Shame, Exile, and Opportunity

     I continue to be haunted and sobered by news of sexual immorality and abuse of power on the part of pastoral leaders.  You can scarcely take a breath before another horrible account reaches the news.  First, it was a collection of evangelical pastors, and a highly-visible one who capped off that list.  I wrote about him last time.  However, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was rocked, last week, by a Grand Jury report on 6 dioceses which, over the course of 70 years, miscarried their oversight of 300 priests who sexually abused 1,000 children.  The report was heavily redacted, and many others probably went unreported, so the likelihood is that the total number of victims may reach into the thousands.  Indeed, as of yesterday, more than 400 calls have been made to the clergy abuse hotline set up in the wake of the report.

     This, of course, comes hot on the heels of the June 20 removal from ministry of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, former Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.  Several credible accounts surfaced of him sexually abusing male seminaries under his teaching, and even a few minors.  On July 17, he was demoted from the office of Cardinal, and was ordered by the pope to a life of "prayer and penance in seclusion."  He is currently under a form of house arrest. It is especially ironic that Cardinal McCarrick had helped to lead a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2002, who adopted a policy entitled "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People" in response to an earlier scandal I'll mention shortly.

     These two scandals have done grievous injury to the hearts of Catholics in America, just as the recent Evangelical scandals have to Protestants.  To make matters worse, devout Catholics had considered themselves well along in healing from an earlier crisis, concerning the Archdiocese of Boston.  In early 2002, just a few months after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Boston Globe published an explosive report about approximately 70 priests who had sexually abused hundreds of children.  In the months that followed, further reports poured in, raising the number of predator priests to 249, and the abuse count to 1000.  But the true numbers are surely higher than that.

     The sheer amount of human suffering at the hands of so-called shepherds of God's flock is shattering to our consciences.  Worse still is how the reports were handled.  In the case of Evangelical abuse scandals like Willow Creek, the sheer power of celebrity pastors (a concept that may need to die) made them unaccountable and too big to fail.  Church boards initially chose to remain loyal to the pastor, making the victims feel unheard and ostracized.  In both the Boston and Pennsylvania scandals, church hierarchy dealt with documented cases of abuse, not by defrocking and turning priests over to law enforcement, but by giving them "counseling" and moving them on to other parishes, often without warning the new parishes of the priests' abuse histories. Many predator priests have gone on to perpetuate the cycle repeatedly. The Catholic Church requires that files on these proceedings be kept in the offices of the bishops, under tight seal.  That is why the Pennsylvania Attorney General is confident about his report; his evidence is largely taken from their own records.  Also preserved in black and white is the cover-up perpetrated by the bishops, including Cardinal Bernard Law in Boston (who was removed from office and "exiled" to a choice post at one of Rome's largest cathedrals), and Cardinal Donald Wuerl, formerly bishop of the Pittsburgh Diocese, but who is implicated over 140 times in the Grand Jury report.  His future as the head of the Washington Archdiocese rests on a knife's edge.

     To think that churches, claiming to speak in the name our Lord, would commit such atrocious deception and dereliction of their call is too shocking for words.  Not only that--this spiritual cancer seems to be everywhere at this time.  If it were just a few isolated tragedies, we could grieve, repent, make amends, and move on.  We don't seem to have that option now.  This sin has metastasized, and appears to be endemic throughout the system of today's church organizations.  I find myself in doubt that we can effectively address this by tending to individual manifestations of the disease--although we must continue to do that.  This has the marks of something systemic, and it seems that we are going to need work at the very heart of the Church in order to make real progress and recover our witness.

     The hopeful word is that this work is not solely ours, although we will certainly be called to repentance.  Ultimately, however, Scripture teaches us that the work is Christ's.  In Ephesians 5, husbands are commended to the example of Christ, who

loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. (vv. 25-27)

     We must remember that the Church is not a man-made institution.  It was conceived in the mind of God, ransomed from sin and death by the shed blood of Jesus, and bound together by the indwelling Holy Spirit we all share.  At the end of days, Jesus will unite Himself to a Church that has been purified of all the sorts of corruption we have seen everywhere.  It is His own power that He will bring to bear, purifying us of all our sin.  Paul lists the sorts of corruption that is on Christ's cleaning list in verses 3-5: sexual immorality, impurity, greed, obscenity, coarse joking, foolish talk, impurity, and idolatry.  Though that's just a partial list of sins, I think we can agree that the Lord has His work cut out for Him.  Those sins are rampant in the church today.  God never undertakes a work He doesn't finish, so we can bank on it, He will purify the church.  Our job is to be humble and repentant, submitting to the Holy Spirit as He sanctifies us.

