Christ

Be a peace-wager like Nelson Mandela

As the world reacts to the death of Nelson Mandela, we cannot help but read and understand his amazing history of peace. Fighting against injustice and apartheid in South Africa were his notable achievements, but Mandela did so much more.

Mandela spent 27 years in prison for fighting for his beliefs and for justice. Emerging for oppressive imprisonment, Mandela spoke about peace, reconciliation, and forgiveness. How can someone emerge from such hate, injustice, and pain to take about reconciliation? He became a symbol of truth, reconciliation, grace and peace.

Many talk about peace, but few understand what it takes. It’s easy to speak about peace but if one truly wants to achieve peace, one must “wage peace”. Nelson Mandela died in the midst of Advent, the precursor to Christmas. The story of Christmas is the story of God waging peace with the world. Making peace is not an easy business. Mandela was a peace-wager.

Peace amid tragedy is challenging. Mandela was one who could find peace in tragedy.

The message of Christmas is this: Christ was born to all the world for the redemption of the world. However, as Christians, we often believe that peace is to be something to pray for yet it is never accomplished. It is common for Christians to think that peace is to be prayed for and never acting on.

Jesus said,

Culture, Thanksgiving

Thanksgivingization

It seems every year retailers are pushing holiday seasons earlier and earlier. I walked through the home improvement giant, Lowe’s the day after Halloween and saw Christmas decorations, holiday goodies, and Christmas lights already on sale. Was that too early or is it just me?

This year, maybe my anecdotal evidence is backed up with fact. The Associate Press published an article entitled, “All Day Shopping Frenzy on Thanksgiving?”. The article reports on how retailers are trending to open stories on Thanksgiving instead of the day after:

It’s a break with tradition. Black Friday, which typically is the year’s biggest shopping day, for a decade has been considered the official start to the busy holiday buying season… Meanwhile, Thanksgiving and Christmas remained the only two days a year that stores were closed.

Now Thanksgiving is slowly becoming just another shopping day. Over the past few years, major retailers, including Target and Toys R Us, slowly have pushed opening times into Thanksgiving night to one-up each other and compete for holiday dollars.

This year, more than a dozen major retailers are opening on Thanksgiving, including a handful like Macy’s, J.C. Penney and Staples that are doing it for the first time… Indeed, retailers say they’re just doing what shoppers want… That’s an important opportunity for chains, which can make up to 40 percent of their annual revenue during the last two months of the year.

Based on this evidence, retailers are pushing up holidays to sell goods. More and more, our holidays (both religious and non-religious) are turning into opportunities for retailers to draw in consumers to buy and well, consume. Thanksgiving is now no different. What remained as the last holiday were retailers did not make their employees work, has now turned Thanksgiving into another shopping mecca.

This is what I call Thanksgivingization: Continue Reading…

faith

How N.T. Wright changed my faith

Greg Mamula is an ordained minister and the Associate Executive Minister of American Baptist Churches of Nebraska.

“Despite what many people think, within the Christian family and outside it, the point of Christianity isn’t ‘to go to heaven when you die.'”

–Simply Christian, N.T. Wright

I did not grow up going to church on a regular basis, but went often enough to catch the same glimpses of faith many people see with only a cursory glance at Christianity. Like many people I was taught that Jesus was my personal helper in time of need and the gate keeper into heaven. So when I prayed for something like my dad not to leave for months on end for work or to not have to move over and over again and God didn’t deliver I questioned his power and existence.

I believed that the Christian faith was ultimately about going to some ethereal heaven someday. I believed I had to intellectually assent to the reality that Jesus died only for my individual sins, and simply admit that I was a worthless sinner and ask for forgiveness. I struggled with the purpose of Christianity even as I felt a call into vocational ministry. What is the point of belief in God if he seems to be a failed helper? Is the only purpose of Christ to get us into heaven so I don’t burn in hell? That seemed like a very unfulfilling and vindictive God.

religion

Our New Religious Pantheon

The ancient Greek stories of the pantheon of gods were full of lust, envy, jealousy, and revenge. Though gods, they acted just like humans. They could be tricked, lied to, and make deals. They are fickle at best and even in their most glorious moments act in ways that are selfishly motivated. They really serve better as cautionary tales rather than models to follow. (For a great summary of ancient Greek pantheon read “Mythology” edited by Edith Hamilton.)

