Does “turn the other cheek” = “get walked over like a rug”?

Some of the recent events in our lives have given us pause to consider what our role in this world is. Without getting into too many details, we have been accused of a number of things that we believe (and the people around us believe) are untrue. C has been called a liar, and there have been other things that have caused a very tense relationship between us and someone that we interact with on a regular basis.

Through it all (this is all in the past month or so), we have done what we can to follow the Biblical mandate of “whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also”, but it got me wondering what to what extent are we to “lie down” in the face of opposition. Here is the conflict:

In the sermon on the mount (Matthew 5), Jesus lays out a kingdom ethic in regard to conflict resolution:

³⁸“You have heard that it was said, ‘AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.’ ³⁹“But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. ⁴⁰If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. ⁴¹Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. ⁴²Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. ⁴³You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? ⁴⁸Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Now, on first blush, it would seem that there is a principle of passive non-violent resistance, ala Mahatma Ghandi. To a point, I would agree. The first reaction of the Christian commuity should always be love. We should seek first to demonstrate the grace and love of God in all things we do. What happens, though, when we are being continually attacked from the same source? What happens if we “turn the other cheek”, and it gets slapped as well? Are we to continue turning the other cheek until the slapping stops?

I would say that there is a limit to our passivity. God Himself is not a God of passivity, but one of justice. There are passages in the Scriptures that tell us of God’s intervening justice:

^{1 Kings 18:36} At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. ³⁷ Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.” ³⁸ Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

Elijah and the nation of Israel were under attack from idolatrous forces. In order to prove Himself as the all powerful God, Yahweh intervened and sent fire from heaven. God will not let injustice stand. So, if we are to “be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt 5:48), are we to have the same sense of justice in us?

A fair amount of wisdom is needed here. We have to be careful not to turn this into some kind of Christian militarism against all evils of the world, for I don’t believe that God’s plan is for His people to be engaged in all out war by the time He gets back. We are, however, to stand against injustice, knowing that God’s ultimate justice will “roll on like a river” when the time comes.

The key, I believe, is here:

^{Isaiah 48:11} For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this.
How can I let myself be defamed?
I will not yield my glory to another.

God’s actions are not motivated by moral outrage, or a sense of persecution, or even a sense of righteousness vs. evil. God’s actions are based in the demonstration of His power and glory. We, too, should be seeking to demonstrate the glory of God in every action and reaction that we have in this world.

So, where does that leave the Wongs? Are we left feeling accused, persecuted, and guilty? Perhaps. Has God been glorified through our actions or through our inactions?  We hope.  We hope that God is glorified through our every action, interaction, and reaction, whether it be with fellow believers or with non-believers, people who are righteous, people who are evil, people who are rational, or people who are crazy.

Thoughts on Lent

I had never really been too familiar with the practice of Lent, as my church growing up did not observe it.  For most of my life, it was that time in March when all the Catholics walked around with a black spot on thier forehead for awhile and couldn’t do stuff.  It was not until I moved to Maine where this concept extended into my own personal life and I had to consider how I was going to practice it myself.

This being the 3rd year that Christina and I have observed Lent, I thought I’d put together some thoughts on it.

From the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology:

Lent. A forty-day period of penitence and prayer that begins on Ash Wednesday and prepares for the feast of Easter.  It is a form of retreat for Christians preparing to celebrate the paschal mystery.  It became a forty-day retreat during the seventh century to coincide with the forty days spent by Christ in the desert; before this Lent usually lasted only a week.  Every Friday of Lent is a day of abstinence.  Fasting probably originated from the custom of fasting by those who were expecting to be baptized after catechumens.  The third, fourth, and fifth Sundays of Lent refer to the process of preparing for baptism.

Penitential works are very important during Lent.  These include not only abstinence and fasting but also prayers and charitable wokrs.  Ash Wednesday is one of the greatest days of penitence.  Vatican Council II and the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy describes how penitence will lead one closer to God.  People should not become overly involved in the penitence itself, however; but realize that the penitence is in preparation for celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Christians seek a change of heart during Lent in their relationship to God.

