Bonhoeffer, Chesterton, and a Reason to Get Feisty

“The moment two men realize they are brothers, they instantly begin to fight.”~G.K. Chesterton, Utopia of Usurers.

“Bonhoeffer was a relentless critic of any way of life that substituted agreeableness for truthfulness.” ~Stanley Hauerwas, Burke Lectureship, University of California.

“No good at all can come from acting before the world as though we knew the Truth, but in reality, we do not.” ~Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1932 Youth Peace Rally in Czechoslovakia.

Try reading an essay from G.K. Chesterton every morning while eating your toast. You will have plenty to chew on for the rest of the day. Then round up an incredibly deep lecture on Bonhoeffer and the nature of Truth and listen to it over lunch time. Sprinkle in some rousing exchanges in a Bible Study group in the evening and post-rebuttals ad nauseum in Bloggy land. You have the perfect recipe for a Backbone. And it didn’t require 24 hours of marinating or soaking in whey solution.

Let me explain the above quotes. In the essay (the title of which I forgot), Chesterton is arguing that men must love each other first before they can argue. It is not a particular love; it is a love for all Men. This is the motivation behind revolutionaries. They fight to have the best world for themselves and for their brothers.

But why do we fight? Do we fight at all? Do we have anything to fight about? Do we fight ‘”fair”? Or is it just a nagging quibble that ends in, “Well, this is what the Lord has for me to do.” Or, “As long as we keep the Main Thing, the Main Thing, the rest is details.” We do anything to avoid an honest fight. Actually, what I see in most blogging discourses is a personal statement but no real gauntlets thrown at one’s feet.

Truth has no insignificant details, my friends. Bonhoeffer observed how different American students were than their German counterparts during his time at Union Theological Seminary. (No, not just pro-Nationalist vs. Democracy.) he compares the American students’ spirit as to living in a hostel where the spirit of camaraderie and willingness to help each other pervades. “The American desire to maintain community above all else.” Sounds pretty appealing on the surface.

“W hen it comes to saying the Truth or preserving the community, the latter always prevails. Fairness, not Truth, becomes the primary commitment. ” The result is a leveling of the intellectual demands in American education. There is little motivation to be intellectually [or spiritually] ambitious. Why? Bonhoeffer thought this was part of the Protestant foundations in colonial times. Most of our religious ancestors came here to escape turmoil in Europe. Americans wanted to “forgo the final suffering in order to serve God in quietness and peace.” The steeple house was no longer a place where strife and questioning were tolerated. Americans just made new churches and denominations to escape the rigors of Reformation.

“With his right to flee, the Christian Fugitive has suspended his right to fight.”

As a consequence, “…preaching becomes a series of edifying examples, a ready recital of [the preacher's] own religious experience, which are not assigned any positively binding character.” Remember last Sunday’s sermon? Sound familiar?

The relations between churches (and Christians) has not been one of Truth-arguing. This might make a favorable situation for unity amongst the bodies of Christ. Not so. “If the struggle for the Truth does not divide the church, then surely the unity of the church must already exist? Where Truth in creedal doctrine is not the reason for argument, church disintegration is greater than anywhere else.”

Succeeding generations of Americans who were free from creedal strife, found it unnecessary to fight over anything. “The fight over the creeds that their grandfathers knew became for them something unChristian. Any intolerance is in itself, unChristian. Because Christians have no place for the conflict Truthfulness requires, they contribute to the secularization of society. Tolerance becomes indifference and indifference leads to cynicism.”

So here how this lengthy essay pertains to my situation:

At once, I will proclaim my intolerance of Immodesty. Here is the kicker: Christian women SHOULD cover their heads. Point blank, there you have it, all out on the table. I am opening myself to conflict. Thank you for disagreeing. It is so refreshing.

And I am writing a book about it.

“Better this than to go on in this vegetating way.”

References: Burke Lecture, Stanley Hauerwas. 1 hour video. Listen to at least the first 30 minutes.

Chesterton, G.K., Utopia of Usurers. Short essays.

Autism, Advocacy and the Church

For those of you who are Christian and autistic, or related to an autistic person.

Business, Identity Crisis, and Campus Crusade for Christ

…Or, Last Night’s Dinner.

So I received an invitation from someone connected with the campus to attend an evening event called The Millionaire’s Forum. Since I am technically a student in the Business department, I thought it would be a nice way to meet some nice people and have a good dinner. If you inspect the website, you will find it looks like a legitimate non-profit promoting business leaders connecting with students.

Wrong.

