Month: May 2008

Book Review – Jesus Made in America

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I recently finished reading Stephen J. Nichols’ Jesus Made in America: A Cultural History from the Puritans to The Passion of the Christ (IVP 2008). When I first received this book, I was excited to read it. The concept intrigued me – an historical overview of how the cultural sensibilities of different eras in American history shaped our common conceptions of Jesus. This is a theme I’ve personally explored and one that I believe is little recognized by the church. We all to an extent create Jesus in our own image, and reading the history of that tendency in America captured my interest. What I discovered instead though was a book that although fascinating fell prey too often to the author’s personal biases.

In my reading of the book, I discovered early on a major theological difference with the author that effected my encounter with his theories. Nichols sets up the book with the assumption that there does exist one right way to think about Jesus. In a book about how our cultural background influences our perception of Jesus, I found this assumption to be a bit out of place. There was no acknowledgement that this “correct Christology” might have been influenced by cultural factors, just that it represents right belief that everything else must therefore be deviating from. So it is in light of this basic assumption that Nichols examines the history of Jesus in America. His Christology is the standard that he holds everyone else up to. Of course this results in those he examines being either completely right or completely wrong about Jesus. He goes to great lengths (stretching might better describe it) to prove that the Puritans held to this correct Christology, while others (The Passion of the Christ, Veggie Tales, and CCM for example) fail theologically. It’s a black and white world apparently for him when it comes to understanding Jesus.

This emphasis on correct Christology develops throughout the book. He dismisses many of the cultural portrayals of Jesus because they emphasise relationship or practice over doctrine. He asserts that correct Christology must always be primary for believers. While I respect the need to have a good theology, I question his hierarchical approach. I just can’t picture Jesus stopping himself in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, slapping his forehead, and saying “but what am I thinking! All this stuff I’m telling you to do is great, but what is really going to matter is that over the next few hundred years people are going to debate how best to talk about me, hold councils and votes as to who really is right, and kill those in the minority. Making sure you agree with what the right group says about me will be the primary part of your faith…” Maybe the Bible just forgot to record that part of the sermon.

I honestly agree with many of the critiques Nichols has of popular cultural conceptions of Jesus (I can’t stand Jesus is my boyfriend songs), I am just not as inclined as he is to dismiss them altogether. He assumes that any theory of Jesus is a complete reduction of Jesus to just that theory and so dismisses them as having no redeeming value whatsoever. In what reads as a litany of his personal pet peeves with Christianity, Nichols I believe confuses his personal dislikes with bad theology. His biases against certain groups (hippies, liberals, youth) are strongly displayed. Anything connected to such groups can hold no value for him. So while I don’t believe that Jesus can be reduced to just being a friend, or a revolutionary, or a moral leader I have no problem saying that Jesus does contain those aspects. To ignore those portrayals of Jesus is just as reductionistic and limiting as claiming any one of those encompass fully who Jesus is. And to do so because one is more comfortable with the Puritans than the Jesus People seems like just another case of creating Jesus in our own image in my opinion.

While I found Nichols’ thesis flawed and fairly biased, I do have to say that the cultural history presented in the book makes it well worth the read. The different eras’ portrayals of Jesus are accurate and are useful in helping one to understand what shaped the church today. Knowing that the church hasn’t existed in a vacuum, but has been influenced by culture could possible bring some needed humility to the church (I just wish Nichols had learned from his own writing). I particularly thought that the sections that dealt with faith and politics were the strongest in the book. In those sections Nichols’ historical analysis shines through his personal likes and dislikes and the reader is treated to a well developed perspective on both the Founding Fathers and the contemporary situation.

So I do recommend this book, but with a few cautions. Enjoy the cultural history, but be aware of the author’s presence shaping what you read and in many ways undermining his own thesis. Even so, I found it an enjoyable read.