In America, we have created our new religion pantheon of gods and goddesses with their own special powers and temples. Our pantheon of gods are usually built around real people who did impressive things. Their temples are movie sets, concert venues, and celebrated theaters. Their feast days occur nearly daily with award banquets, premier days, and contests where viewers get to elect the next god into the pantheon. Our pantheon of warriors are not in fact warriors at all but athletes who conquer their foes on the playing field rather than the battle field.

With the recent biogenesis clinic problems that MLB is facing in suspending twelve players for 50 games and one of their most notable warriors Alex Rodriguez through 2014, we are reminded much like the Greek pantheon, our gods are all too human. Celebrities, politicians, athletes, entertainers, and others we hold up as our heroes fall from grace on a regular basis, some even end up as convicted criminals. We watch their larger than life dramatic stories much like the Greeks listened to the pantheon of old. We scrutinize their actions and celebrate the consequences to their actions as though they are fictional people without real feelings, damaged hearts, and wounded families. It serves as our entertainment and as our worship.

The one big difference between the Greeks and us is that the average Greek probably didn’t believe they could become a god. True enough some humans married gods or had half-god half human children. But for the most part this was not the norm. But these humans never became gods or were ever worshiped themselves.

We have moved from the worshiper to the worshiped. We can become a god.

We are training our children that through hard work and focus they can become gods in professional athletes, musicians, or the next governor. The biggest church in many states is their state university football stadium (it certainly is in my state) or pro baseball teams cathedral. We drive our kids from soccer, to band, to baseball, to dance, to whatever else because we may not admit it, but we really believe these kids will go pro and become a god.

We can have a difficult time seeing the Kingdom of God as Jesus taught it in the midst of this pantheon of athletes, entertainers, and other gods. Our worship of anything other than God is an idol. But to believe we are not worshiping these things is to lie to ourselves. We may not have mythical heroes of ancient tradition, but we certainly have a growing new religious pantheon full of temples and gods all across this country. None of them are Christ.

Greg Mamula is an ordained minister and the Associate Executive Minister of American Baptist Churches of Nebraska.

mission

A garden center, a sign, and the missional church

My parents used to tell me that first impressions matter. So my mom always kept a very clean house in the chance someone came to visit or if I or my sister brought a friend home unexpectedly from school. My dad always keep the cars clean and the yard mowed. We always had clean clothes and reasonable times between haircuts. Probably not much different from your family.

Organizations also present “first impressions” with their buildings, employees who welcome, or the cleanliness of the facility. The front door might be one of the most important features of these organizations. Here are a few front doors I have come across in Midwest stores recently.

This is posted on a sliding door into a business. This store is a large chain and is located in the upper middle class section of town with low crime. Nothing about this sign says to me I am welcome to shop there. I have never seen a sign like this on any other business, that does not mean do not exist but I have never noticed one. I just found it to be a weird notice and felt it to be unnecessarily hostile.

This is a welcoming place. It has the clearly marked sign open, the door is open, and the hours are posted. There is plants that greet you from the parking lot to the door letting you know that this place holds a variety of , trees, flowers, porch/deck furniture, and other yard DYI things. But what you see outside is only a small taste of what is on the inside. The staff don’t just grow plants in a bucket. They are gardeners as well. They are capable of listening to garden ideas and advising how to proceed because they live in both places.

Churches have signs as well. Our churches often put up intentional or unintentional signs up with our actions. Perhaps they act like the fist sign. Your life will be scrutinized here. We will judge you and use a filter process to decide if you are like us. We will examine every aspect of your life until we are satisfied you look, sound, and act like we think you should. If you do not agree to these terms you are free to leave the facility.

What if our church and the way it functions looked more like this garden center? What if we were more inviting and welcoming? What would it look like if we could find the balance between being welcoming to all and strong in our Christian identity? What if we found a way to interpret and discern what God is doing in the world? A missional church needs to examine their church “signs”. What signal are they sending?