I should have sniffed out what the ulterior motive was when the reminder e-mails were coming from a Campus Crusade for Christ leader from another Oklahoma campus. I thought it odd at the time, but maybe he was just one of their volunteers. [There is no CCC chapter at our campus...yet.] The whole evening was a quasi-evangelistic campaign!

Now here is why I wasn’t happy about it: I was wearing a full-hijab style scarf. Yep, did that screw with their expectations! Oh, I am not a Muslim, just wanted to wear a gorgeous gold-toned scarf I found on sale at Wal-Mart and the only way it would look lovely was to drape and pin it like a hijab.

You can just imagine all the staring and uncomfortableness on their part and a tad bit on my side. I decided to keep them guessing. Through out the evening, between eating and the two guest speakers, we were to ask questions around the table about Faith, Family, Failure and several other catch words I forgot. My answers were vague but honest. But by the end, I couldn’t stand the tension any more, and announced that I was indeed a Christian to my table-mates. They seemed slightly relieved. I think.

When we had closed with a prayer, the leaders of the event asked all the students to gather for a group photo. Guess who got to be in the middle, in front? Yeah, what a catch, a [Not] Muslim girl! Oh my goodness. Sigh.

One of the speakers did come up to me and asked politely if I were a Muslim. When I answered no, he said, “Oh, I wondered! Sometimes students we don’t know too well feel a bit put upon by the whole evening.”

You think!?! I wanted to kick him right there, but restrained my foot from leaving the floor. So, if I am a Christian, and this was a Christian event, why am I so upset? I am upset for others who feel “put upon”. They get lied to about the nature of the event. That isn’t evangelism when you can’t be up front about it!

Which leads to another question: “Why do Christians feel they have to be sneaky with their ‘witness’?”

Do you all have any ideas?

So…the guy who did the emailing and emceed the event will be the new CCC director at our University. Way to Go on the welcome wagon!

[Update: The CCC leader called to follow up last week. I politely but clearly stated my concerns about the Millionaire's Forum. He received my critique graciously. ]

Lent starts today!

Cara Michele put up a reminder post today about it being Ash Wednesday, which is the start of Lent, or the Church season of repentance and preparation for Resurrection Sunday. I have been observing Lent these last 4 years, after I had the privilege of being a part of an evangelical Anglican church. Before I did not have any experience with following the Church calendar. That first Lent, I was really impacted by the daily reminder of “giving up” something and “adding” something else. So, I’ve carried on with observing it even though I belong to a church body who does not.

One web page I’ve found helpful for those new to the concept is put out by SpiritHome.com It is written from a more evangelical/Protestant perspective, but incorporates lots from Church history.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend an Ash Wednesday service this evening. My workplace is putting on a special dinner that I must attend. Still, when I return home, I will spend some time in reflection with the Psalms and readings normally used in the service.

Headcovering Video…maybe the first?

This is the first Youtube video, that I know of, on Christian Head covering. Less helium-balloon sounding today. Free form thought. Enjoy!

Christian Conferences

My back has recovered for the most part…but I still have to sit in front of the infernal computer at work. I will go rooting around in the Archives for some other project to do.

Been thinking a lot lately about how my current stream of Christianity is so enamored with Conferences and Concerts:

• What do you all think of Christian Conferences?
• Have you attended one within the last two years?
• Do they actually impact your spiritual growth in the long-term?
• Are they all hype, fluff, foaming, and means of selling the latest DVDs, books, t-shirts, and potions?
• Would you rather attend a small retreat center in the country?

Anselm? Jonathan Edwards?

Which theologian are you? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as AnselmAnselm is the outstanding theologian of the medieval period.He sees man’s primary problem as having failed to render unto God what we owe him, so God becomes man in Christ and gives God what he is due. You should read ‘Cur Deus Homo?’ Anselm 73% Jonathan Edwards 67% Martin Luther 67% Karl Barth 60% John Calvin 60% Charles Finney 53% Friedrich Schleiermacher 47% Jürgen Moltmann 47% Augustine 40% Paul Tillich 27%

Honestly, I’ve never heard of Anselm before taking this quiz! Maybe I should add him to my reading list. Jonathan Edwards surprised me the most. On the spectrum between Calvinism (blue state) and Arminianism (red state), I am a red-leaning purple. I was expecting a photo finish between Martin Luther and Charles Finney.

Just to let you know, the quiz takes some time and extra thought to make sure you are answering the tricky questions.

My Barbarian Way

Our Sunday School class is reading through/discussing The Barbarian Way by Erwin McManus. We have not read the book but are allowed to add in our input anyway. Yesterday was the first class. I was resplendent in a brown dress, tan apron, white cap and my tan shawl. Talk about the pink elephant in the room!

