Harnessing Anger

Politicians are good at it. Facebook is perfecting it. Harnessed anger drives movements, like Black Lives Matter, Antifa, and the Proud Boys.

We can let others harness our anger, and we will most likely get played or used. We will share angry social media posts or write a big check. Harnessed anger drives nations to war, and pits people against other people. Politics today thrives on harnessed anger. Both left and right need angry people to drive their agendas. And they need a good enemy to help them raise money. 

What would happen if we harnessed our own anger? We can use that negative energy in a positive way, to fight cancer, human trafficking, or child abuse. We can harness that anger on a personal level, and hate poor health, foolish debt, addiction, and broken relationships enough to make a change.

If we start thinking about using anger in a positive way, we will take a closer look at that anger. Is it helping anything for you to be angry at that politician? that boss? that spouse? that broken appliance? that blind referee? 

If anger is such a strong motivator, why not use that to your own advantage? Be angry at the right things, and do something about it.

And, please, let's stop being played by all those people who thrive on the anger of the masses!

Sterile Souls

Modern farming has sought to improve on natural soil. Weeds and bugs can be so annoying, so why not just kill everything? So we sterilize the soil and add the nutrients that we need. They say we only need nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, NPK. That's what those numbers stand for on fertilizer bags, like 10-10-10. All the natural and unpredictable stuff is stripped from the soil. And plants flourish. They grow bigger, stronger, faster, with better yields than ever--in the short run. In the long run, it takes more and more inputs. The pests adapt and return with vengeance. And the soil becomes so poor that it washes away with the rain. All this requires more ingenuity, more engineering, and more intervention. And sadly, the nutritional value of these industrial farming products is far inferior to the old, natural fruit.

I wonder if the modern soul feels like that, like the sterilized soil. All the man-made inputs pervade life and leave us stripped of all the earthy, unpredictable richness of natural life. Virtual reality promises safe adventures to tourist sites and fantasy lands. It's just as good as being there. Virtual meetings promise to connect people, just like face-to-face, all done digitally. Social media algorithms feed us exactly what we need to stay engaged with our devices. Smart watches and smart mattresses tell us exactly how well we sleep each night.

Life can be bigger, stronger, faster, with better productivity. But what is the cost? We need more inputs. Vitamin pills fill in the gaps left by our processed foods. All this engagement stresses us out, but there's a pill for that. We have heart issues, high blood pressure, diabetes--but again, we have chemical solutions for all these problems. Oh, and the side effects can be addressed with medication as well.

Look at all our improvements. We may have more stuff and more convenience, but is life really better? How's the soil of your life? What would it be like to get back the richness that is so mysterious and so life-giving? It takes time, years, to restore sterile soil. Restoration begins with eliminating all the sterilizing inputs, then adding organic material, and sowing life-giving seeds. Over time, soil is restored. It becomes fertile and rich. And it gives life.

Prayers for Alec Baldwin

Mistakes were made. Consequences were horrific. So much went wrong on Oct. 22 when Alec Baldwin shot and killed a cinematographer on the set of "Rust." Two other people should have checked the gun before it landed in Baldwin's hand. And, clearly, Baldwin should have checked it too.

I've never been on a movie set, but I have shot guns many times. As a Boy Scout I heard repeatedly, "Never assume a gun is unloaded." Never. A corollary to that advice would be, "Never assume a gun has only blanks in it."

It is easy for me to claim that, of course, I would never have made that mistake. But I have made so many mistakes. I have so often been careless. I have left on stove burners. I have left gas caps off the gas tank. I have (accidentally) driven through red lights like they were stop signs. Just two weeks ago I had two mattresses blow off a trailer and block two lanes of US 220 in Madison. 

Never in these mistakes has anyone died. But they could have. I would have been responsible for a death. And I would have been horrified. My life would have been changed forever.

And so I pray for Alec Baldwin, for him to grieve, to respond, to search his own soul, for him even to grow. And I pray for all those devastated by the death of Halyna Hutchins' death. But only Alec pulled the trigger. That's a burden I can't imagine.

Edible Offerings

The holiday feasts are fast approaching. The threatened food shortages might make us think about food a little differently now! Food is so important to life, and it's also important to worship. 

Beginning this Sunday we start a series called "Edible Offerings," looking at the food of worship. Why did people offer food to God? How does God use food to deepen our relationship with him?

