JUMPING OFF THE CLIFF OF CONTROVERSY

Maybe I am off my rocker and will end my brief ministry and career right here and now. I got an email this morning from a Christian organization wanting all Christians to boycott Wal-Mart on certain days because they are contributing 5% of their profits to a gay organization that supports same sex marriage.

Can you see why I am stepping off a cliff here?

Here I go… Aaaaaah.

I just don’t see how boycotting Wal-Mart because they contribute 5% of their sales to homosexual organizations is a way to share the love of Christ manifest in us. People say it’s loving the sinner but hating the sin – but in my opinion it’s a dangerous thing to take one scripture to justify a course of action. Christians do this while excusing themselves from the 1000 other teachings of Jesus that turned that kind of thinking on its head. The teachings and actions of Christ told us that our hearts are the problem. Our focus on protecting ourselves is the problem. Yes - sin is a problem – but our preoccupation with it is outrageous and keeps us from the love of God.

Does this boycott seem Pharisaical to anyone else? Is this a show of bravado to make sure that the ‘sinners’ aren’t encouraged and that the religious are protected? What is the purpose of the boycott anyway? Maybe that’s the question we should be asking ourselves.

The Pharisees (the religious elite) couldn’t stand the God that Jesus was/is. Compassionate? Accepting of Gentiles? Giving women a place of equality? Touching the ‘unclean’ and washing feet? A SERVANT to ALL? Go about quietly without regard for yourself but all for the glory of God? Was this guy NUTS??? Worse of all, He was telling them this is what THEY should be doing. Well… most of the time He was telling them they were never going to get it because they were too stuck in their old ways. They didn't recognize the Kingdom of God in their midst because they were so focused on keeping things in check. Even Jesus’ disciples were expecting Jesus to grab the government by the ears and shake real hard.

Is that what has happened to Christianity in America? Did Jesus Christ really get ripped apart on a cross so that we can boycott Wal-Mart? Was His intention that we find another way to showcase sin and take away that the Kingdom of God is here and He has conquered the power of sin through His resurrection?

Ask yourself if this sounds like missionary activity?

We are choosing not to go out into the world of Wal-Mart until they stop supporting the ‘sinners’.

I hate to break the news to everyone… but Wal-Mart better close their doors. Last time I checked – I am a sinner. Everyone who walks through those doors is. Some of us recognize Jesus as the Messiah who has delivered us from the punishment of those sins – but we are sinners nonetheless. Any good in me is only by the power of Jesus in my life because of HIS sacrifice.

I am not trying to be holier than thou. The truth is I am just as guilty as anyone of re-creating God in my own image. God is the only one who can show us His true nature. I just wonder what nature we are showing to the world.

CONCRETE COWS

I am driving north from Grand Rapids, MI on a fairly new stretch of highway – feeling really thankful for the 20 minutes it shaves off my original drive home when a sight interrupts my reverie. Perched high on a hill just in front of me is a chalet. I can see the reflection of the setting sun in its picture windows that face west. What a view! There is a moment of disjoint before I recognize that this spectacular view must have been even more outstanding before the divided highway was rudely placed in the valley below. I wonder all the things the human part of a person wonders… what DID it look like with all those rolling fields to gaze out upon, can all that exhaust belching at a person be healthy, and even more material… did they get reimbursed for the obvious drop in property value? (I have my priorities.) I am also self-conscious. A moment ago I was basking in the glory of their concrete addition and offering thanks for what it means to my schedule. I feel dangerously close to idol worship.

Maybe I am strange, but this makes me think of Moses coming down off Mt. Sinai still glowing (quite literally) from his view up there. Like the chalet, he finds that while he was gazing at God’s glory – an ugly transformation has taken place in the valley. The crowd has gotten together and decided that they are going to improve things for themselves and not wait around for this slow moving God. So they decide on a way to speed up the process. Build a gold cow! Perfect. O.K, I don't really get how they decided that this was the answer. I mean, that wouldn’t be my first inclination.

Or would it? Here I am, taking the gold paved road to home rather than the meandering back roads; taking the quick and easy vs. the deliberate and interesting. And all for a measly 20 minutes! It is here that I kneel at the altar of least resistance and as a result sacrifice to the god of apathy on a regular basis. Where’s the view in that? It’s no wonder I find myself short of experiencing the glory of God; short of experiencing anything but the satisfaction of keeping a tight schedule. How satisfying is that really?

I sigh aloud. The truth is that nothing is satisfying compared to the glory of God. I know this, I’ve experienced it. Yet my concrete cows beacon me and I bow down so low that only their gray pallor fills my vision and invades my heart. I am immersed in this empty worship until a shaft of perfectly aimed sunlight cuts through my line of sight. A verse runs through my head, “Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.” (Psalm 16: 9-10) In the blink of an eye, the chalet is past and I am heading west.