The teacher asked us if there were “barbarian stands” we made in the past, occasions where we stood against the world as a matter of faith conviction. A couple others ventured some answers before I thought I’d say something to explain my blatant Barbarianism:

I don’t look like a barbarian (nervous chuckles from the crowd) but as you all can see, I am making a rather bold statement with my clothing. My stand is against the world’s message to women that we should be obsessed with makeup, hair styles, and fashion and standing for modesty and propriety in dress. I know many people may assume some things about me because of my dress that are not be true, that I am not educated or work outside of the home or my husband makes me do this. I was not raised to dress this way; I simply obey Jesus in what I do. If he tells me to lay it down, I will.

On the upside of this obedience is that I have had a 100 fold opportunity to share about my faith with the curious. Whatever God asks us to do has a witness component to it. Wearing a cap, dress and no makeup might not seem like the most “practical” thing to do but I have seen God use it to His glory and that is enough reason.

The teacher was rather positive in an immediate response and asked questions of me afterwards. Our pastor then began a new preaching series on being strangers in the world…hmmm. He posed the questions of how people can tell we are citizens of another kingdom by the way we speak or act. He did make the firm point that it was not by how we dress, looking straight at me as he spoke. *Wince* Dressing is an action, right??

What Would You Wish For?

Stories like this one always grab my tear ducts and won’t let go! Even the Salvation Army commercials running lately make me cry instantly.

Selflessness is contagious! I am overly critical of my town…but now I’m repenting over it.

Many of us are reaching out to help the needy this holiday season, but some families wanted to help our injured soldiers out at Ft. Sill. Families across town have adopted the injured soldiers from a special “angel tree” — but many of them were surprised to see what the soldiers had written on their wish lists.

Some of them were so selfless it just made you realize what the holidays are all about. One soldier said he didn’t want anything for himself, but wanted to use his wish to help a needy family. Another soldier said he just wanted something nice to give to his wife. But a few of the soldiers we met Wednesday night surprised us with their wish lists in a whole different way…

On the Sabbath

A spiritual undercurrent recently in our household has been the knitting together of the ‘Old Testament’ and the ‘New Testament’ into a more seamless garment of belief.  This past Friday evening seemed to be the perfect time for Jeff and me to discuss what the Sabbath is supposed to be. He suggested I get out a notebook, look up all the major verses pertaining to keeping the Sabbath and to write out the chapters and the basic meaning of each section. I am thankful for the leadership he has shown!

So here is what we’ve learned thus far:

• The Sabbath is for the man, not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27), meaning, God made the Sabbath commandment so that his people would not get stupid like the pagans and work themselves to death (or their animals or their servants.) See Deuteronomy 6.
• It is a sign between God and His people. Exodus 31.
• It is a COMMANDMENT. Deuteronomy 6 and Exodus 20 do not contain the 9 commandments and the one suggestion.
• It happens on the seventh day, from sunset to sunset.
• The Sabbath will continue and all of Creation will participate in it. (Isaiah 66)
• OT prophets had a lot to say on profaning the Sabbath, one of the major reasons Israel went into exile!
• As believers living in a majority non-believing country, we are not to engage in commerce with others on the Sabbath. (Nehemiah 10)
• Jesus had much to say (and do!) on the Sabbath. From what little we do know already, He was attacking the multitude of man-made rules surrounding Sabbath observance rather than telling folks to disobey God’s commands.
• The most interesting part of this study for me was noticing how the Sabbath was not necessarily a day of worship. There were ‘Sabbath rests’ incorporated into the feasts (Lev. 23) but each 7th day was not always a time to meet in a congregation, sing songs and listen to someone teach for an hour. How did we get this? I’d be interested in how the synagogue system developed, because in Acts, you see Paul going there on the Sabbath to teach the gathered people. Meetings for worship as described in the Corinthians epistles and so forth did not specify a day, only “when you gather together.”
• We do not see an abrogation from Scripture that moved our Sabbath from the seventh day to the first.

For now, we are weighing these observations and seeing how to act. It seems clear, but we are waiting for some more Spirit-inspired guidance on how to obey. I especially liked this article from a group of Messianic believers on what they do on the Sabbath.

My immediate concern, as a WOHW (Work Outside the Home Wife) is how to juggle getting all the housework, shopping and cooking done after subtracting the precious waking hours between Friday and Saturday evening. Jeff was helpful in suggesting we save up our leftovers for that time. J If God wants us to obey Him in hallowing the Sabbath, He will grant us the practical planning tips.