In part one of this series What In the World I painted a picture of how some Christians live out the supposed order from God to be “in the world but not of it.” These believers see “the world” (here we go again with the quotation marks) as being somewhere out there, removed from Christian culture and therefore in need of being brought to church, Christian concerts, Christian clubs, Christian businesses etc. These Christians sometimes see “the world” as sinfully dangerous to anyone getting too close to it, or as a place out of their way, so they prefer that the world come to them. So they attract the world by being the coolest, most “relevant” and likeable Christians they can be - with Jesus fish on their cars so the world can spot ‘em when they want ‘em. But this response is not the only way Christians are going about being in the world and not of it.
Conservative politicians typify the next group trying a different approach to putting this Sufist phrase into action. The thinking goes something like this. “The world” is still “out there” somewhere segregated from Christians but, the thinking goes, it shouldn’t be “out there”. It should be under us. It should be rule by Christ – or more honestly, by Christians.
This Christians, like the last group we scrutinized, may actually be powered by an intense love for God and people. This love moves them to run for office, fight perceived barriers to Christianity, and climb the rungs of the government to the White House as well. The thought being that a godly man on top of “the world”, if he’s not of it, can make the greatest fastest difference of all in it.
Take Jerry Falwell, for instance. In him, an extreme example I know, we get a good look at how these lambs sometimes think about “the world” and what they think it needs.
When September 11th happened Uncle Jerry got ticked off and when Uncle Jerry gets ticked off he starts talking. And wow can he talk?
“And, I know that I’ll hear from them for this. But, throwing God out successfully with the help of the federal court system, throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools. The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way—all of them who have tried to secularize America—I point the finger in their face and say, ‘You helped this happen.’ [spoken September 11, 2001, “God Gave U.S. ‘What We Deserve,’ Falwell Says,” The Washington Post (September 14, 2001)]
Notice Falwell blames the “secularization” of America for September 11th and most things he doesn’t like about the place. He believes, as so many of these lambs do, that God can be separated from the world, thus creating “the world” – a place without God and in need of enforceable spiritual guidelines on a mass scale.
He believes we kicked God out of school – that we are capable then of bringing him back in with new laws. He believes not being allowed to put the ten commandments up in a courthouse thwarts God’s power over those making laws, boots Christ’s presence out of our nation, and the only way to get those ten precepts back up there is to reinvent America’s government reinvented in God’s image – well, at least the Republican-friendly parts of his visage.
Jerry wants Christians in power so that the ungodly will be forced to act otherwise and therefore “the world” will be erased and a Christ-like utopia erected in its place. One problem with that plan is, of course, that it requires a tremendous amount of political power and political power doesn’t come cheaply in our system. It requires that large numbers of people all on one side of the aisle have to like you and your agenda. To please so many, Christian ethics sometimes have to take a backseat to political prudence – the ultimate seen as justifying the immediate. Jesus issues like poverty and peace making are shoved aside to support America-benefiting issues like capitalism and war. While God’s early church shared their belongings and fed the hungry, clothed the naked and sheltered the oppressed, these lambs prefer to focus on government plans for the least. While Jesus shook a finger at the wealthy, saying that it is hard for them to get into Heaven for various reason, these lambs pass laws that benefit their supporters’ pocketbooks. Instead of taking meetings with the widows and orphans and they are consulted by the insurance and oil companies, the unions and the NRA. These lambs must pay attention to the powerful first in order to become powerful themselves even though Jesus spent his time and life on the weak. These lambs are often willing to pay these prices though, and for good reason.
Whether in politics or industry, these lambs belief the world belongs to Christians. The world is our court and everyone will play by our rules or be punished – or called un-American. They believe our nation was founded on Christian values but since them God somehow got locked out of everything we do by “secular” political, business and other leaders. They believe we Christians should win back our country for Jesus by political or business force so that citizen’s must obey God’s laws re-written on paper by Congress even if those laws have not been written on the hearts of citizens by the Spirit of God (Ezekiel 36:27)
For these lambs, whether CEOs or Senators, one way to be “in the world but not of it” is to rule over it – above it - and may God Bless America because of it.