SPRINKLERS IN THE CEMETERY

I thought I'd do something different with this Musing. There are things that come up during unexpected moments that send a creative pulse through me. The other day, I drove by the cemetery and saw sprinklers going. I had several thoughts, and this poem is one of them explored. I'd like to invite you to post your thoughts about the subject "Sprinklers in the Cemetery" in the form of a poem, song or article. Just click the link below the poem.

Sprinklers in the Cemetery
by Angela Josephine

nettle pierces untended ground
untended heart?
while sprinklers in another cemetery
push deep as if to prod new life up
but if the dead will rise
do we judge
by the plots they are given?
and rosemary dries in the hot sun
just out of reach…

ILLUMINATED IMAGINATION

I would really love to get your feedback on this. A friend of mine named Shane has an organization called Dreamers of the Day in Ireland. He posted a recent blog that I feel really deserves some exploration. With his permission, I am posting it here. We are very interested in your thoughts.

ILLUMINATED IMAGINATION
by Shane Tucker of www.dreamtoday.org

For about a year now I've been contemplating the role of imagination in the role of a Christian. There have been various insights and encouragements to help me along the way with this. Below I'll lay out the headings that may form the content of my next article. Please comment and offer any insights you may have on this/these issues, or experiences you have had that may shed some light on the illuminated imagination. Of course, you'll be given credit in the next article if I rely on a fresh insight you've shared. ;-) Without further adieu...

*Art (broadly speaking) as Stimulation for Imagination
*Imagination as an Agent for Personal/Spiritual Growth
*Imagination as a Key to Engaging in God's Activity
*Imagination as a Catalyst for a Life of Service
*Imagination as a Cornerstone for Cultural Change
*Positive Uses for Imagination in a Life of Faith

The floor is open...

MOTHER'S MILK

Photo courtesy of Misty Woodward. www.spiritofmotherhood.com

White blood pours from my veins
Mother's milk that wets
the ground around me with
the taste of love and sacrifice.
It is a river
without notice
barely a whispered sigh
in anyone else's landscape
but it is my great divide...
Many pass by
but I have been fully baptized
in the deepest current
and realize they can
never understand
my struggle.
I am a creature of the depths
who understands
the shore
is
for
others.

The Real McCoy

I am sure you’ve heard it said "imitation is the highest form of flattery." I wonder about that though. As an artist, it does me some amount of good to hear that I’ve inspired someone or that something I’ve done or said has been meaningful, but I find some forms of imitation just plain creepy. You probably know the kind I am talking about. You meet someone and not all is right. Their inspiration has taken the road of imitation to the point of cloning. They’ve lost their individuality. They seem fake.

I’m the first one to admit that Rich Mullins has had an influence on my life and music. However, I am also the first one to admit that I am nothing like him. Maybe you noticed the photo of me in front of the church doors that was taken as a parody of Rich’s. Maybe you’ll notice that I am wearing a dress. So that’s the first big difference. I also like hot bubble baths and urban legend suggests that Rich didn’t bathe much. (Oh the wonderful myths that sparkle in the public eye.)

But is imitation all that bad? Paul tells us to… “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children.” (Ephesians 5:1 NIV) This type of imitation has been translated a number of ways… “be followers...” KJV, “Do as God does...” CEV, or “Follow God's example…” NLT. Let’s be clear here. We are NOT God. Yes, we are to follow Christ’s example and Christ’s Spirit is said to even live in us - but as God’s children. What would we really think of someone who grew a beard, donned some sandals and headed to the Mt. of Olives to repeat the words of Jesus? Gives a whole new visual to the term ‘Jesus Freak’, doesn’t it?

There’s one word in the old cliché I started with that reveals everything wrong with it. Flattery. Flattery is defined as extreme or insincere praise. I think that is why imitation to the extreme is so tough to see, so sad to witness. It’s false and robs the person doing the imitating of their true identity. The world has had a Rich Mullins, the world doesn’t need another. There already is a Jesus Christ and can be no other. That’s why it’s so important to recognize how crucial His sacrifice is. If He wanted a bunch of people parading around in long beards and robes in the desert, He would have stuck around and put up a compound.

Instead, he gave up His life so that we would find ours. He rose again so that we would be shaped and influenced by Him and made into a new and significant creation, something real; something to be believed in and not cheap imitations. The world doesn’t need more reproductions… the world needs YOU. Isn’t that inspiring! Do you see that you were made for more?

Thank God! I’d look awful with a beard.