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Laughing at Ourselves

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So I followed the links recently to Michael Kruse’s Why did the Emergent Chicken Cross the Road. I read it, it was cute, I smirked. Yet as I thought about it later, I realized how odd posts like that are. Think about it. How often is it commonly accepted to simple state the beliefs and practices of a religious group as the punchline of a joke? If those statements had been about evangelical “chickens” instead of emergent, would the response have been the same? Would such outright mocking be accepted if it was directed at anyone else? It’s not that I find the list (or others like it) offensive, it’s just that I’ve noticed that Emergents are expected to take such mocking in stride. In fact if we are offended by things like that we are mocked even further and told to get over ourselves. At the same time if any of us criticize the beliefs of another group (not even in a mocking way) we are derided as unfair and accused of thinking of ourselves as better than others. I’m all for taking criticism and being willing to laugh at oneself, I just find the double standard curious.

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What’s Up With Me

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So I seriously feel like I am in la-la land most of the time these days. I’m not blogging or getting into good conversations anywhere near as often as I used to. I’m not reading nearly as much as I used to either (and I have a huge stack of to review books piling up…). So my apologies (mostly to myself) and as my excuse a bit of an update on my personal life.

Some of you may read my baby blog and know some of this stuff already, but I thought I’d give a more general update here as well. Basically I feel huge, miserable, and could be having the baby any day now. Seriously. Technically I am only at 34 weeks (out of 40), but I should mention that Emma was born at exactly 34 weeks. With all of the preterm labor issues I’ve been having that means that I could be having the baby any time in the next six weeks. While I so don’t want a preemie again or the extended NICU stay, I am also really ready not to be pregnant anymore. When I walk into my doctor’s office and she look at me pitifully and says “what more can this pregnancy do to you?” I know at least she understands as well.

Let’s see. Five months of constant nausea, not eating, and being hospitalized for dehydration. Preterm labor issues for which I have received weekly hormone injections (which really hurt). Serious vertigo and dizziness issues that have restricted my driving and basic standing at all. Heart troubles that sent me for multiple testings by a cardiologist, have me wearing a monitor constantly (which I am having an allergic reaction to), and affect my ability to breathe. My blood tests are all over the place, I have too much amniotic fluid, I am seeing maternal specialists, getting weekly non-stress tests, and taking crazy amounts of pills (something I generally avoid). The specialists don’t know if my body can handle being pregnant past 35 weeks or so. So at this point we are trying to reach a balance of what is safe for me and safe for the baby. It is all a bit stressful and crazy and time-consuming. So while I spend most of my time just at home on the couch, I don’t always feel well enough to do much of anything. I feel really stupid just laying there trying to make the contractions stop or trying to bring my heart rate down enough so I can actually breathe. I can’t take care of Emma any longer and only leave the house if I know I can be sitting at all times (I faint if I stand too long). I’m not sleeping at night, my maternity clothes are all too small, and I lose my breath just walking from the couch to the bathroom. Fun times.

And I feel really stupid and evil complaining about all this and using it as an excuse for why I’m check-out half of the time. Though all of this I’m just hoping and praying for a healthy baby and am very thankful to be having another child. I just hope to be waking up at 4AM to feed a healthy baby soon instead of laying awake struggling to breathe. So much has gone wrong already this pregnancy, but thankfully it’s all been with me not the baby. He seems to be happily growing and kicking along (a lot).

Anyway just thought I’d share, give my excuses for my rather sporadic web presence, and ask for prayers in this last stretch. Thanks.

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Will Blogging Change History?

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So blogging has already changed the face of journalism, the question is, will it change history? This question arose as an aside in an editorial I was reading earlier today. The piece was about the need for more museums that make an effort to focus on what have typically been the marginalized voices in our society. The point was that by having museums and history books that focus solely on warriors, leaders, and inventors we convey rather blatantly what and who we value in our culture. Such things preserve that which society deems should be preserved and so serves to shape the current culture by imparting values. Social history movements take the time to listen to the other voices – those of women, the poor, migrants, the oppressed. These voices often make up the backbone of a society, but are often ignored and silenced. They are not seen as important enough to listen to so therefore their perspective is not written down as part of history. Who they are and what they value slips away in light of the stories of those who have accomplished “great things.” Including their voices and stories will not only demonstrate that they are valued, but perhaps help demonstrate that society isn’t a monolithic structure that values violence and power above all else.

