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In his Farewell Tour Iraq’in through the Middle East, President Bush has made good on his promise to take the terror fight away from US shores by bringing it to the enemy:
Rumor has it that the reporter may have been angered by Bush’s tireless efforts to use asinine nicknames for the press.
Wow. If you haven’t read this opinion piece by TD Jakes, brought to my attention (interestingly enough) by Brian D. McLaren, you need to do so as soon as possible.
Amen, TD Jakes! – Brian McLaren
What an important message for the church of Jesus to heed. I don’t say this merely as a supporter of Barack Obama, but more fundamentally as a Christian.
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Tags: Christianity, Obama, TD Jakes, Jeremiah Wright, Opinion
I’m going to offer four quick and dirty reviews of Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw, (and beautifully designed by SharpSeven… they should get a separate review on their own merit) partly because I gawked a little bit at the idea of a subversive anti-empire tome utilizing viral media strategies like a blog tour, and partly because after reading the book I realize that I would have done the exact same thing if it meant infecting more people with such an imaginative and beautiful piece. I’ll write brief comments about a selection of quotes I underlined or highlighted in each section, maybe ask some questions, and give a Jerry Springer-style closing thought. So here goes Section 1: Before There Were Kings and Presidents.
SECTION 1: BEFORE THERE WERE KINGS AND PRESIDENTS
The authors open with a section that discusses their basic premise: that civilization’s opening act was its’ defining act, and ever since Cain and Abel our world has been immersed in a great struggle for power.
This is a foundational idea to the rest of the text. It points to civilization as humanity’s reckless attempt to do life without God and what happens when such an immense vacuum exists in our collective governments. There is no way in hell that civilization can save itself. We need Jesus for President (although it’s a little early in the book for the authors to proclaim this.
They go on to a treatment of the great flood of Noah and the Tower of Babel, each revealing in their own way God’s redemptive intervention in keeping us from becoming our worst possible self in the form of empire. It’s after he disables the central nervous system of the Tower committee that God reveals his plan to deliver humanity from its’ worst impulses: through a set-apart people, first in Abraham and Sarah and then through the leadership of the prophets. “One thing that is consistent throughout the Hebrew Scriptures is that God was deconstructing, redefining, and reclaiming kingship.” (p37).
There’s only one point in this section where I wrote a big question mark, and that’s when the authors seem to draw the conclusion from the story of David and Goliath that God’s intention is to topple evil exclusively with non-violent resistance. Sorry, but the logic doesn’t play out in this scenario. The David and Goliath story isn’t analogous to arming kids with super soakers to go after Osama Bin Laden. Super soakers wouldn’t kill him. David did kill Goliath, ruthlessly and with R-rated bloodletting. It’s not that I disagree with Claiborne and Haw on their general premise of peaceful resistance, but they shouldn’t have to skew biblical narratives to make their point.
I deeply appreciate the authors’ use of biblical literature to set the framework for God’s ethos regarding the deliverance and redemption of humanity. Somehow empire has co-opted the biblical narrative with themes that suggest God is on the side of the US. Pacifists are reading the same bible, but through a different (and I would suggest, more accurate) lens.
OK. I just want to be clear if I’m understanding.
- Sen. Barack Obama, speaking to General David Petraeus at today’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing
Can you, in the wildest recesses of your imagination, even fathom our current “Decider in Chief” taking the time to clarify, understand, and effectively communicate?
Just another example of why I’m such an avid supporter of candidate Obama – he’s exhibiting the willingness and ability to lead decisively, but not in the bullheaded, closed-minded way we’ve seen government function for virtually my entire life.
Community is not easy. Somebody once said, “Community is the place where the person you least want to live with always lives.” In Jesus’ community of twelve apostles, the last name was that of someone who was going to betray him. That person is always in your community somewhere; in the eyes of others, you might be that person. – Henri Nouwen
Call me old-fashioned, but I’m deeply concerned with Hillary Clinton’s statement denouncing Jeremiah Wright, Jr., suggesting that if she heard his rhetoric as a church participant, she would go shopping for a new church.
Two separate flags go up when I hear responses like this. The first has to do with a lack of sensitivity to the African American experience in the mid 20th Century, and the second has to do with ecclesiology and the consumerization of Christianity.
With regard to the sensitivity issue, Mike Huckabee provided a surprising contrast in a recent statement by pointing out that he, too, would have a chip on his shoulder if he grew up black in the 1960’s Jim Crow South. I’m not an advocate for white guilt; but it would be wise to accept Rev. Wright’s vitriol in his particular context, and instead of denouncing it out of hand, use the opportunity to develop a more truthful relationship with an entire people group who have painful memories from the past. The path to healing isn’t by glossing over pain, or even moving past it, but by reconciliation – and that requires the sometimes ugly truth.
Secondly, and in my mind most critically, is the common misconception that one chooses his or her community based on personal preference, and that it’s perfectly good and healthy, even incumbent upon a churchgoer to uproot and go shopping when personally offended. I have never found a faith community that has existed without friction or disagreement. To pick up and leave, particularly when one is rooted in the way the Obama family apparently is with UCC, would go completely against the grain of what a faith community is supposed to be: a place to wrestle with God and the people we love, even to disagree, and yet to keep the fabric of unity intact. Personally, I tend to grow best when people challenge my assumptions and push my buttons. That doesn’t make me a masochist, I don’t enjoy the process, but we grow when faced with adversity much better than when we continue to demand exacting standards according to the limited world view and baggage we bring with us.
I’m tired of seeing people shop churches for the perfect fit, instead of allowing their lives to be molded and shaped by the influences of our community.
Shane Claiborne is campaigning for Jesus in his new book and tour, “Jesus for President.”
While I haven’t yet read the book, my first observation about the book tour alone is that Shane Claiborne and his subversive message of radical adherence to the Way of Jesus seem like strange bedfellows when matched with Zondervan, a Christian publishing juggernaut. Even more so when, at first blush, it seems like the publisher is going for a mega media blitz by way of viral advertising, baiting bloggers like me to post links to their merchandise in exchange for the potential for wider readership and comments from Claiborne himself. Read the rest of this entry »