     That is not to say, however, that Christ's work sanctifying the Church will always be easy and comfortable.  When God's people fall short of His call, He does not hesitate to humble and exile them.  He has an eternal view of things, so He is not scared to let His people be shamed in the eyes of the world.  He did so, repeatedly, when Israel persisted in her rebellion and apostasy.  They were destroyed by Assyria in the north, exiled to Babylon in the south, and ultimately conquered, driven out, and scattered across the earth by the Roman Empire.  As final as that seemed, after two millennia we now see a re-gathering and re-constituting of Israel in their homeland.  It has taken a long time for the Lord to work on purifying the hearts of Israel, and who knows how long it will yet be until He calls His work finished.

     The Church of Jesus Christ can expect no less, because we worship the same God, who never changes.  Indeed, Peter writes this in 1 Peter 4:17 -- "For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?"  We know that the Lord intends to reconcile all things to Himself (Col. 1:19-20), and He intends to use His Church in the ministry of reconciliation.  Before He can use us, however, He must purge the rebellion from our hearts.  Thus, as part of His work of judging and redeeming the world (those who will repent and have faith in Christ), He will first turn His loving, cleansing judgment on us.  We should perhaps not be surprised that we are in this season of exposing our corruption, letting us face the shame of the world, and finally purifying our hearts.  He needs us fully consecrated and submitted to His work in the world.

     I  do not like the negative attention that the American church is getting these days.  I think it is just, but no sane Christian would want to be exposed to the type of shame we've received.  It grieves my heart that so many seekers and believers have been spiritually abused. They have been presented with a sick, blasphemous portrayal of God, by many who have claimed to represent Him.  Several of the victims have explained why they let this abuse go on for any time; they have said, "It was like saying no to God--how could I do that?" You and I know that we are not God, but we can't escape reality: for many people, their picture of God's nature and will is mediated through us, His servants.  If they are told they must accept what has been done to them out of obedience to God--which has happened--they will often conclude that God is a monster and turn their backs on Him forever.  Oh, the dreadful accountability that many will face at Great White Throne of God!  As Jesus said, it would be better if they had never been born.  When we attempt to share the Good News about Jesus, we must accept the fact that many will distrust us.  The Gospel has been so besmirched by wolves in sheep's clothing that it will take much work to demonstrate its true nature to them.

     Once again, even that work is not completely ours; it is the Holy Spirit who will draw, convict, and bring to faith those who will turn to Him.  But more than ever, we must now dedicate ourselves fully to the mission Christ has given us--to representing Him faithfully.  Half-heartedness and double-mindedness will only get us more of what we've had, and heap dishonor on the name of our Lord.  We must further go about our witness, not with a triumphal chip on our shoulders, but with deep humility and transparency.  Many church organizations have covered up the guilt of pastors because they were afraid.  They feared that the scandals would make them vulnerable, and threaten the good works they were trying to accomplish.  As we can all see, they proved themselves to be their own worst enemies.  By adding sin to cover sin, they wrought far worse destruction on themselves than if they had humbly acknowledged each failure, opened themselves to public scrutiny, and committed themselves to represent Christ in a more faithful way.

     It is time for authenticity from the church, even when it hurts.  I don't think the public will be fooled by any more shell games.  The more desperately we scramble to prop up the facade of our superior moral fiber, the faster we will lose them.  Already, many people you meet will hear you are a Christian, roll their eyes and shut you off.  The answer to that is not more of the same approach.  I think it is time for us to humbly tell our friends and co-workers that we are followers of Jesus, but that we are far from perfect in this journey of patterning ourselves after Him.  We should tell them that so many people, calling themselves Christians, have veered far away from the heart of Jesus' ministry and teachings, that this grieves and shames us terribly, but that we are on a quest to rediscover the core of who Jesus is and who He is forming us to be. 

