broad category that can include areas such as science and health care as well. When this is taken into account, there are so many areas that Christians can impact acting as professionals in these fields.

One of the basic areas in this area is the impact of general integrity a Christian can provide. I know there are many non-Christians with integrity in these areas, but there's a lot of potential for abuse as well. I know of Christian businessmen who have gone overseas and have really made a difference with all of the graft and corruption that goes on in other countries. Integrity plays a role in all of the various business areas, but a special emphasis on science is crucial. Proper interpretation and ethical consideration is an addition from believers in this field. I think of being in the medical field myself, and the rapidly changing landscape due to scientific advances such as gene therapy. I need to stay educated on the issues to be able to discuss them and the ethical ramifications.

Another area is the plain fact of making money. The love of money is a root of evil, but money itself is neutral. Having Christian professionals who are able to raise capital and support other missionary endeavors. We need knowledgeable people who are gifted at what they do to go into the areas they are called to, and there they can make a great impact.

Hopefully this idea is starting to seep in. I remember a story from early in YWAM's development. Two men came to Loren Cunningham (the founder), feeling a call to missions while he spoke at their church. Their question was how God could use heavy equipment operators. They ended up serving to build a road to a village in Africa. Wherever you are in your life, you can be used by God!

Seven Spheres - Education

In my earlier post I introduced the idea of Seven Spheres of Influence. I basically talked about the concept that Christians can influence culture from several different areas, apart from ministry. There is nothing magical about have "Seven Spheres" - it is a handy way to think and organize it for memory purposes. In fact, YWAM has a great tool they release every year, a Personal Prayer Diary and Daily Planner (in a wonderful array of colors!), that encourages people to pray for these major areas of influence over the days of the week. Isn't that so easy?

In fact, I'm going to go through the different areas in the order that the Prayer Diary lists them, just for ease of keeping track. On Thursday, the prayer focus is on the area of Education. This is obviously an important area to have people who love truth serving kids, teens, and college-aged students.

At no time am I ever going to endorse the idea of theocracy (government run by religion) or that professionals in these fields we'll discuss should use their authority in such a way as to bully people or influence them in an inappropriate way. If a Christian is a teacher, then our laws do not allow her to stand in front of the classroom and lead of all the kids in a devotion. A businessman shouldn't use Christian cronyism to guide all of their contacts or sources.

However, there are a lot of ways where being a Christian can impact these areas. Back to education - a teacher who diligently prays over his classroom before the students come in creates a healthy spiritual atmosphere for learning and protection. Being an example of integrity is important as a lot of children may not see that in other areas of their lives. A good teacher should be able to teach how to think critically and define truth - even if it is not a specific "Biblical" teaching. The Bible doesn't comment on gravity or the Civil War, but a strong teacher can illuminate these arenas without using religious terms or making it sectarian.

Schools are a very hard place to serve. I don't think that teachers get a lot of support anymore. My wife taught 5th grade for a couple of years, and she was amazed how often true "teaching" time was cut into by assemblies, teaching toward a test, or doing lifestyle education like self-esteem or drug-free programs. Many of these things can be good, but in an ever complex world it seems that many subjects are only being skimmed due to the constraints on educators.

It also seems that being an active Christian can be hard, especially in the university setting. College is an area where so much formation is expected, yet if Christians are abandoning this difficult mission field, the positions will be filled by others, and they may not have a favorable view at all of faith and religion.

There is a lot that can be said in this sphere of influence. Hopefully I am starting to show how Christians can be an important influence in these areas. If I'm cutting examples too short or not being clear, please leave me a comment so I can clarify what I'm trying to say.

I'm done with work for the week, the forecast is for steady posts throughout the next few days.

Seven Spheres of Influence

I wanted to introduce a topic that I learned in my time in Youth With A Mission. After the shootings at YWAM Arvada, I was keeping an eye out on the net to see what was being discussed about the mission organization in the wake of the event. Most of the coverage was positive, although I did come across negative publicity, which was bound to happen. No organization is perfect, and YWAM has its warts. However, one of the criticisms was that YWAM tended to produce people that were insular and didn't want to go out of what YWAM was doing.

YWAM is a pretty dynamic, if loose, organization, and it can be very attractive to stay with a group that seems more intense and going than the local church. I've seen folks that have done this very thing. Yet this is antithetical to YWAM's purpose, as evidenced by their teaching on the "Seven Spheres of Influence."

I wanted to introduce this topic because it plays into themes that this blog has touched on. Basically, all of life is under the watchful gaze of God (in Latin it is called "Coram Deo"). I've talked about this regarding creativity and art, but really no part of life is separate from God, especially for us as Christians. If we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, whatever we do can be used to advance the Kingdom of God. (Of course there are limits. I won't be promoting Christian erotica anytime soon.)

After a time YWAM decided that there was a greater role for Christians than just being in specific, called, identifiable ministry. You know, being called "Rev/Pastor/Father/Bishop/Deacon/etc." A Christian businessman could use his influence in his field, mentoring people in Kingdom principles to train a moral workforce in finance or whatever the field may be. There was a great untapped potential for discipleship and transforming not just lives, but entire cultures. If enough Christians entered these "spheres of influence," then a whole nation could be discipled.

I know this idea is not unique to YWAM, but the idea was one of the reasons they founded their University of the Nations to train people in a Biblical worldview of all fields of industry and work. I applaud all others who forge ahead in this way - I think it has the potential to radically change the world.

I'll break down this idea more, and spell out the Seven Spheres, in further posts this week.