So, the idea of Lent is that it is in preparation for the celebration of Easter, which celebrates the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and our subsequent liberty from the bondage of sin.  So, apart from the fasting and abstinence, how can we as 21st Century Christians prepare for this celebration and the life that we have thereafter in a way that will not seem antiquated and contrived?

Much of what I have seen from brothers and sisters in the past few years has been a fast, but not necessarily from food or sex.  I’ve seen internet fasts, music fasts, dessert fasts, television fasts, and a myriad of other ideas to “reinvent” the observance of Lent.  As with most reinventions, I begin to ask myself, “does it need to be reinvented?” and “do the reinventions do the original justice?”

Well if we consider the original purpose of Lent, to “prepare for the celebration of Easter” and to “lead one closer to God”, then we must endeavor to accomplish the same ends, but perhaps by different means.  (Let me be clear at this point that the observance of Lent is not a Biblical mandate, and therefore is not a commanded aspect of the Christian life, but rather a voluntary one.)

I believe that the original people who started this ritual fast were hoping to hone their focus and prepare their minds and hearts for the celebration of the profound mystery of the resurrection.  The best way that they knew how to do that was through fasting and abstinence.  Through removing the temptations of food and sex from their lives, they were able to clear their minds and focus totally on how God was speaking to them in the early days of spring leading up to the celebration of Easter.

We must try to do the same.  For some, it may be to pattern our lives after the originators and fast from food and sex for one week prior to Easter.  I suspect, however, that such an act in this day and age may not have the desired consequence in our lives (i.e. it may be more about the fast than about the preparation).  I believe that we should strive to find a part of our lives that pulls our focus away from God and remove it from our lives for a season so that we might focus more fully on God and prepare ourselves to fully experience and understand the miracle of Easter and how it irrevocably changed our existence.  (Who knows, we may even find that it is a lifestyle change that we may want to adopt long term.)

As for us Wongs, we decided to fast from refined sugar for Lent (I know, it seems a little silly).  But what we have found is that we are forced to consider the original created order of things, and how God had intended us to eat sweet things.  Instead of resorting to ice cream, cookies, and regular processed sugar treats, we have found ourselves eating more fruit, honey, and investigating unprocessed sugars and other options for sweetening our food.  Has it prepared us for Easter?  I don’t know.  Has it drawn us closer to God?  I think so.  Healthier lifestyle change? Definitely.

Instant Gratification

President-elect Obama’s office gave the media a new way to present him as Franklin Roosevelt 2.0 by announcing Friday that it will be posting weekly addresses – fireside chats for the web generation – on YouTube.

The first address will appear on Change.gov this Saturday, after it airs in audio. An Obama spokesperson says that this innovation is just the beginning of the digital, transparent presidency.

I heard this on the radio today and it got me thinking about a conversation that I had with Eric Samuelson, pastor of the Rock Church of Greater Portland, where Christina and I went for a year when we lived in Maine.  We were talking about how far technology had come with Bluetooth headsets, wireless networks, lightning fast internet connections, and text messaging.  Literally anything is accessible to us at any time due to the sheer volume of information that is available through our Blackberries, GPSes, and text messaging.  And I’m sure that as we progress down this road of increasing accessibility, we will find that everything will get faster and more accessible.

Take Barack Obama for example.  He’s announced that he will be giving a weekly YouTube address that will be instantly accessible to anyone with an internet connection (this speaks highly to the kind of person that Obama is trying to reach).  Every week, you and I will be able to hear the voice of the leader of our land, the highest power in the United States of America.

Where am I going with this?  Ever since Genesis 11, man has striven to build a monument to himself, so as to demonstrate his power to be God-like.  Sure, the Godhead may very well have destroyed the tower of Babel and scattered man throughout the world, but that has not stopped man from trying to achieve that which only God can do.

