Friday, January 30, 2015

Democracy, The Free Press, and Facebook

Something struck me as I was working my way through William Shirer’s massive and insightful “The Collapse of the Third Republic”, which is his accounting through first-hand insight as a newspaper correspondent, and massive research after the fact, of the weaknesses that brought about the quick collapse of France in WWII.  It serves as a companion to the equally massive and equally insightful “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” which he also wrote.  In his account of the chaos and strife that enveloped France from the time period before WWI until their defeat by Germany in WWII, Shirer lays much of the blame for the divisions and hatreds within France upon the invective and clear falsehoods of the publications of both the Left (Communist, Socialist) and the Right (Fascist, Royalist).  The papers were filled with shrill accounts with little basis in reality that stoked fear and pitted Frenchmen against each other as each side envisioned that the other was on the verge of a coup that would destroy the Republic.  The press, and the politicians who were no better, treated each electoral defeat as the end of the world for their side, and vilified the opposition to the extent that mobs took the streets when urged to take matters into their own hands: assassinations, protests that turned violent, and other such drastic measures pushed France further and further down the road that had already destroyed the Weimar Republic in Germany and replaced it with Hitler’s Fascist police state.
                Why all this talk about France almost one hundred years ago, and what does any of this have to do with Facebook?  The reading of history is of course its own reward, a pursuit that enlightens today as it revels to us yesterday.  I saw just this week on Facebook, yet another dubious story about the imminent overthrow of America at the hands of the insidious Islamic revolutionaries who are even now plotting to take over the country and impose Sharia Law.  This latest version, reported by plenty of people on Facebook as if it was a proven fact, is saying that the FBI knows of dozens of terrorist training camps in America, but isn’t taking any action against them.  The story should be, on its surface, so ludicrous that no one would be willing to pass it along, yet there it is on Facebook, shared and re-shared over and over.  Stop and think for a moment; in order for the story to be true, the FBI would have to have sold out their own country, these brave men and women of law enforcement, some of the best patriots in our nation, would not sit by and choose political correctness over their own country.  Certainly there are terrorists out there trying to establish a worldwide Caliphate, but they're not evenly remotely close to doing anything of the sort, they've taken over pieces of a few war torn failed states, they're not a threat to topple the world's most powerful country.  Stories such as this, and there are plenty of other topics equally butchered on Facebook and other online sites by both the Right and the Left, contribute nothing to a democracy but fear, cynicism, division, and hatred.
                The willingness of a population to let their fears cloud their judgment so that they accept what they fear as the truth without questioning it, is not in any way a new facet of democracy.  It has happened before in our own history, at the very beginning, when John Adams, as ardent a patriot as the Founding Fathers ever had, was accused in the press by the opposition of secretly desiring to return America to King George if Adams should win the Presidency.  Ridiculous nonsense, yet willingly spread by those opposed to Adams’ politics and believed by far too many regular people who should have known better.  A similar story could be told of Athens during its glory days, when Alcibiades was convicted in absentia of desecrating the gods and condemned to death; when he heard the news he was in the middle of fighting for his city on foreign soil, a fact that his enemies used against him as he could not defend himself in the courts.  Likewise, the aged war hero and philosopher of Athens, Socrates, was also vilified without factual basis and convicted of corrupting the youth of the city, he too was condemned to death, and unlike Alcibiades, who fled and switched sides to fight for Sparta, Socrates willingly took the hemlock to die as a martyr.
                There are two equally unpalatable explanations as to why ridiculous scare tactics would be utilized by a free press: (1) the people writing these stories know that they’re false, but care so much about their cause, and hate their opposition so much, that they don’t care about the Truth. (2) The people writing such stories believe them to be true because their ideology has clouded their rational minds to the point that everything is seen through that prism.  Neither of those scenarios are a good one.  The first envisions a limitless supply of morally repugnant behavior in the pursuit of an ideal, and the second requires a human mind so blinded by its own convictions that rational thought is not to be found.  When a society is infected with this sort of rancor, both purposeful falsehoods and willing blindness are at work.
                The reason why this diatribe about the portions of the Press (which includes many outlets claiming to be journalism, but falling far from that standard) that are partisan, and the ongoing manifestation of truth-less claims in Facebook arguments, are being included in my blog about the Christian Faith and my life as a Pastor is that I have personally witnessed the negative effects of this on morally upright Christian men and women.  There are people I have known, some for decades, who now only listen to one side of any political story, who now assume that the opposition is full of scoundrels and turn a blind eye to the moral deficits of their own champions, and who seem to have accepted the false premise that the cure for what ails America is to be found at the ballot box, in Congress, the White House, or before the Supreme Court.  This is a false hope, one that will continue to cheat and frustrate those who put their trust in it.  The only true hope for America, for any nation, is to bring about spiritual revival through the local churches, one person saved by the grace of God and transformed at a time.  The time, energy, and passion spent indulging in fears about the future, in listening to and creating salvos about the wickedness of the other side, and in looking for a political savior when only a spiritual one will do, is sadly time, energy, and passion that could have gone far in building up the Kingdom of God. 
                I’m not surprised that Facebook, and the internet in general, are where those without a filter indulge their capacity for spreading rumors as if there were facts, but I am saddened and troubled to see Christians, those taught by the Word of God, committed to the Truth, and servants by choice of the Kingdom of God, joining in on this farce to their own detriment.  This isn’t a new problem, for democracy or for Christianity, but it is one that we ought to be on the side of combating, or at least ignoring, instead of passing it along.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Sermon Video: Acceptance and Rejection - Luke 10:3-16