To be continued…
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Today I played at the end of an exhibit hall inside the Indianapolis Convention Center - a long large room crammed with over a hundred companies, ministries and individuals showcasing everything from Creationism tracts (displayed by a model of dinosaurs boarding the Ark), Christian Hairstylist Association memberships and church construction services to Christian formulas for getting rich (Did you know you’re not really saved if you’re not really rich?) and quality items like this one…
I’m sure the folks selling and wearing this shirt can still get into heaven, but their choice of rooms there is sure to be severely limited. “Right this way, Sir. You’ll be spending eternity in our Banjos-Are-Forever Suite. If you need anything during your stay the guy that invented Testamints will be staying right next door in our Boy-Bands-Never-Die bungalow. Nice fellow. Great breath.”
Of course this same guy is probably somewhere blogging right now, “Today a long-haired FM looking guy in need of some Testamints in a bad way came by taking pictures of our shirts. He smiled as he walked away. I think he may have gotten saved. Well it’s been a long day. Thinking up new t-shirts to convict pagans really wears me out. I think I’ll just take my shoes off, drink some hot tea and relax to my favorite banjo CD.”
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Tonight I played at Seekers Coffee House in Evansville, Indiana. Small crowd. Good food. Lots of hanging out afterwards. I always enjoy playing Seeker’s. Here’s a little info about the place.
Seekers Coffee House & Café was started by two people aiming to provide their community with a positive-wholesome atmosphere. It was planned to be a place that unites people, where they could hang out, check out some great musical entertainment or meet with friends. On March 21, 2001 Cindy Castelli and Paul Zorich, two life long friends, opened the doors to the first Seekers Coffee House & Café located in Middleburg Heights, Ohio (a southwest suburb of Cleveland).
Now there are Seekers Coffee Houses popping up all over the place, serving up great wraps and sandwhiches along with fresh coffee and loads of indie music. In February of 2002 Seekers Coffee House Franchise Company was birthed to take the concept national. Currently, there are stores opened throughout the Midwest, and franchisees have signed on from as far away as Portland, Oregon and Charlotte, North Carolina.
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This is not a rant. A rant is an often pointless show of hostility/frustration - a temper tantrum without direction. This is going somewhere...I think.
Did you know that the phrase “in the world but not of it” is rooted in Islam (Sufism) and not Christianity and isn’t found word for word in the Christian scriptures?
Of course that doesn’t mean that it can’t contain some truth. But I’ve been thinking a lot about this little phrase for a long time now and I’m increasingly uncomfortable with using it and adopting it as Christian doctrine. It’s at least worth taking a closer look isn’t it?
My concern started when I began thinking about where I am and where “the world” is. This saying assumes we religious people (followers of Jesus, Buddha,Yaweh, Muhammad, the Haley-Bop comet) can be someplace other than “the world” and insinuates that “the world” is somewhere “out there.”
FASHIONABLE FAITH…
So when this cliche started gaining popularity, while baby boomers were mellowing out to The Doors, a generation of well-intentioned and compassionate Christians began drafting maps to get “out there” and hatching grand schemes to “engage the world.” Many of these roaring lambs (as they were later dubbed) decided the best strategy for getting to “the world” was to draw “the world” to them. The best way to spread the Good News - they thought - was to become the best, most contemporary, most “relevant”, smartest, richest, most successful and intelligent-lighting savvy people they could be. Surely then “the world” (non-Christians segregated from the church somewhere) would be attracted to the Christian faith. And man - these boomers must have thought - our way will be much faster than what our parents and grandparents tried too. We’ll be “intentional”, “sensitive” and impossible to ignore. Why wouldn’t the “pre-Christian” (as some called them) come join us. The converts won’t trickle in, they’ll pour in! - they mused - If we spin this whole religion thing right God’s market share will soar, we’ll have the coolest churches ever and then we’ll create conferences to teach our kids and our kids’ kids how to be the most “emergent”, most “relevant”, smartest, richest, most successful candle burning people they can be for the purpose of coaxing “the world” into Heaven.