Much like the garden center, there is a a need for churches to have a welcoming presence with their building, signage, and people. The church must missionally welcome people and empower others to action. The missional church needs to have a welcoming presence of hospitality and be able to discern how God is calling us to act. God is at work cultivating our missional gardens and we need to realize what it takes to welcome and send others into his vineyard.

religion

Religion scholar: Nothing wrong with Nazi assignment

Here in Albany, the story about the school teacher who assigned a “think-like-a-Nazi” essay brought the region into a collective gasp. In turn, the school district issued an apology and put the teacher on leave. However, the story suddenly turned national as the USA Today and Washington Post picked up the story.

Just about everyone who read the story thought the assignment was a bad idea. However, Boston University religion scholar, Stephen Prothero thinks that no harm was done when the teacher gave the Nazi related assigned. He writes:

I think it’s Greenfield [New York City Councilman] who is lacking in common sense here. And it’s the superintendent who is being illogical.

I suppose it is possible that the teacher is a closet Nazi attempting to reconstruct the Third Reich in Albany. But isn’t it more likely that he or she is trying to teach students about the dangers of propaganda and the horrors of the Holocaust?

Consider the student who felt “horrible” about doing this assignment. Is that really a bad thing? How are high school students today supposed to feel about Nazism and the Holocaust?

Apparently, what they are supposed to feel (and think) is nothing, because the lesson high school teachers are going to take away from this fiasco is to avoid this topic at all costs, lest they risk losing their jobs.

When I was an assistant professor at Georgia State University in Atlanta, I used to teach Nazi theology. My students read sermons by Nazi theologians arguing that Jews were evil and were responsible for killing Jesus. They also read a book called “Theologians Under Hitler” by Robert P. Erickson, who tried to explain how and why Christian thinkers could come to believe that exterminating Jews was somehow Christ-like.

What do you think? Is Prothero on target here?

Christianity, Culture

Mumford: Don’t call me Christian

AlanRudnick.org welcomes Greg Mamula as a contributing blogger.

I have become a big Mumford and Sons fan. Before you cast me into some “band-wagon” “fair-weather” pop culture music participant, I must say I first listened to Mumford about two and half years ago and wore out their first album “Sigh No More” long before they were ever on American radio. Their lyrics are powerful, their music is catchy, and their live performances are some of the best around.

I actually first saw them on a live TV performance before I ever knew much about them. I was inspired by the passion of performance and the fact the lead singer Marcus played a kick drum, while playing guitar, and singing at the same time. Their lyrics are full of religious overtones. Huff Religion references a Rolling Stone Magazine article on the band’s spiritual lyrics:

During an interview last month, the Rolling Stone reporter, Brian Hiatt, asked Mumford whether he “still consider(s) himself a Christian. “Mumford gave the following answer: “I don’t really like that word. It comes with so much baggage. So, no, I wouldn’t call myself a Christian. I think the word just conjures up all these religious images that I don’t really like. I have my personal views about the person of Jesus and who he was. … I’ve kind of separated myself from the culture of Christianity.” His spiritual journey is a “work in progress,” Mumford said, adding that he’s never doubted the existence of God and that his parents are unbothered by his ambivalence toward the Christian label.

I am a Christian and clergy to boot. For me it has strained relationships with family members, friends, and strangers I meet. It is always a little awkward at first when I am sitting on an airplane or getting a hair cut and having someone ask, “So what do you do?” Because “what I do” is in fact “who I am.” So when I say, I’m a minister, or I work with all the denominational churches in a region, I mostly just get blank stares. They don’t know what to say or do to that response.

When I travel and people learn that I am a Christian, they respond in two ways. First if they are Christian they want to tell me all the things we have in common and assume we interpret the faith in identical ways. This is often true but sometimes it is not. It makes me grateful the Christian tent is a large one that can hold all sorts of people and perspectives. Or people respond a second way, they want to tell me all the things wrong with the church, why they have never been or won’t go back, that we need to stop trying to be involved in politics, and how judgmental Christians are. And usually they are right.