History is full of people who believed an idea so much that they felt justified in utilizing force to get other people to accept it.  From Tomas de Torquemada with the Spanish Inquisition, to Vladimir Lenin’s dream of a worldwide Communist revolution, to Osama Bin Laden’s vision of a global Islamic Caliphate.  These men, and countless others, utilized coercion, manipulation, and outright violence in order to advance their cause.  As Jesus prepares to send out his 72 followers to spread the Gospel, he tells them that their methodology will be far different, they won’t utilize for or power at all, but rather be “like lambs among wolves”, and they won’t have vast resources at their disposal to accomplish the mission, rather they will rely upon the generosity of strangers.
                The Church learned the hard way that the corrupting influence of power and money are extreme hazards to our ability to fulfill our mission.  As a Church, or as an individual Christian, our ultimate battle is not in the physical realm, we do have to account for it by planning and prudent stewardship, but are true battle is in the spiritual realm.  If God has people filled with love and compassion, living pious lives and dedicated to his service, he will accomplish an amazing harvest no matter what resources they have to work with.  Conversely, if God’s people fail in the spiritual realm through lack of prayer, immorality, or complacency, it won’t matter how much money is spent in our ministry.

                After telling his followers what to do when they’re received with generosity, Jesus continues by telling them what to do when they’re not even welcomed in a community.  The culturally appropriate thing for them to do is to shake of the dust of their sandals before leaving town to show how serious the rejection of the Son of God truly is.  To illustrate this point, Jesus tells them that the city of Sodom, destroyed by God due to its excessive wickedness, will fare better on the Day of Judgment than a much more moral city like Capernaum that even with all of the benefits of the Law and the Prophets and Jesus’s words and miracles, still rejected the Messiah.  To reject Jesus, is to reject the Father as well, what else is there to say?

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Sermon Video: Workers in his harvest field - Luke 10:1-2

As Jesus prepares to send out 72 of his followers to prepare the villages that he intends to visit for his arrival, he shares with them a perennial problem that confronts the Church, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few”.  Until the invention of mechanized harvesting equipment, labor shortages during the labor intensive harvest were a life and death problem.  Taken as a whole, there is always a greater opportunity for acceptance of the Gospel than there are those willing and able to share it.  Why would God allow such a crucial role in his plan to be filled by mankind, why not simply call men to himself as his did with the Apostle Paul?  One of the reasons for God’s utilization of his people for this task is the role that witnessing to the Gospel plays in our own process of spiritual maturity.  Helping to save the lost is beneficial to those who are already found.

                Given that a shortfall of labor is a common problem for the Church, what are we to do?  “Ask the Lord of the harvest”, Jesus continues by reminding his followers that the business they are about is not their own, it is God’s.  God is the Lord of the harvest, he may not be working personally in the field, but that doesn’t mean that his will is not at work in hearts and minds of both those sharing and those hearing about God’s love.  Ask God what?  Jesus prescribed solution is simple, “to send out workers into his harvest field.”  Our obedience to the call to bear witness in our world begins with prayer.  Prayer for those two whom the message needs to go, whether we know them personally and are praying in specific terms, or if we simply pray in general for our town, our country, or the work of missionaries we support.  In addition to praying for those hearing the message, we need to pray for those giving it.  If we’re going to the Lord in prayer, we need to remember that our own hearts must be open to being a part of the answer.  When we pray that the Lord send forth workers, we’re praying that he send us as well.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Sermon Video: Don't look back, follow Jesus - Luke 9:51-62