Listening to the voices on the margins and getting a varied perspective are the goals of this broader approach to how we do history. So given that blogging has in many ways allowed the voice of the average person to be heard (and often even respected), I wonder if it will serve to help pave the way for a shift in historical perspective. Such social history approaches have been present since the 1970s, but haven’t gain widespread acceptance in classrooms that continue to see history as a parade of great names and dates. But today it is easier that ever to explore multiple perspectives on a topic. One isn’t restricted to the party line fed to us by the commercial media or the government. On blogs we can often hear from the people affected most by cultural events (or about such events at all). We are getting used to valuing the voices on the margins and perhaps that will eventually help us alter how we approach history as well.

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Living in Tension

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A few conversations this past weekend at our church retreat got me thinking about the tension between pride and servanthood. Of course, such things generally seem to be more of opposites than things to be held in tension. But in discussing the struggles we face in our spiritual journeys I saw that a balanced tension between the two can be needed.

What I’m thinking about here is the tension between the desire to accomplish something great with one’s life and the call to serve God wherever one finds oneself. I know that following God means being willing to serve where one is at. One cannot wait for the ideal circumstances to arise in order to serve and a certain level of being content where God has placed you is needed in order to serve well. But I also see the danger of settling for whatever is easy and never stepping out in faith to serve. That stepping out, while focused on God, requires a basic level of self-pride. A sense that one is “important” enough to do great things for the Kingdom. While it might not be self-centered pride, it is a measure of confidence that pushes one beyond where one is at onto greater things.

I’ve always understood the line from Lord of the Rings that Eowyn answers to Aragon’s question of ‘What do you fear my lady?’ She replies, ‘A cage. To stay behind bars until use and old age accept them and all chance of valor has gone beyond beyond recall or desire.’ To me that isn’t about my need to accomplish great things in my life, but the awareness that I shouldn’t be afraid to actually try. I think I fear complacency masquerading as contentment or “accepting my place in life” more than I fear excessive pride. But sometimes finding the right balance is hard.

I can get too caught up in desiring to “do great things” that I miss out on the opportunities I have right before me. It is this tension of accepting and grasping hold of such opportunities while not ignoring the whispers of the call pushing me out in faith that is the ongoing struggle. It isn’t a bad struggle necessarily, but one that keeps me aware who I am and what I am being called towards.

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Via Christus Retreat

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This past weekend we had our annual (and final) Via Christus Retreat. It was a strange time in that the church is wrapping up soon and a number of the small group we have left will be moving all over the country within the next month or so. So naturally we spent a lot of time reflecting on such things this weekend. Our theme was “Walking by Faith” and we focused on looking back at our spiritual journey and looking forward in hope to where God is taking us next. Many of us are facing significant life changes very soon, so time for prayer and spiritual reflection on those changes helped us process.

We also had a great time together. I of course enjoyed just hanging out on the couch for most of the time. But we played board games, ate lots of yummy food, and just had a good time together. I’m still trying to recover from an emotionally intense and rather sleepless weekend though (pregnancy + camp beds = no sleep).

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Human Rights and Christian Comfort

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For this month’s Synchroblog we are joining in with the Amnesty International sponsored Bloggers Unite for Human Rights. I guess the idea is to give the Christian take on the issue. My first reaction to that idea though was to recall how uncomfortable most Christian circles I have been a part of are with the concept of human rights (not to mention Amnesty International). There are those who don’t like the topic because it focuses on human needs in the here and now, not spiritual paths to heaven. It is not about whether or not people should be tortured or starved, but that dealing with such issues distracts from evangelism. Others though who may intellectually agree with the concept of human rights don’t see them as necessarily Christian concerns. They say caring about whether or not people are treated humanely and fairly isn’t a Biblical issue it is modern cultural construct. So while we should care about such things as decent human beings, we shouldn’t bring our faith into it.