Mumford’s lyrics clearly demonstrate someone who wrestles with his faith more than most self identified Christians. He uses biblical imagery that rivals that of Johns Gospel. He might not self identify as a Christian but he certainly believes in resurrection (see Roll Away Your Stone), redemption (see Lover of the Light), forgiveness (see Awake my Soul, Broken Crown, I Will Wait), a new heaven and new earth (see After the Storm), and genuine love (see Blank White Page, Lion Man, Lovers Eyes). Sure he uses the F word sometimes but I think it speaks to his honest passion and frustration with his humanity and need of healing.

Perhaps he is more Christian than he gives himself credit for. Perhaps he just doesn’t want to have awkward conversations with reporters. Perhaps like the Huff Religion article states, he “falls between Dorothy Day’s famous “Don’t call me a saint — I don’t want to be dismissed so easily,” and Soren Kierkegaard’s, “Once you label me you negate me.”

So take them or leave them for their music. But don’t deny their journey or yours. We are all works in progress. My prayer is that you are willing to simply get on the path.

Greg Mamula is the Associate Executive Minister for American Baptist Churches of Nebraska.

Culture, faith

The War on Easter

As billions of Christians worldwide prepare for Easter this Holy Week, it seems that some television personalities think that our culture is waging a war on Easter. Bill O’Reilly declared on his show that the War on Easter is being waged via the Easter bunny:

But the war on Judeo-Christian tradition continues on in some public school districts… in some schools you are not allowed to say the word “Easter.” On Long Island, the East Meadow school district, holding a Spring egg hunt — not Easter eggs, Spring eggs. Same thing in Prospect Heights, Illinois. Manhattan Beach, California. Flat Rock Elementary School in South Carolina, and a school district in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania. No Easter. They are having Spring egg events. Moderated by a Spring bunny, at least in San Diego. I know it’s stupid. You know it’s stupid.

There is a difference between saying “you are not allowed to say the word “Easter” and billing an event without the word Easter. Perhaps it is overly sensitive to have a “Spring Egg Hunt”, but I’m sure you are allowed to say the word “Easter” as a point of reference. I seriously doubt if two teachers were talking about their spring break plans that they would have to say “The holiday that celebrates Jesus’ resurrection” instead of “Easter”.

When it comes down to it, there’s nothing inherently Judeo-Christian about the Easter Bunny or Easter Eggs. Last time I checked the Bible, the Easter Bunny wasn’t there. There is nothing religious about a giant bunny magically giving children baskets of candy. Saying that there is a war on Easter is an affront to the nature of real wars in which people die.

The very word “Easter” is not very Christian. The modern English word “Easter” can be traced to an older English word Ēastre or Ēostre or Eoaster, which refers to Eostur-monath, a month that the Germanic peoples named after the goddess Ēostre. The word Easter has connections to pagan rituals of celebrating the spring time. So, to not use the word “Easter” shouldn’t offend Christians.

I don’t believe in the war on Easter. Secular and public institutions are not the keepers of Christianity. We Christians are keepers of Christianity. If Bill O’Reilly thinks the epitome of Easter is a public school Easter egg hunt, then he seriously misses the core message of Jesus. Perhaps O’Reilly misunderstands Christianity because he also thinks Jesus was killed over taxes.

Let us put down our Easter eggs as weapons and not allow the celebration of Christ’s resurrection be used as television entertainment.

Culture, Evangelism

New England mission field is not to be conquered

Having spent over four years in Upstate New York, I’ve experience my fair share of “New England” religion. Though New York is not part of New England, being so close to a New England state has naturally brought its culture over the border. I have church members who are former residents of Vermont, New Hampshire, and a few who grew up with “Chow-dah” and “Hah-vahd”.

New Englanders are hardy folk. They endure harsh winters and only one NFL team for several states. They are compassionate. Simple and respectful. They don’t wear their religion on their sleeve. They are rich and poor. Tall and short. They are Americans just like you and me.

In the last 10 years, several evangelical denominations and faith groups see New England as the last American mission field. This thinking is misguided and sees this region as a place to be conquered as if it was ancient military victory. Yes, everywhere we go is a mission field but the holier than thou attitude that some church planters exhibit smacks of arrogance.