Fast forward to the 21st Century.  In order to overcome the hindrance of space, we have developed cell phones that can now, for all intents and purposes, fit in your ear.  In order to overcome the hindrance of incomplete knowledge, we have invented things like Facebook status (of which I am a frequent user), Twitter, and text message updates.  In order to overcome the hindrance of time, we continue to find faster and faster ways to get from point A to point B (we just voted on a bond to build a high-speed rail that will get us from SF to LA in 2.5 hours!).  For all the limitations that are part and parcel of being human, human ingeniuity has come up with technology to overcome those limits.

I would suggest that that which we are striving for we have always had in a relationship with God.  What faster and more intimate communication is there than prayer to God the Father?  What better way do we have to overcome the boundaries of time than to embrace the gift of eternal life that God the Son has afforded us through His death and resurrection?

This is an incomplete thought, and I’m sure that as technology develops, so will my thoughts.  I just find it interesting that soon, we will find ourselves with an entire cell phone that will actually fit in our ear, just like in Minority Report (heck, they already got the touch screen.)

Be subject to your elders

We had small group last night and we were talking about “being humble with one another”.  In this passage, we passed over 1 Peter 5:5 which says:

“You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders;”

This is the section where Peter writes first to the elders (v. 1-4) and then briefly addresses the “youth” (above).  This got me to thinking about something that has been camping in the back of my head for awhile now.

When I was in seminary, we were required to take a class called “Mentored Field Ministry”.  Part of this class meant that I had to meet with someone who was in ministry, and talk to them about what life is like out in the field.  For a couple quarters, I met with Dave Fong, AACF staffer at UC Berkeley.

One of our discussions centered around sending college students back to their home churches after they graduate from college.  One of the greatest challenges that Dave faced as a staffer was preparing his students for life back home after the “spiritual high” they experienced at AACF (as is, I’m sure, true of other campus ministries, it was for me).

You see, at AACF and others, a majority of the leadership in the fellowship setting is given to the students.  They make the decisions on which programs to support and spend money on and how the fellowship as a whole should be investing their time and energy.  They are also responsible for the growth and spiritual well being of anyone who would call themselves a member of this fellowship.  In other words, they are given the role of “elder” in this respective “congregation”.

Fast forward to senior year.  After the whirlwind of senior banquets (or appreciation nights) and graduation ceremonies and parties, these young church leaders come back to their home church with a slough of new ideas of how they can revolutionize ministry at their home church.  They are, however, quickly shut down.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  These ideas are more than likely very good ideas that would revolutionize the church, but for whatever reason, they are not heeded by the leadership of the home church.

Having been met by brick wall after brick wall, these young people declare that “I’m no longer being fed at this church” or “I don’t feel that I’m being ministered to at this church.”  Is it true?  Yes.  You see, in college, each and every student is empowered to approach ministry in a way that (a) appeals to them individually and (b) they feel would best impact the community around them.  Having experienced such empowerment and (hopefully) success in this arena, they bring these ideas home and expect to be welcomed with open arms.  When they experience the rejection (which can come in many differen forms, both passive, “you should go talk to the youth pastor”, and active, “we don’t have the resources for that kind of program”) from the church they grew up in, they feel as if they no longer belong in that particular ministry.

So, where does a young person who wants to change the world through new and revolutionary ministry ideas go to exercise his or her ministry muscles?  Without naming names, many churches have popped up in the bay area (and LA area, if I’m not mistaken) that cater to this very sector of society (the disenfranchised college graduate/young adult).  These churches have been phenomenally successful in their contextual, relevant, and creative style of ministry.

Now back to the “home church.”  Having been active in ministry for a long time, the leadership of this church knows the ins and outs of starting new programs and the kind of toll that new projects take on a church, financially, spiritually, emotionally, physically, etc.  They were, therefore, making a very clear, thoughtful and strategic decision when they “shut down” the college student’s new program ideas. However, this decision has repercussions that are becoming far too familiar in the church these days: all the young adult career types are leaving our church!