Obviously I have issues with both approaches. I don’t like extremes that dichotomize the body and soul or the sacred and the secular. I don’t like faith systems that prioritize one part of faith over another (evangelism over service, doctrine over practice… or the reverse). If my faith informs how I am to live my life and I am called to love others those things don’t matter. If feeding the hungry by making sure they have access to food is part of loving them, does it matter if it can be labeled as modern humanism or not? And no matter how fantastic evangelism is, can people really say that it’s okay to let people starve?

I think too often the ideology wars stand in the way of seeing what is actually happening to real people. Fighting for human rights isn’t about politics or philosophies ultimately. We can use such things as shields to protect us from reality. Could anyone honestly stand before someone starving because of oppression and injustice and tell them “screw you, you are too worthless for me to change my _______ (politics, theology, opinion, routine) to bother to help. I’m not responsible for you, and in fact you don’t deserve help anyway, so just deal with it.”

But of course we say such things every day.

So I think Christians coming together to say they support human rights is a significant step in the right direction. To leave behind our excuses and our theology shields and not be afraid to visibly care is a needed step in our world today.

Contributers to this Synchroblog (so far) include –

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Sex Thoughts

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Disclaimer – Really long post ahead that is sure to piss at least a few people off.  Enjoy.

 

I’m usually very wary about Christian books that deal with sex for two basic reasons.  Generally they so super-spiritualize sex that it becomes nearly indistinguishable from say a prayer meeting or worship service.  Secondly I find that I usually completely disagree with the typical Christian conceptions about sex.   And this is where I get in trouble.  Where I cross the lines of taboo topics for decent Christian conversation and confirm people’s worst fears about me/young people/the emerging church.  Where I either make people uncomfortable or just piss them off.  So I usually play by the rules, avoid the topic, and let everyone assume I think like a “typical evangelical woman” (whatever that is) on the subject.

 

Well it’s kinda hard to keep my mouth shut when I’m sent a book to review that I have serious issues with on this topic.  So at the risk of stirring up another hornet’s nest here, I have to say that I have issues with Michael Leahy’s new book Porn Nation (and honestly I continue to find it amusing that these anti-porn sites/books have porn related titles.  I know it’s meant to bring porn users to them, but it also brings up all sorts of real porn when one searches for them on Google or Amazon.) The book is Leahy’s story about how his sex addiction destroyed his life.  Of course it also has sections on how our culture is oversexed and some really generic ideas for spiritual healing.  In all it was a very short book that I found didn’t end up saying much at all and what it did say was based on false assumptions and dichotomies.

 

I don’t deny that a sex addiction is harmful or that it has destroyed families.  As with any addiction the potential exists to cause harm to those one loves the most.  I appreciate the author’s vulnerability in telling his story and admitting how his addiction hurt others.  I also don’t deny that porn can exploit and often has connections to sex trafficking, forced prostitution, rape, and slavery.  Or that there are illegal and deviant forms of it.  Sex can be used to hurt, control, and demean.  Such injustices are always wrong wherever they occur.  But as I read the book I had the distinct feeling the author was throwing the baby out with the bathwater so to speak.  His personal pain caused him to swing to the opposite extreme of viewing all sexuality as bad and to blame the sexuality in our culture for his struggles with selfishness and addiction.   While I question his naïve historical view of sex (assuming that we are the first generation to ever be sexual), as well as tendency to lump all cultural expressions of sexuality under the porn label, it is his negative view of sexuality that I had the most problem with.

 

Early in the book as he describes his first experience with sexuality (an accidental orgasm and the thrill of seeing a topless picture of a women), the author assumes a tone of disgust and regret.  From the awkward and incomprehensible “sex ed” class taught by a priest to his own sexual experimentation, the assumption is that being a sexual being is a bad thing.  This is his message after working through his sexual addictions, but it is also the message I have heard my whole life from the church.  Even before the recent trends within evangelical Christianity to describe the sole purpose of sex as being procreation (basically for anti-homosexual reasons), sex wasn’t something to be celebrated.  In typical modern dualistic fashion, our bodies are disparaged and sexuality is seen as the basest expression of that despised flesh.  Sure some books like Intended for Pleasure hinted at that aspect of sex, but only as long as there wasn’t too much pleasure involved and sex was described as really being about spirituality.  Basically the vicissitudes of Platonism haunted the bedrooms and made an easy scapegoat of sexuality.