Case in point are the tactics the Southern Baptist Convention is using to plant churches in New England. NPR reported that a church planter walked a traffic island with a very aggressive religious sign to drivers:

It’s not malicious… but they’re church-planting by stealth…On a recent February afternoon, horns honked and a middle finger flew as Cabral walked the traffic island. Drivers also kept engaging him, trying to answer the question on his cross, which he’d explain meant, “Are you ready to face God when you die?” Cabral would share how he knew that he was, then hand out a card with a gospel message and his church’s address.

Is that how New England is seen as a mission field? A place where the first exposure to an evangelism effort forces unsuspecting commuters to be confronted with judgement rather than the love of Jesus Christ? What of the existing congregations trying to reach out to their communities? Often, many of these church planting movements ignore existing churches in order that they reach number goals.

Treating the birth place of American religious freedom like it is a foreign mission field gives no regard to local culture, local needs, and local programs. Theologies of missiology explore existing culture rather than establishing a new culture and religious norm. For instance, recent statistics reflect new church plants instead of focusing on existing ones:

Since 2002, the Southern Baptists have spent roughly $5 million to plant churches around the region, and have another $800,000 committed for this year… They’ve started 133 new churches in that time, a nearly 70 percent increase that brings their regional total to 325.

What about the churches trying to reach their local community? What statistics and funding goes towards strengthening existing churches? Building new churches is a little more sexier than using existing churches. It looks good to show a mission board statistics on new churches. But, initiatives like Transformed by the Spirit seek to empower existing churches to find new life. Not considering what challenges and opportunities exist in current churches ignores the work already being done by other Christians.

Working with existing churches and their struggles is not glamorous as starting a new church. However, there are communities, people, and towns that need their congregations to be renewed and restored. Let us not see the “New England mission field” as a place to be conquered but as a place where we respect local church hopes and dreams.

Christianity, Leadership

Why Pope Francis is good for Christianity

As Pope Francis starts his papacy, it is very clear that his leadership will set a very different tone for the Catholic Church. Upon leaving Rome, Pope Francis paid for his own room, rejected lavish apparel, and referred to himself more as a bishop and less as Pope.

At a time when priest scandals, closing churches, and aging membership threaten the growth of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis is starting his tenure on a positive note. In the face of alleged papal scandal and a retiring pope, Francis has decided to change the tone of the Church’s messaging. Last week, Pope Francis reminded Catholics that Jesus, not the pope, is at the center of the Church. He added that the center should focus on “poor, and for the poor.” Even the selection of his namesake, Francis of Assisi, invokes compassion, peace, and uplifting the poor.

At 76 years of age, Pope Francis is comparably young. This newest pope will need the energy to galvanize the Catholic base and gain the trust of the disfranchised. However, Francis is doing more work among Christians in general, not just Catholics. The sex abuse scandals not only eroded the trust of faithful Catholics, but also with the general population. Public polls show that lawyers and bankers are more trusted than clergy. The perception among the “nones”, who make up 20% of Americans, is that churches and organized Christianity is not worthy of their attention.

It appears Pope Francis is setting a new tone for 1.2 billion Catholics. The tone is not centered in doctrine, Church law, or hierarchy but on bringing unity to the Church and caring for the least of these. The LA Times interviewed one of the faithful and compared the last pope and current pope:

But devotees have been agog at the complete contrast in style between the two men. Benedict tended to be stiff and reserved in public, unlike Francis and his engaging manner. Benedict “distanced people, but this one — you can tell from his expression — he makes jokes, he is closer to us,” Lorenzo Tortorati, 33, said, adding: “He’s what you need for the church.”

Protestants and Catholics share a close historic relationship. And, the two sects have influence one another. The Reformation created a Counter Reformation. Vatican II brought the church to the modern world as Protestant churches were growing. Catholics and nominal Catholics have been looking for a positive leader who can bridge the divide of theology and ecclesiology. Ashley McGuire with The Washington Post expresses the mood of Catholics and Protestants:

Pope Francis, meet a generation of young Catholics longing for you. Longing for someone to show us in the most tangible of ways that the Catholic Church defends the most vulnerable among us, be they in their mother’s womb or hungry in the streets. Meet a generation of Protestants looking to see Catholics assure them that our faith is first and foremost about Jesus Christ. And what could remind people more of Jesus than seeing a man with authority take that authority and bend it like Beckham. Bend down on one knee and wash some feet.