So, we’ve gotten ourselves into quite a pickle, haven’t we?  On the one hand, we’ve got a bunch of disenfranchiesed young Christians who know (or think they know) how to do ministry.  On the other hand, you’ve got the older generation who has been doing ministry for decades, even before these “kids” were even out of the nursery.  The result of putting these two hands together is that you’ve got a brand new, booming ministry consisting mainly of the young career/young family types, as well as an aging church that has a lot to offer, but no young people to infuse the energy that the church so desperately needs.

Back to the passage at hand.  Peter is writing to the Christian diaspora just prior to the Neronian persecution, so he wants to make sure that he gives them the proper guidance on how to “feed the sheep.”  He lays out the leadership plan like so:

Elders are to exercise oversight:

1. not out of compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God
2. not for sordid gain, but with eagerness
3. not lording it over the flock, but leading as an example.

The “youth” are to:

1. be subject to your elders

Everyone is to “clothe yourselves with humility toward one another.”  The question that I would pose is this: How is humility demonstrated by either party in the situation described above?  In freezing out the college graduates, how has the home church leadership demonstrated the example that Peter calls them to?  In leaving the church and starting a younger, hipper ministry, how has the youth demonstrated the subjection that Peter instructs them to practice?

In a situation such as this, it is very easy for one party to find fault in the other.  “Those kids, they always think they know how to do things.  They don’t know that it’s actually much more complicated than they think it is.” or “Man, if they only knew how powerful the ministry in college was and how much we could transform our community, they’d give my ideas a chance.”

But what Peter is calling for is mutual humility.  Leaders are leaders, and they should be respected as such.  But one of the things that the death of Jesus accomplished for us is that the Holy Spirit now works inside each and every one of us, not just the leaders.

So, what’s the solution to the aformentioned pickle?  I’m not sure.  I can’t say that these new young adult ministries are invalid, because they’re doing work that the older churches could never have dreamed about.  Nor can I reject the ministry of the home church because they have proven themselves to be effective in their charge as shepherds and committed to the ministry for the long haul.

I think, though, that the solution resides somewhere in Peter’s charge to “humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God” (verse 6).  When all of us realize that it’s not a question of who has the better ministry model or who is taking the more foolhardy approach to church, but rather that is a question of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and nothing more or nothing less, we will see that it is a common goal that we are working towards and the same God that we are in submission to.

In a nutshell, we need to refocus our priorities on God’s agenda and not our own.

I don’t know if that made any sense or if it’s just a ramble.  Thanks for making it this far down the page.

Wow, whoda thunkit?

So, the closer for the Giants, Brian Wilson, has this thing he does at the end of every saved game:

Could never figure out what it was.  Someone finally asked him:

“And also it’s taking into consideration my own walks in life. For instance, when I cross my arms, I have my left hand in the fist and my right hand goes underneath pointing with my (index) finger. What I’ve taken into my own belief is that this finger represents one man. I’m that one person. And I can only go so far in life leaning on my own understandings and my own strength. The fist represents the power of the Holy Trinity: the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. The fist is symbolic of a circle. It’s never-ending. This strength will only continue to grow. So here’s the strength of God and the strength of man. And without him, I am nothing. I can only go so far in this life. But when I cross, I now have this one person with the strength of Christ, and I can do anything through Christ who strengthens me. I can get over any battles in life.

I like it.  Keep saving games, Brian Wilson.

I also like Omar:

I asked him about teammates dropping the X, including Omar Vizquel who does it every time. (Omar doesn’t know what it means. “I just like him because he’s crazy,” Vizquel said.)

Melting Down the Gold

Passage today was Deuteronomy 7.  The Israelites are getting ready to receive the law, and they get a series of regulations concerning how the land is to be conquered.  Three simple things:

1. Destroy the enemy
2. Do not marry them
3. Destroy the idols (don’t melt them down for the gold)

If these three simple rules are followed, then a bounty of promises will come into effect:

1. He will love you and bless you and multiply you
2. You will have bountiful crops and livestock
3. There will be no barren women or cows
4. There will be no sickness in the nation

Sounds like a pretty good trade off.  Suffice it to say, the Israelites didn’t manage to follow through with the three rules.  So, what does this mean?  Christina and I were talking about how the “conquering” is different, the “idols” are different, and the “prosper” is different, but the principles are the same.