 

This view of sex defined the way children were raised and youth were taught.  Children were taught in the most Skinneristic of fashions to be utterly ashamed of and disgusted by their bodies through the quick reproves of parents whenever they attempted to touch their genitalia.  Youth pastors held the sacred honor of scaring teens away from sex by whatever means necessary.  A mixed bag of fear tactics, heavy guilt, and extreme suppression usually made up their arsenal.  It generally worked too (at least for appearances sake, those who “sinned” through dressing too sexily or by getting pregnant were not so subtly asked to leave).   Anyone one who expresses curiosity about sex openly was silenced and generally ridiculed.  But of course everyone knew that most of the guys and a good handful of the girls were exploring their sexuality on their own trying to ignore the conditioned guilt they felt at being a sexual being.

 

Sexual memoirs like Leahy’s just portray the continuation of this rejection of the body.   At one point in the book he describes the sad situation of girls who feel like they have to “put out” for guys or dress really sexy in order to be affirmed as a person.  I agree, that is bad and is part of the continued evils girls face as we emerge from patriarchy.  Girls should be taught to respect their bodies and themselves.  This respect includes understanding who they are as sexual beings and the best way to discover healthy sexuality.  Leahy though decides to merely lament the fact that girls these days are not innocent (once again historical naivety – were they ever!?), and proceeds to blame Brittney Spears, MySpace, and rap music for the downfall of the young.  Apparently denying and ignoring sex (along with figuring out how to shelter “children” from it) is preferred over teaching healthy ways to interact with it.

 

Of course in Christianity where sex is to be saved for marriage whole other issues arise because of a lack of healthy ways to understand sex.  Girls, taught to be ashamed of sex from birth, are generally told that although they will most likely not enjoy sex they had better give it to their husbands or else it is their fault if he strays.  Years of suppression and guilt are to be overcome in a night.  They need to please men enough to keep them from sin (affairs, porn, fantasy…), but of course stay within healthy spiritual boundaries.  Anything that indulges in the sheer physicality of sex or that encourages sexual exploration and fulfillment is taboo.  Only tasteful lacy lingerie on occasion is permitted, the lights should always be off, no games or stories or toys, no sex vacations, no experimenting with positions, no movies or fantasy play, no masturbation, and, most assuredly, no talking about any of this stuff ever.  Couple who do cross those lines face lingering guilt and wonder if they are doing something wrong by enjoying sex with their spouse.  Women become angry and ashamed if the husband tries to be intimate in those ways.  They blame his deviant sex addiction and shut their sexuality down even further.

 

And the resources given to help are books like Porn Nation that continue to spread the “sex is evil” lie and tack on a few pages at the end about how after years of struggle they found healing and are happily married.  Sorry, but I find that lacking.  I firmly believe that God created sex and that we are meant to enjoy it.  Yes, I think that should happen with a committed relationship – that relational connection and intimacy being part of what it takes to be fully enjoyed imho.  So I won’t deny that I am a sexual person.  Nor will I play the game of attempting to hide that away by being made to feel guilty for dressing a certain way (that “way” varying depending on who is doing the judging) or just because I am a woman.  I will not run from expressions of sexuality in culture or think they hold the power to destroy people (addictions and selfishness are problems, sexuality is not).  I will not see the physical body as something only to be shamed by, or see developing my relationship with my husband sexually as anything I should ever feel guilty about.  Yes, sex can be used to harm and destroy, but there are ways to develop a healthy sexuality that strengthens and respects people that doesn’t require the extremes of disparaging the body or suppressing sexuality.

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Pentecost

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Change comes on the wind.  Or at least that’s how it happens in movies.

 

The scene is set.  A quiet little town or neighborhood existing as it always has.  The habits and rituals of daily life are center stage.  No major crises are looming and yet something appears to be missing.  People appear to be content, but one can see they are not fully alive.  They lack a certain spark, the joie de vivre so to speak that gives a passion and purpose to ordinary existence.  This is when the wind changes.  A select few may pause to notice the change marked by the creaking turning of the weather vanes, but then they go their way forgetting they noticed anything at all.  They are unaware how drastically their lives are about to be transformed or that the wind currently whipping through their hair heralds the awakening of their souls.  For with the wind comes a new voice, one that will speak into their lives and set them on an utterly new path.