     What would happen if we invite them to watch our lives, ask us questions, and even challenge us when they perceive that we have strayed from the values to which we've told them we're aspiring? When we do fail to imitate Jesus faithfully, what if we owned up to it, instead of obscuring it in a smokescreen of false piety? If we thanked them for pointing out the inconsistency, and asked them to give us feedback as we worked to reflect Christ more accurately in that area, I think it would generate respect from the people watching us.  Perhaps it would endear them to us, and even make them think about joining us on our journey, if we would live such open, honest, and welcoming lives.

     We all fear shame and exile, and that's a perfectly sane impulse.  But in some sense, it's already coming upon us, as the American church falls into greater disrepute and governments turn toward measures that crack down on churches in ways that feel increasingly discriminatory.  That's the situation; we need to figure out what to do with it.  Consider the example set by prominent spiritual leaders of Israel during times of exile.  Their shame was deserved; they didn't dispute that.  Think, however, of the humble posture of men like Daniel, Shadrach, Meschach, Abednego, Ezra, Nehemiah, Zerubbabel, and others.  They did not chafe against the authorities under which God had placed them.  Instead, they lived exemplary lives of hard work, respect, consistency in their values, honesty and guilelessness.  In short, they were so transparent and winsome that they won the respect of rulers like Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes, and Artaxerxes.  Ultimately, their integrity and God's grace won for Israel the right to return home.  It even worked a change in the land of their exile, as brutal regimes like Nebuchadnezzar's gave way to the more humane rule of men like Cyrus and Darius.  We do not wish for shame, or exile, nor should we.  But neither should we despair when they come upon us, for if they happen, they will be used in the will of Christ, to sanctify His Church for her eternal union with Him.  Times like these can strip away our destructive, false loyalties, fit us for heaven, and make us far more effective witnesses for Christ than we've been before.  There are new opportunities for witness in times of exile.  Instead of fearing them, we should use them.

The Paradoxical Power of Obscurity

Inquiring Minds Want to Know...But Why?

Forgiveness Is Freedom

    I recently picked up a subscription to a journal called Plough Quarterly, published by the Bruderhof community.  I'd heard good things about it, and the journal recently co-sponsored an excellent forum with another journal I greatly respect.  I thought it could do no harm to check it out--and I haven't been disappointed.  The Spring 2017 edition featured many stories of personal courage on the part of Christ's followers.  One of them was most affecting and challenging.  The story of Steven McDonald is all about the courage to forgive.  

   A former New York City police officer, Mr. McDonald walked up to three teenagers in Central Park in the summer of 1986.  He wanted to ask them for any information surrounding a bicycle theft.  A fifteen-year-old boy drew a gun and shot Officer McDonald in the head, neck and arm.  The officer was rushed to the hospital, where his life was saved, but there was bad news: he would be paralyzed from the neck down for the rest of his life.  His wife, who was three months pregnant with their child, was devastated.  Mrs. McDonald was, however, a devout believer, and expressed confidence that this tragedy would be a chance for God to display how faithfully He can provide for His children's every need.  The constancy of her faith gave Steven McDonald the strength to forgive the young man who shot him.  As he set the boy free from condemnation, he discovered it was he who'd experienced a much greater liberation.

     We have often heard it said that when we harbor grudges against those who have wronged them, it is we who suffer.  Those who committed wrongs (or we imagine they've wronged us) do not experience the poisoning effect of the bile we build up inside while we condemn them.  The only way for the offended party to be truly free of the injury is to let it go.

     The Amish community of Nickel Mines, Lancaster County, understood this when their fellowship was most grievously wounded in October of 2006.  A seriously-disturbed man, Charles Roberts, entered the community's one-room schoolhouse, barricaded himself inside with the children, and began shooting the little girls in the back of the head.  He killed five and wounded five more--one of them seriously handicapped as a result--before taking his own life.  

   We can only guess at the pain suffered by this simple community of non-violent Christians.  We might expect them to harbor bitterness over this unprovoked, heinous act, or at least to draw in on themselves to nurse their wounds and protect themselves against further harm from "the English."  