At the moment, we’re looking to either purchase a new car or replace our existing car.  So the question becomes, by what means will we purchase this car?  Is it through Christina’s new found income?  Or is it through the grace and providence of God (via Christina’s new found income)?  It’s a question of giving credit where credit is due.  By not allowing ourselves to be enamored by the “gold in the idols”, we are trusting that God will provide what we need when we need it.

The job, the house, the cars, everything that we have now or will have in the future is only because God has given it to us.  We must remember that.  The moment that we begin to pat ourselves on the back for the good job we’ve done in bringing home the bacon is the same moment that we find ourselves in utter ruin.

It’s been awhile…

Tonight we went to the Resident’s welcome dinner at one of the doctor’s houses on Colima.  Nice house, BIIIG backyard.  So, I got introduced to everyone as “Chris’ husband, the pastor.”  I met a bunch of people that I will likely never see again, and if I do, I probably won’t remember that we met.

Through the course of various conversations that I had throughout the evening, I came to realize that there were a bunch of personality types that I haven’t encountered for a long time.  Some of them not since college.  There was the self-proclaimed agnostic, the presbyterian pastor with a priest’s collar and his wife, the behavioral medicine professional that doesn’t go to church, and the large korean guy who said that he thought about going to Westminster for seminary, but opted for med school instead.  And then there was the 3rd year resident who was worried that in her three years, she hadn’t found a church that she could get “plugged in” to.

Anyway, all that to say, it’s been awhile since I’ve encountered so many various personalities.  Everyone I meet lately seems to be the same.  Oh well, new chapter, new challenges.

Until the time had come…

Passage today was Galatians 3:19-4:7.  One of my favorites.  Paul makes an illustration of an heir, a slave, and a guardian.  An heir to a large estate does not receive full rights as an heir until he has come of age.  There is a guardian that takes care of the affairs of the house until such a time when the child heir can be “responsible” enough to receive his inheritance. As such, he is on equal planing with any of the children of servants or “slaves” in the house.

It’s like Bruce Wayne.  Until such a time that he was deemed old enough to take care of Wayne manor, Alfred took care of everything.  When he was old enough, he took full control of Wayne Enterprises and Wayne Manor and he became BATMAN.

Heir – Us.
Slave – Everyone that does not know Jesus.
Guardian – Law.

The heir and the slave are both under the care of the guardian until they are old enough.  That is to say, we were all at one time under the control of the Law.  When the time had come for us to become full recipients of the promises of God, the control of the Law was lifted from us and we were given “run of the house.”  We are no longer subject to the Law, but like Batman and Alfred, we can still use some wise counsel now and again.

This does help me gain a deeper understanding of the “Thou Shalts”.  It is not completely purposeless, because it did “keep us in line” until we were old enough to receive our inheritance.

Righteousness not of my own.

Emmett just went down for his nap.  Christina is off to her first day of intern year, and lo and behold, we begin a new chapter in our lives.

We went to Orchard Valley yesterday for church and Joe Castillo preached on Philippians 3, where Paul talks about “whatever things were counted gain to me, I consider them as a loss.”  This morning, we read a passage out of Galatians 3 that talked about our righteousness coming from the Law and not from us.

It got us talking about a silly conversation that we had with my siblings regarding Emmett.  Joe made three points in his sermon about self-righteousness.  1) Everyone is flawed  2) There is always someone better than you and 3) It is a source of pride. We were telling Emmett not to find any confidence in his own cuteness because 1) Everyone is flawed 2) there is always someone cuter and 3) It is a source of pride.

Christina and I were discussing about how this can apply to many different parts of our lives.  Anything that we can take confidence in will always set us up for disappointment.  It is only when we find our confidence and righteousness in someone other than ourselves that we can even hope to not be disappointed.  To ensure that our confidence is not misplaced, we must place our confidence in someone who is completely trustworthy and faithful, and as far as I know, there’s only one person who fits the bill.

“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

Have a good Monday, everyone.