Indeed, we Christians (Catholics and Protestants) have a common denominator in Jesus Christ. Pope Francis is good for Christianity. His leadership will help the followers of Christ to do the things that Christ commanded: Feed the poor, visit the sick, uplift the lowly, protect the weak, and proclaim the Kingdom of God.

Pope Francis is that type of John Paul II pope who Catholics celebrated and Protestants could agree with. Francis will bring Catholics into the future and we Protestants can join with them in the common cause in the name of Jesus Christ.

st. patrick

Saint Patrick

I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, Through belief in the Threeness, Through confession of the Oneness of the Creator of creation.

I arise today Through the strength of Christ’s birth with His baptism, Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial, Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension, Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today Through the strength of the love of cherubim, In the obedience of angels, In the service of archangels, In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward, In the prayers of patriarchs, In the predictions of prophets, In the preaching of apostles, In the faith of confessors, In the innocence of holy virgins, In the deeds of righteous men.

I arise today, through The strength of heaven, The light of the sun, The radiance of the moon, The splendor of fire, The speed of lightning, The swiftness of wind, The depth of the sea, The stability of the earth, The firmness of rock.

I arise today, through God’s strength to pilot me, God’s might to uphold me, God’s wisdom to guide me, God’s eye to look before me, God’s ear to hear me, God’s word to speak for me, God’s hand to guard me, God’s shield to protect me, God’s host to save me From snares of devils, From temptation of vices, From everyone who shall wish me ill, afar and near.

I summon today All these powers between me and those evils, Against every cruel and merciless power that may oppose my body and soul, Against incantations of false prophets, Against black laws of pagandom, Against false laws of heretics, Against craft of idolatry, Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards, Against every knowledge that corrupts man’s body and soul; Christ to shield me today Against poison, against burning, Against drowning, against wounding, So that there may come to me an abundance of reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.

blog, Christianity, Culture

History Channel begins epic ‘The Bible’ on Sunday

What is being hailed as an ‘epic’ drama on the scale of ‘The Lord of the Rings’, “The Bible” premiers this Sunday on the History Channel. As many media outlets and TV channels begin focusing biblically related content during Lent, many are excited about the History Channel’s new take on major biblical stories.

Channel Guide Magazine neatly summarizes the show:

History presents the ambitious 10-hour, five-week miniseries The Bible, dramatizing the most famous tales from the Good Book beginning with Genesis and ending with Revelation. Stories depicted include the Garden of Eden, Noah and the Flood, the Exodus, David and Goliath, and the Gospels. The series concludes on Easter with the story of the Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension and prophecy of the Second Coming of Christ.

I will be watching on Sunday with a keen eye. What makes the show interesting is that Survivor producer Mark Burnett is on the project. It makes me wonder, Will Noah get voted off the boat in this series? Condensing the Bible into 10 hours seems like an impossible task, and it is. Hopefully, the writers did the script justice. When you name a series, “The Bible” there is an expectation that the totality of the Good Word will be covered.

Perhaps what is interesting about this show is why it was created. Former “Touched by an Angel” star Roma Downey, married to Burnett, felt called to bring the project to life. The Salt Lake City Tribute reports:

“In my prayer and meditation, I imagine somehow running into a stadium carrying this,” Downey said. “The light is not the Olympic torch, the light is the series. And as I come into the stadium, instead of people standing and cheering, I feel like everybody’s running down and grabbing a bit of that light and running with me.”

“Three-and-a-half years ago, I felt the call to do this,” Downey said. “I got my husband to share the vision. He is a great man for making things happen. He doesn’t hear the word no.” Downey said her spouse is “deeply humbled to be given this once-in-a-generation opportunity to breathe new visual life into the Bible’s profound stories.”

I’m always fascinated how Hollywood depicts Bible stories and characters. Mel Gibson‘s “The Passion of the Christ” was a game changer. Will “The Bible” do the same? Find out this Sunday @ 8:00 p.m. ET on the History Channel.

Check back Monday for my analysis of “The Bible”.

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