   Their response was the opposite.  Within hours of the terrible act, the Old Order community presented themselves at the doorsteps of the murderer's family.  They folded his wife and three young children into their families, and set up a charitable fund to help the widowed mother to raise her children.  The grieving wife thanked them publicly, 

"Your love for our family has helped to provide the healing we so desperately need. Gifts you've given have touched our hearts in a way no words can describe. Your compassion has reached beyond our family, beyond our community, and is changing our world, and for this we sincerely thank you." (Damien McElroy, Daily Telegraph, London, 10/17/06)  

   The forgiveness and love of the Amish community set this family free from shame, and that freedom gave them the chance to heal.

     Of course, in forgiving, the Amish were also setting themselves free--free to experience the love and healing of God, and free to love and heal each other.  It is all-too-common for a victimized family to disintegrate under the burden of all their pain.  Bereavement can cripple emotionally and relationally, as well as physically.  It is bewildering to watch family members in pain wound each other, lashing out at the very ones who can most help them to heal.  If only they could forgive those who wounded them, and hold tight to each other, they could emerge with stronger bonds than before.  They could then share their story with other families in pain, and the liberating power of forgiveness would change the world.

     This was the experience of Officer Steven McDonald.  When he chose to forgive, it was first a means to protect his family and his soul.  He said of the decision,

I wanted to free myself of all the negative, destructive emotions that this act of violence awoke in me--the anger, the bitterness, the hatred.  I needed to free myself of those so I could be free to love my wife and our child and those around us. I often tell people that the only thing worse than a bullet in my spine would have been to nurture revenge in my heart.  Such an attitude would have extended my tragic injury into my soul, hurting my wife, son, and others even more.  It is bad enough that the physical effects are permanent, but at least I can choose to prevent spiritual injury. (Sam Hine, "God's Cop--A Tribute to Steven McDonald: Friend, Hero, Saint," Plough Quarterly, Spring 2017, No. 12, p. 13)

     Forgiveness, when unleashed, has a power which cannot be contained.  Though at first he just wanted to protect his marriage,  his family , and his soul, the freedom he experienced had to be shared.  Bound to a wheelchair, and continually hooked up to a ventilator, Mr. McDonald began to travel extensively with a message of what forgiveness can do.  He traveled to Northern Ireland, in the first days of an uneasy peace, and spoke to both Protestant and Catholic churches, even to the Northern Irish Parliament.  He told them that the only way to achieve true peace, and a harmonious future, was forgiveness on both sides of the divide.  He has traveled to Israel, where he counseled forgiveness to both Israelis and Palentinians.  In the wake of the 1999 Columbine school shooting, he co-founded a program called Breaking the Cycle, which gave McDonald the opportunity to talk to thousands of New York school students about the power of resolving conflicts non-violently.  World leaders, celebrities, and multitudes of normal people like us have had their lives changed by his story of the courage to forgive,  and the freedom it brings.

     All of this was done in a wheelchair.  Every breath he took to speak of forgiveness was supplied by a machine.  Officer McDonald forgave even as he suffered.

     The Amish community in Lancaster County forgave a family, and adopted them as their own, even as they grieved their lost, little girls terribly.

     Forgiveness is at its greatest, most world-altering power when offered out of pain.  Just ask Jesus.

"When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals--—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”" -- Luke 23:33-34 NIV

     Has someone hurt you badly?  Do you still wince at the betrayal of a trusted friend? Has a hurtful word pierced your heart from a source you would never have expected?  Are you smarting from the grief of a relationship ended all too soon?  Pain is far too common in this world.  We all have it, in one form or another.  The only thing we can do is choose what to do with it.  

   We can nurse our bitterness, holding our grudges as long as we live.  If we choose this path, we will have the luxury of righteous anger.  What we will not have is freedom, or love.  Bitterness will keep us from loving or being loved.  

   Unforgiveness will make it impossible to know God at all.  We will never be able to receive His gift of forgiveness, so long as we clutch the gift of bitterness that we have made for ourselves.

     If we choose, however, to forgive the hurt and release the pain, we will be free to love, and to be loved.