What does it mean to be a “follower” of Jesus Christ?  That’s a phrase we often use, and something that we’ve been commanded to be, so understanding it becomes rather important.  One way to be a follower of Jesus would be to observe how he chose his own path and utilize the same approach.  In Luke 9:51, we’re told that Jesus “resolutely” set out for Jerusalem.  The choice of going to Jerusalem, to finish the mission of the Father, was a deliberate one.  It was also a choice made with the ultimate goal of being reunited with the Father in glory at the forefront.  How was Jesus able to endure the hardship of his passion and death?  He knew that one the other side of it lay victory and glory.  It is this sort of focus and determination that is required of those who would follow in the footsteps of Jesus.
                If any of us was trying to recruit new volunteers for an important project, we’d stress the potential benefits of being a part of the endeavor, when Jesus recruits disciples, he makes sure to focus upon the high cost to anyone who chooses to follow him.  In this passage, three people who are potential followers are all given difficult answers, even enigmatic ones, from Jesus, such that the only conclusion we can draw from this interaction is that Jesus only wants those who are willing to pay the price to begin this journey.  To the first potential follower, Jesus stresses that following him will not lead to ease and comfort, to the second, he speaks of the need to begin following now because life will always give us important reasons to wait, and to the third, he warms that only a consistent and focused devotion will allow someone who follows him to be useful in the Kingdom of God. 

                Jesus set out resolutely for Jerusalem, knowing what awaited him there.  What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus?  It means we too must know our purpose in serving God, and we too must begin to fulfill it with complete devotion no matter what it costs us in the end.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Help that really helps people

                “Give a man a fish, you’ll feed him for a day, teach a man to fish, and you’ll feed him for a lifetime.”  As someone who has enjoyed fishing over the years, I know I haven’t often been fed by it, but the principle as it applies to the Church’s charity work for the poor is valid.  Whenever we can, we should be eager to help in ways that enable those who receive our help to be able to help themselves in the future.  In things such as disaster relief, the immediate need takes precedence as it should, but if we let it, every need will look like a crisis situation, whether it be a food, shelter, or clothing that we’re helping with, and the cycle of poverty that is at the root of the need will never be addressed.  How can the Church help break the generational poverty that afflicts so many of the people that our charity efforts are aimed at?  Relationships.  The importance of relationships is why the last step of every client helped by Mustard Seed Missions is their referral to a church in their neighborhood whose mission it is to follow up on what we have started.  The Church needs to be the extended support system that is so desperately needed by those struggling with poverty.  If we’re going to build relationships, we need to be prepared to go above and beyond the simpler tasks of filling needs, and embrace along with it the task of building friendships.  Those who are poor need to feel welcome in our churches, and they need to be treated like family.  When this is our attitude, both meeting needs and being a friend, Gospel seeds will surely grow.

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Sermon Video: "Always be prepared" - I Peter 3:15

How did you come to have faith in Jesus Christ?  For the majority of Christians, the answer involves the influence of a family member, friend, co-worker, or neighbor, in other words, a personal relationship with someone who was already a Christian.  In I Peter 3:15, we find Peter’s instructions for the preparation necessary for Christians in order to be ready to answer questions about their faith.  For his original audience, the situation involved persecution, for many Christians around the world that holds true today, but for Americans it is often complacency or apathy that stand in the way of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 
                For Peter, step one in sharing the Gospel is ensuring that our own hearts and minds are ready.  Our hearts need to recognize that Jesus is Lord, an attitude that influences our priorities and how we live, and we need to prepare our minds by understanding our faith, what it means and how it saved us, for how else can we share that critical information?
                Once our own house is in order, Peter encourages us to be prepared to answer questions, which is the opposite of most approaches to evangelism which focus upon the Christian initiating the conversation.  Peter anticipates these questions because he knows that the hope that Christians have within them will prompt questions from people living in a world without it.  Hope is a rare commodity, and a valuable one, so when Christians live without despair, because they know who holds the future, and they live for tomorrow by investing in others, because they are servants of God, it gets noticed by others.

                When the question is asked, whatever form it ends up taking, how are we to respond?  Peter makes it clear that the sharing of the Gospel must be with gentleness and respect, which seems to be an area that we as Christians have failed often enough to live up to.  How can we ensure that we have the right attitude as we share the Gospel?  Before thinking about how you will respond, try listening to the person asking the question first, when you dignify the person asking the question by taking that question seriously, rather than itching to give a pre-determined response, the results will follow.  We must be prepared, we must be ready, and we must have hope overflowing in our lives so that others will ask us that all important question.

To watch the video, click on the link below:
Sermon Video

Christmas Eve Sermon Video: "the true light that gives light to every man" - John 1:9

It is fitting that we surround our celebration of Christmas with light, there was much light at the original Christmas, from the brightness of the angles speaking to the shepherds, to the star which guided the magi.  The prologue of the Gospel of John also speaks of the light of Christmas, John calls Jesus, “the true light that gives light to every man”.  Humanity was living in darkness, Jesus brought the light with him because he was the light.  During his lifetime, the light of Jesus was clearly visible to those who knew him, but after his departure back to the Father, what light was left among men?  The light of Christ now shines forth through his people, with the power of the Holy Spirit, to likewise illuminate a dark world and let the truth of God’s love be known.  It is indeed fitting to celebrate light at Christmas, that is a light everyone needs, and the people of God must share.

To watch the video, click on the link below:
Sermon Video