Then, hundreds of guys went to seminary and then to the mall to buy Dockers and other casual attire. Soon Mega Churches resembling those malls outfitted with Jumbotrons for attracting the bored, day cares for attracting the busy and materialistic, and coffee shops for attracting the hip and addicted were erected all over the Southeast. Guys called “lead worshipers” or “Christian artists” grew goatees, grabbed guitars and did their best impersonations of musicians pagans pay to see. Then Christian record labels, film studios, magazines, book publishers, jugglers, magicians, radio stations, gyms, daycares, wrestling federations, newspapers, phonebooks, landscapers, car dealers, universities, authors, politicians, moving companies, fast-food chains, fashion houses, directors, clubs, skateparks, web hosts, TV shows, airlines, video games, cartoons and web sites sprang suddenly sprang up all over - creating a sort of Jesusland stocked with “Christian” doubles of “the world’s” most popular amusements and industries. All because religious people now believed “the world” was somewhere “out there” (or up there) waiting to be “reached” by being impressed by people of faith. “The world” was treated as a place to be saved by Christian power and influence. The Kingdom would come most quickly - it was thought - when the faithful, one by one, reached the pinnacle of success as defined by “the world.” Only competing with “the world” can transform the church into the kind of people “the world” likes and admires and wants to be. If we could stand on top of the world - the boomers thought - “the world” would be forced to stand with us, to take notice and give their lives to Jesus Christ.
And still today I’m fighting to overcome this way of thinking ingrained in me, this belief that to “change the world” I must climb the highest point in my “Christian” field so that more people can see my Jesus flag. If I can just impress and lure more non-Christians into my church or my shows with what a great guy I am or by promoting the many services God Inc. has to offer them then - Switcheroo!! - I’ll be able to focus “the world’s” attention on Jesus. But “the world” isn’t “out there” waiting for us/me to become more appealing or excellent so that it has good reason to pay us a visit - is it?
To be continued...someday.
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You make a list. You mail it to Santa. You whine and pray and wait for weeks, wake before dawn Christmas morning, run to the tree and buzz-saw your way through paper and cardboard only to find...a spring.
I don’t like Slinkies. Actually it’s not about affection, or a lack thereof. I just don’t GET Slinkies. Who came up with this ghetto toy? Some guy forgot to shop for his kids one year (a boy and a girl of course), walks by a dumpster on the way to work and notices a spring from a busted machine of some kind hanging over the edge. The world’s best selling toy and catchiest theme song are born.
Blogs are the Slinky of the internet. According to Business Week (May 2, 2005 p.57)…
...there are about 9 million weblogs, or “blogs”, out in cyberspace. 40,000 new ones are started each day. But, like the ever-present Slinky, the blog is having a hard time being understood and appreciated.
Part of that is because, if you’re old enough (like me) to know the Slinky theme song by heart, you don’t know what a blog is or where to find one - “Is that in Produce or Lawn and Garden?” If I asked my mom to check out my blog - which I’ll do eventually - would she know I wasn’t talking about a strange growth on my back or a new kitchen appliance for peeling grapes? Would she offer condolences or wrap me in a congratulatory hug?
And if we know what a blog is it’s only because we humored a friend once and actually read their on-line rants about politics, waded through detailed descriptions of what time they did what, how many bananas they had for breakfast or how much they looooooooooooove!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Justin Timberlake. 99.9% of blogs are as lacking in point as they are in punctuation, spelling and good grammar. They stand as evidence that our schools are cranking out graduates incapable of putting their thoughts and feelings into sentences, using both capital and lowercase letters, without leaning on the ever popular ; ) for expression. (That mini-rant was made possible by Mrs.Gazette, Mrs.Granberry, Mrs.Clark, Mrs.Adams and Mrs.Marshall - my elementary school teachers. Ladies, I thank you and my readers thank you.)
So blogs are new for most of us, have a bad rep and yet there are a lot of them lying about on the information superhighway. Like I said, they’re like Slinky. Seems everyone will have one eventually but as yet, few figured out how to put them to good use. I’m not sure I can change that with SHLOG. I’m only doing this blog thing because friends/expert bloggers bugged me to for so long that I gave in and promised to try it for a month or so. If I never take it out of the box and find something useful or fun to do with it I’ll trade it in for a new toy like...I don’t know...my own podcast.
Until I give up I’m hoping you find something entertaining, amusing, inspiring, or just plain time wasting here everyday. I’m planning on inviting guest bloggers (my road manager, someone in my band, my wife, and anybody else with free time) to fill in for me from time to time, as well as posting new songs as I write them, interviews by me of interesting folks, reviews of new music/books/blogs as I find them and more details about my day-to-day life than you may care to read. Let me know what you’d like to see/read and I’ll put it under the tree for you - no whining necessary.
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