     And if we let God wield the power of forgiveness through us, we will change the world.  That is not an exaggeration.

The Battle of You

   When I was a teenager in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, fifteen or sixteen years old, I was excited to receive a copy of a book called This Present Darkness, by Frank E. Peretti.  This Christian novel was a great fad at the time, having sold a couple million copies.  I would venture that it did much to ignite the Christian fiction rage that lasted many years.  It is about a Christian pastor, Hank Busche, who faithfully prays that God would bring revival to a college town that is mired in corruption and New Age cult practices.  He endures a great deal of opposition from those in power, who go so far as to have him falsely accused of rape.  He is thrown in jail, along with a local newspaper editor who is hunting down the same trail of corruption from a journalistic angle.  Peretti shows that a great spiritual battle between angelic and demonic forces over-arches the trials of these two men--a battle for the eternal souls of the town's residents.

     Although I still own the book (I'm a pack rat when it comes to books), I have not read the novel since 1986.  I have forgotten much of it.  Still, thinking back on it thirty years later, I have an odd feeling of doubt whether I would agree with one-hundred percent of the theological ideas in the book.  I can say this, however: the book presented the idea that important battles are being waged in the heavenlies when we Christians face our daily struggles.  I am very much on-board with that truth, as the Bible itself teaches it.  The book quotes Ephesians 6:12 at the very beginning: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

     My mind is drawn, now, to the story in 2 Kings 6, when the prophet Elisha was being hunted by the king of Aram.  The prophet kept informing the king of Israel about the intended movements of their enemies, the Arameans, having been told of them by the LORD.  The Aramean king learned it was because the prophet Elisha was passing along the intelligence from God, and Israel's enemies knew they could make no headway while the prophet lived. The king sent out spies, discovered the prophet's whereabouts, and dispatched an entire army and cavalry to deal with him.  Talk about overkill!  As the armed force approached, Elisha's servant was the first to spot them.  He knew why they had come, and he freaked out. Panicked, he scrambled to Elisha and said, "Oh, no, my lord! What shall we do?"  Verses 16-17 show us an Elisha who was far from panicked--if anything, he was nonchalant.

16 “Don't be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”17 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

     Elisha understood that the battles he saw before him were but visible shadows of the true war taking place in the heavenlies--a war that was quite one-sided in God's favor.  Living on his faith that the battle is the LORD's, he led the blinded Arameans into Israel's clutches, and went home in safety with his servant.

     We can read the stories of the prophets with admiration, wistfully thinking that such a thing would never apply to us.  We, after all, are not being dispatched to confront evil despots, bravely telling them off on God's behalf.  We're just normal people trying to get by.  Our struggles and griefs are commonplace--there is nothing heroic about them. So the stories of miraculous, divine deliverance don't cover us as we strive to make ends meet and love our families. 

     ...And just as we conclude this, we show that we are kindred spirits with Elisha's servant.  It didn't occur to him that there was more going on than met his eye.  He thought his number was up, that he was far too unimportant for God to move on his behalf.  Though Elisha was the big, important prophet, however, it didn't dawn on the servant that he was just as loved and precious to the LORD as Elisha was.  Furthermore, the LORD was revealing and glorifying Himself to the servant as much as to the master.  His soul, his relationship with God, and his preparation for being a royal son in the Kingdom of God was just as important as the great events being unfolded between Elisha, Israel and Aram.  The servant was inferior to Elisha only in the sense that his thinking was too small.  In the LORD's eyes, no one's life story is of lesser importance.  He intends to bestow victory upon each of His children alike, and to magnify His own name in the process.

     As I write these words, my heart is with several of my brothers and sisters in Christ who have recently faced big battles and endured great losses.  They've been stunned, hurt, and bewildered by these unforeseen griefs.  These dear ones are important to me (as are you), and so I have been saddened and mystified as I have stood with them. Why have some of these things happened to such lovely people?  These people are family--they have influenced us all with lives of faith, loving and giving.  Why them? In one sense, my answer is the same as yours: I just don't know.  We are mortal, and our viewpoint is all too limited.  Pain has the effect of limiting our vision yet further.  We can't see the wider purposes afoot.  We are hard put to see God moving.  We feel alone.  We only see that we hurt, and we don't see why it is happening.