Food represents our work. Tending soil and caring for animals takes a lot of effort. Even our jobs today are done to "put bread on the table."

And food is essential for life. No one can live without food. Even with all our advances in science, we can't get around metabolism. 

Food also becomes an occasion for building relationships. Meal times are central to life in every culture since the beginning of civilization. Dining together brings people together. And good food makes for a good celebration!

Join us for Edible Offerings:

October 24, Sibling Rivalry, Genesis 4:1-12

October 31, Entertaining God, Genesis 18:1-15

November 7, A Meal to Remember, Exodus 12:1-14

November 21, The Meal, Luke 22:14-20

This is Our Moment...

After the resurrection of Jesus, Christianity spread around Jerusalem like wildfire. It spread so broadly that it strained the religious establishment. They could not stomach a resurrected Leader who reached out to undesirables everywhere. Finally there was a breaking point. A vocal Christian leader was stoned to death and the floodgates of persecution flew open. Christians fled the city, scattering across the region, seeking safety. Only the apostles stayed put in Jerusalem. 

Everything changed.

They still had the message about new life in Jesus. But...

They had no place to gather. They couldn't meet at the Temple.

They had no weekly routine or meeting times. For safety's sake they hid and fled.

They had no day-to-day leadership. The apostles stayed in Jerusalem.

They had new kinds of people to evangelize. The common people in the countryside were not like the urban elites.

They had new problems to solve. Their old way of thinking could not meet the new realities.

God used those changes to bring the gospel to new people in new places in new ways. The persecution was tragic, but God used it to send the good news around the world. A new generation of Christians rethought systems of gathering, encouraging, reaching out, sharing love. The world had changed, but their response changed the world.

Today is our opportunity for new meeting places, new routines, new leadership, new places to share good news, new problems to solve.

We can reach this changing world with the hope of Jesus. But we can't stay stuck in our old ways of doing church. Change is upon the whole world. How will we respond?

See things as they are...

Driving down the familiar road,

You get lost.

You don't know where you are,

It's foggy.

Finally the sun breaks through,

The fog lifts.

You see things as they are.

They've always been that way,

Or have they?

Now you see the pasture and the cows,

The farmhouse.

You recognize the intersection,

Finally.

You see things as they are.

The friend disappoints and leaves you stranded,

They don't care.

The doctor brings the bad news from the test,

Could be worse.

Sarcasm hits a tender target in your soul,

She meant it.

Do you see things as they are?

Fog lifts and now we see all there is to see,

Can it be?

Plain as day to me, so obvious but,

There is more.

I see things as they are to me,

Not to you.

I can see things as they are, but you cannot.

Or maybe there's more than I can see.

I need to see with humility.

Theology Police

There is good theology and bad theology. There is right theology and wrong theology. Some theology is based on the Bible and some is based on human reason. "Theology" means the study of God. It is our human effort to understand who God is and how he interacts with his creation.

I assert that theology based on the Bible is more accurate than theology based only on observation and reason. But we have problem with the term "biblical." When someone holds up an idea as biblical, often he or she means, "I can point to Bible verses to prove my idea." That's how we have people holding "biblical" positions that contradict other people's "biblical" positions. We like to find verses that support our ideas and ignore verses that do not. It's almost impossible to do systematic theology without finding numerous areas of tension.

This leaves us wondering who is right. The answer to that question is simple. We are right and you are wrong. At least that's how most theological warriors frame the issue. Often these warriors are self-appointed theology police, pointing out flaws and misinterpretations in the beliefs of others.

I caught myself doing this a few years ago. I was in a foreign (to me) language worship service in NC, in a church outside my denominational tradition. As the worship was getting exciting and into full swing, I was feeling the joy of the Spirit. God was powerfully present. Then the thought occurred to me, "I wonder how much more God would love these people if their theology was better." In that moment I was stunned at my own arrogance. I decided to resign from the theology police. I turned in my badge.

I still believe that some theology is better than other theology. But I'm going to trust God to set people straight. I'm sure I have plenty of messed up ideas about God, some of which come from misreading his word. I have to trust God with that too.

In the meantime, I do know that God wants me to love people and to love him. This much I know, and that's challenge enough for me. The deeper my own theology grows, the more I see his love.