 

This is where in the movies we are introduced to say Mary Poppins or Vianne in Chocolat.  Unassuming at first glance, these women blow into town and quietly get to work at changing lives.  Their ways are a bit unorthodox to be sure.  Having a spoon full of sugar to help the medicine go down or opening up a chocolaterie during Lent just aren’t the way things are done.  Yet one soon discovers that the outward quirks of these women are part of the awakening and healing process they bring to those around them.  From Mary Poppins helping a family become a true family, to Vianne helping a town restore broken relationships, it took the stirrings of something new and different to affect change.  Of course their ways were questioned and ridiculed by those who preferred the status quo, but eventually the winds of change prevailed and a happier much more alive group of people emerged.  The wind then once again changes and pushes onward to new situations in need of this special form of healing and growth.

 

The image of a mighty rushing wind is of course the Biblical imagery for the Holy Spirit.  On Pentecost change came with the wind as the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles and other followers of Jesus who had been meeting in prayer.  Yet it isn’t just the Holy spirit rushing in on the wind that I find so extraordinary (although it certainly is that), it is how it was sent to dwell in and empower Christ’s followers to do the work he left them.  Change didn’t just come with the wind (or as the wind), it took the form of people sent out to transform the world.

 

Like the Hollywood stories of Mary Poppins and Vianne, change occurred often through unexpected and unorthodox methods as those who had received the Holy Spirit sought to bring hope and healing to those they encountered.  The Holy Spirit wasn’t blowing haphazardly, stirring hearts to change here and there.  Real people found themselves moved to be the harbingers of these changes.  One finds the church praying in Acts 4 that they might have boldness in spreading the message of Christ.  The scriptures tell us that they were filled with the Holy Spirit and not only were they able to testify powerfully, but that they were unified as a group and took care of each others needs.  Radical change came upon the group in ways that brought them closer and healed the hurts of those in needs among them.  Change brought about by the work of people empowered by the Spirit.

 

It is this sort of change that is needed in our world today.  Too often I hear prayers asking for God to send the Spirit to change the hearts of a community or to bring healing to a situation.  These prayers while rightfully trusting in the power of the Spirit fail to recall that the Spirit works through people to affect these changes.  We should be praying instead that we would be emboldened to change hearts and help heal.  Being filled with the spirit isn’t something that is done merely for our own good, but to empower us to serve.  Seeking to transform the world is of course something none of us can do on our own strength, but it is a vital part of the very nature of what it means to be filled with the Spirit.

 

So are we even bothering with the winds of change?  Are we the ones sitting around seemingly content yet utterly unalive when we should be the Mary Poppinses and Viannes of the world?  We have been given the Spirit, we should be empowered by the greatest wind of change ever to blow on this earth  –  why are we expecting not to have to do anything?  We should be the one’s loving boldly, sharing the good news, and taking care of the needs of the hurting.  We should be the one’s out there bringing families back together, healing broken marriages, and restoring broken friendships.   We should be the one’s overcoming oppression, setting captives free, and seeking justice.  We should truly be acting as witnesses to God’s power.

 

Our scene is set.  The wind is blowing.  May we be emboldened to act.

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Mother’s Day

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I think a yearly reminder of the original intent of Mother’s Day is always a good thing. A reminder that as women and mothers we can work together for peace, justice, and equality.

Mother’s Day Proclamation – 1870
by Julia Ward Howe

Arise then…women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
“We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.”

From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says: “Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice.”
Blood does not wipe our dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil
At the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace…
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God –
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

And this video (ht: Josh) I think makes a fantastic point about how we raise our kids determining the world they will create. What things do we tell them are important and significant in this world? Do we encourage them towards peace, justice, and equality? Or do we give such things lip service while really conveying to them that money and power are the really important things in life?

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