     Let me tell you what I do know.

•      I know that while pain makes a person feel isolated, that is just a feeling.  Don't trust it.  We have a Redeemer who experienced the full weight of human trials, and therefore who understands and identifies with us in our hurt.  He stands by our side, and offers us the strength that He used to triumph over His own ordeals. 
•      I know that you are a child of God, equally cherished as any of the "celebrity" Christians who are more visible and seem to be making the "heroic" efforts of faith.  God does not see things to the same scale as we do.  Remember first/last, last/first? 
•      I know that your trial, your pain, is just as important to the Lord as anyone else's, because He wants you to enjoy his eternal kingdom as much as every other person.  Because of this, I know that placed in God's hands, your trial can result in your victory and God's glory, just the trial of Elisha and His servant.
•      I know that as real as your struggle seems right now, it is but a shadow of the true war being waged in the heavenly realm.  The Adversary, the devil, wants to destroy your joy, your faith, and your sense of closeness to God.  Satan wants you to be a hollowed-out, pain-wracked, shell of who God created you to become. Remember, your struggle is not with flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
•      I also know that the outcome of your battle is already decided.  The decisive victory against Satan has already been won, as Christ tore away the bars of sin and death.  In Jesus, you have already won.  The battle taking place in your own life is simply God coming into full possession of a battlefield that He has already won.

    

     Never forget that.

Who First?

            The day after the 2016 election, I awoke with a feeling of hopeful optimism.  After a long, long electoral year, the vote was finally done, and the nation's President had been chosen.  I was so looking forward to a halt in all the campaigning, all the emotionally-charged and vitriolic debates.  Finally, I thought, folks can get back to a normal mode of life, and whether or not they were pleased with the final result, we can at least take a break from all the politics.  That's what I expected, based on my memory of how things had gone in the past.

            Given how unusual this election had been, I should have prepared myself for an unusual aftermath.  Within a day or two after the election was over, I was on Facebook, issuing a general plea for folks to stop cluttering my newsfeed with politically-charged posts.  I exhorted them to take a deep breath of fresh air, and enjoy the fact that the campaign was now past.  Just focus on the upcoming holiday season--have fun!  It was like shouting into the wind.  Meanwhile, numerous posters went on haranguing on one side or the other, becoming steadily more shrill and hysterical.  I started blocking posts from various sources, and “unfollowing” friends that were particularly unrelenting.

            The part I find most discouraging is when I discover among the ranks of provocateurs those who profess allegiance to Jesus.  Whether sympathetic to the Democrats or the Republicans, I have read posts from Christians who, by their approval or their own words, align themselves with sentiments that are most un-Christlike.  The worst I have seen yet is a very large, Southern Baptist Church in Texas which has decided to withhold their mission giving because of a denominational staffer who espoused political views opposite to their own. This staffer called evangelicals to seriously consider whether their political stance aided, or hindered, the advance of Christ's Kingdom.  In response, the local congregation put a halt on their mission contribution, citing concerns with the direction of the entire denomination.  (Remember, this is a reaction to the views of just one man).  The fund from which the church is withholding goes to the ministries and salaries of missionaries all over the world.  But because one denominational official raised concerns with their political advocacy, the church decided to penalize an entire slate of missions efforts.  By the way, the pastor of the withholding church is one of the President's advisors.  When I learned that part, I was completely flabbergasted.

            In this one bewildering incident we uncover a mindset that is all too common among American Christians right now.  We might describe it like this: "My version of what America should look like takes precedence over my duty to Christ's Kingdom on earth."  Here we see a man placing his allegiance to an American President over his commission to shepherd his flock with the heart of Jesus, and to work for the spread of the Gospel around the world.  By his example, he has taught his church that defending a political position is a more important calling than modeling our hearts, words and deeds after those of Jesus, and spreading the values of His Kingdom over the world.  He is also causing his church to defame the reputation of the Church before a culture in desperate need of the very Gospel that is being so badly misrepresented.

This is just one, outlandish example, but we see the same trend working out in smaller ways, with professing Christians throughout the nation.  We see it when Christians, who align with either party, automatically line up behind the policies of that party instead of examining each issue in the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and of God's revealed Word.  There are many hot issues which illuminate this trend.  What we should do about all the refugees displaced by Islamic extremism is the most prominent, but there are other issues such as immigration, border security, health care, abortion, marriage, etc.  Each of these issues is packed with emotional TNT on either side.  But let me ask you a searching question: whatever you hold on these issues, why do you believe those things?  Do you hold those positions because of what someone has said on the radio or television?  Do you hold them because you are “all in” for your political party, and if that's what they say on the issue, they must be right?  Do you hold these positions because you are sold out to a certain picture of what America should be like? Because you want to protect your affluence and security? Or are your views on issues shaped by your long and careful study of what God's Word says about them? Have you thought long and hard, wrestled and prayed about how your King would have you represent Him with regard to these important matters?  I want to caution you here, with love.  When my identity as a middle-class American, or as a Republican or Democrat, is expressed before my identity as an ambassador of Christ's eternal Kingdom, there is a serious problem at hand.

In Revelation 11:15, we find a multitude of the heavenly chorus rejoicing because, at long last, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever." How we hunger for that day to come!  Until it does, you have been redeemed for a special purpose.  Your job is to represent the coming Kingdom, to announce its imminent and eternal victory, and to show the world the ethics and values of that Kingdom by your own actions, words and attitudes.  You have been called to be a living demonstration of how different life will be in the coming Kingdom, and already is among those of us who have believed the Gospel.  That's your one and only job.  One day, your diplomatic service will draw to a close.  There will only be one Kingdom, so no need for ambassadors anymore.  We will be recalled to the great Throne of the King, and we will bow our knees before Him.  On that day, He will not ask us if we were exemplary Republicans or Democrats, conservatives or liberals.  He won't even ask us if we were exemplary Americans.  He will ask only if we faithfully represented the values and ethics of HIS Kingdom.  Lest we become swept away with all the political ferment of our day, I urge us all to waste none of our precious time with all that nonsense. We have bigger fish to fry.  I urge us all to remember that we are on the clock, that we have a King who has called us to represent HIS interests, and that there is precious little time to waste.  

Whatever your feelings about the slogan, "America First," that cannot be our motto as Kingdom ambassadors.  Our motto must now and always be: “Jesus first.”

The Defeat of Disenchantment

              As 2016 grinds to a close, I admit that I am more than ready to bid it goodbye.  As a rule you shouldn't wish time away; later you may come to regret it.  This year feels like an exception, however.  It has been a hard slog of a year. I believe the long and torturous electoral year did much to wear me out mentally, but it has also been a year full of hardship and loss for many people.  I will personally be glad to put behind me the year that saw me diagnosed with kidney cancer and enduring the loss of one of the organs!

            Today I am reflective, though, because of all the people that have passed away this year.  Many of our families have experienced private losses, and many have just encountered their first holiday season without a loved one.  Even on the national stage, there has been an abnormally large number of celebrity deaths; most recently we were shocked by the passing of actress Carrie Fisher and, one day later, her mother Debbie Reynolds.  Of all the prominent deaths that have befallen us, I was most saddened by those of Carrie Fisher and Gene Wilder.  I say this because two inhabit such a prominent place in the fantasy world of my childhood imagination.

            Gene Wilder will always be, for me, the definitive Willy Wonka.  (That other movie, which will remain nameless, doesn’t even register on my scope.)  Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was a wonderful, magical film for kids: the factory was virtually its own dimension full of things to delight children, and you can't get any better than the theme: a boy from a desperately poor family, but with an honest and noble heart, gains a treasure beyond his wildest imagining.  And while I was more interested in Luke Skywalker, Carrie Fisher's Princess Leia played an indispensable role in the world I constantly occupied in my young mind.  Every Christmas and birthday, my wish list consisted almost entirely of Star Wars toys.  So with the death of these two actors, it is almost as if some of my childhood fantasy world has vanished from existence. 

Have you experienced anything like this, when your idealized "happy place" seemed threatened or ruined?  When it happened, did you feel that the world was more of a dark, drab and somber place?  Times of unexpected hardship can do the same.  Life is filled with love and happiness; we think that misfortunes will come upon others, but never upon us.  Sooner or later, we discover we are like everyone else, not immune to difficulties.  The magical force field protecting us from hurt drops away.  We grow up, we experience disenchantment, and think that the simple wonder of childhood is forever lost to us.

In the last couple of days, however, I've been asking myself a question.  I think you should ask it, too.  Is this process of becoming joyless and disenchanted something to which I, as a child of God, should resign myself?  Is it really a mark of Christian “maturity” for me to become morose, to carry the weight of the world on my shoulders?  Is God really undertaking a program of removing all the joy and wonder from me by sending me difficulties--to prepare me for an eternity of joy and wonder in His Kingdom?  That would hardly seem to make sense, would it?  In fact, I seem to recall Jesus teaching that "unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3-4) We've just experienced the Christmas holiday, many of us with children or grandchildren nearby.  Have we not been reminded what the heart of a child is like?  A child's heart is full of simple trust in his parents and grandparents.  She also experiences exuberant joy and wonder in everything.  According to Jesus, that's just the sort of heart that qualifies one for the Kingdom of God.

C.S. Lewis, as a child, inhabited the fantasy worlds of his books.  Even as an adult, he became a professor of English literature so that he could share the wonder of epic stories and fairy tales with his students.  Yet ironically, as a young man he had decided he was too intelligent to believe in God any longer.  While that decision may have seemed enlightened, he was troubled by that sense of cynical disenchantment we have been discussing.  He experienced the horrors of World War I firsthand; this would definitely empty a person of a sense of life'’s basic goodness! Though he took refuge in the stories, life itself seemed grim and empty.  Into this void came his friendship with Hugo Dyson and J.R.R. Tolkien, two of his fellow “Inklings” who met at the Eagle and Child pub in Oxford.  Many long talks with these two devoted Christians helped Lewis to catch a wonderful revelation: that his fascination with an ideal world--fairy stories--was because in his heart of hearts, he knew that there had to be a better world than this one.  All of those fantastic myths that captured his imagination were compelling because they pointed to what they called “true myth”—-an epic tale of evil’'s defeat and the world’'s redemption by an ultimate King who would soon return.  What made this “true myth” so compelling was that it was no myth at all; —this story is true! Jesus did die and rise again so that the curse of sin would begin to unravel, and He is coming back to wipe out all evil and injustice.  He will bring in an eternal Kingdom full of that joy and wonder we thought was lost.

As we conclude our celebration of Christ'’s incarnation, please remember that with the birth of that holy Child, we witnessed the beginning of God’'s final victory over evil, the redemption of His children, and even the world itself.  In the meantime, it may seem that sins and sorrows grow—-that thorns continue to infest the ground.  I urge you to remember, though, that those appearances are deceiving.  They are the dying ragings of an ancient Enemy who has already been defeated and condemned. 

These epic stories are all expressions of a Master Story, a Gospel Story, that is absolutely true.  King Richard will return, ousting the usurper John, and Robin Hood will soon gain the rewards of his loyalty.  A century’'s winter will soon melt away from Narnia, and the life of an eternal spring will burst forth.  Aslan'’s breath will stir the stones back to life, and four children will rule in his stead from the castle of Cair Paravel.  A foolish, little hobbit will carry the One Ring to its destruction in the fires of Mt. Doom, there will be a Return of the King, and the world will be reborn.  But the TRUE story is that the Son of God will come back for us.  There will be a New Heavens and a New Earth, on which will rest His eternal capital city, the New Jerusalem.  There you and I will rule beneath Him.  All the joy and wonder you carried as a child will return, hundreds of times over.  Even now, we can see these trouble-filled days with the eyes of faith.  We can remind ourselves that the emptiness and solemnity of life is trickery and shadow, a web of deception woven by an Enemy that would have us give up all for lost.  Stand on the true story which has been entrusted to you, and the disenchantment you have experienced with life'’s troubles can be re-enchanted once more.  With Jesus'’ eternal gift, reclaim the heart of a child.  I wish you a 2017 filled with joy, wonder, and God's love.