What is “the world?”

For anyone who grew up in church, the world is a common buzz word that encompasses anything that is not considered Christian or godly. People don’t watch certain movies because they are of “the world.” Science is of “the world” (unless it agrees with scripture or tradition). Non-Christian music is of “the world.” Drinking is of “the world.” Sex (outside of marriage) is of “the world.”

The comparison between the world and godliness is made as a moral one, and these days the moral focus tends to be on personal sin. That’s what most preachers and teachers hit on. She’s immoral because she had sex with her boyfriend. He’s immoral because he got drunk last night.

THE WORLD WILL HATE YOU

Jesus taught that the world would hate us. Paul admonished his followers to not be given to the patterns of the world, and promised that there would be persecution when we stood for righteousness. If that’s the case, then something is wrong here. I’ve never been hated because I refuse to cheat on my wife. I was never hated or persecuted when I didn’t drink. No one has ever wanted to harm me for cursing or watching a rated-R movie. The only time we’ve been hated because of issues of morality have been when we’ve tried to force our moral views on others (case in point, the current anti-homosexual movement).

WHAT IS “THE WORLD?”

“The world” is a system. It’s a machine. In the Jewish scriptures the world was a system of injustice and marginalization. In Egypt the Hebrews were pressed down by the world, and the motivation of the oppressor was power. Later, every time a prophet brought judgement against the nation of Israel, it was because of their injustice toward others. It was because Israel had become like the world…had become the machine. They had become a powerful nation that stood on the shoulders of others (I find it quite telling that Solomon built his temple with slave labor, when every year Pesach was celebrated to remember their own slavery).

The world is a self-serving system. The world looks out only for itself. The world will get ahead, no matter what. How many people did Jesus confront because of personal morality? I can think of two, and in both cases the confrontation was extremely mild compared to his confrontation with those who acted in injustice. The first was the woman caught in adultery, and he spent more time on the Pharisees who were trying to condemn her than he did on her. The only thing he said to her was to go and stop sinning, which is good, sound advice, as adultery is a selfish act (which makes it of the world). The second incident was the Samaritan woman at the well, and he didn’t even confront her for not being married to her current lover. He confronted her for lying, as a means to prove who he said he was.

I believe that personal morality is important. Immorality on a personal level can have a profound effect on who we are, but it’s still personal. At some point, I get to choose what effects me negatively and what does not. It’s like the law of the Sabbath, which says no work on the Sabbath because it is to be a day of rest. However, what if I find mowing my lawn to be the most relaxing thing ever? Am I then breaking the Sabbath? According to Jewish law, I am, but according to the spirit of the law, I’m not.

WE’VE LOST SIGHT

If we spent more time focusing on fighting against the true system of the world, and much less against the personal morality of others, we really would change the world, and we would be hated by many for it. For a decade I’ve stood perplexed as churches have been run like corporations. I’ve been dumbfounded by Christian support of a war for money. I’ve watched some of the “holiest” people raise their hands in support of measures that improve our lot at the expense of others. I’ve seen them jeer the “Occupy” crowd instead of realizing the truth of their message – this world is a self-serving place, and those in power intend to keep their power at our expense.

You would think that a nation with such a long history of having Christianity as the majority religion (and at some points by a wide margin) would not be in such dire straights. Atheists haven’t spent 200 years in the political arena, creating a system of inclusion and power, but Christians have. We’ve lost our focus. We’re not supposed to be here just to hold out until heaven. We’re supposed to make this world a better place, and that has a lot less to do with tsk’ing at immodest teenagers, and much more to do with fighting against the way we treat one another.

SELFISHNESS

The entirety of sin can be summed up in selfishness. In the story of the Garden, Eve ate the fruit out of selfishness. Selfishness was the first and only sin. It is the root of it all.

The world is a selfish place, and we’ve bought into it hook, line and sinker. We build million dollar sanctuaries in neighborhoods surrounded by starving people. We shop at Walmart, knowing full well that our products were made by child labor and underpaid workers (and few of us actually even care to think about that). We buy Hummers and put Jesus fish on them, and the consequences to the environment (of which we are supposed to be stewards) be damned.

There should be a distinction between us and the world. That’s a clear tenant of Christianity. However, the distinction will not be made in the movies we refuse to see or the words we do not say. The distinction will be made purely on the level of how we treat others, both as individuals, and as an institution. If I preach that cursing is wrong, then go and buy a diamond that was dug up by slave labor, I’ve supported the world.

RENEW THE WORLD

So, be not of this world…renew it. Some are beginning to grasp this. Shane Claiborne gave up everything he had to go live with the homeless in Philadelphia. But he didn’t go live with them just to say he lived with the homeless. He started a community. An entire movement based on helping each other out. People are off the streets and are being fed because he put the system of the world behind him. Others are doing similar things around the globe. They are renewing the world, and as a result they are truly infuriating the system.

They are being hated for love, which is the way of righteousness.

War is Coming

War is coming. I feel it in my bones, and it scares me. I’m not a conspiracy theorist. I’m just a normal guy who tries to keep close to the pulse of the world. And I can’t shake the feeling that we are on the brink of war. Not war like we’re used to – a dominant force in another country – but war here. Amongst ourselves.

We’ve allowed ourselves to polarize. We’ve forgotten how to meet in the middle. We are built to self destruct. Our culture teaches us that “I” is the point. We really do think it’s about us, and any culture that has forgotten that it’s about others has fallen. We hate, but we call it things like “being honest about cultural differences,” or “concern for the moral climate.” But these are just monikers for hatred, because no true expression of God, love, or community ever calls for us shun and hate others. Spiritual experiences are private matters, as are moral beliefs. I understand the desire to share, but we are to live in such a manner that people will want to listen; we should never force someone to.

Two days ago an amendment to the Constitution of North Carolina passed that banned gay marriage at all in the State. It was a travesty to freedom. Your moral leaning, whether left or right, does not give you the right to force others to live how you think they should.

Last night the President of the United States declared his official support for gay marriage. It was brave of him, especially since it could cost him the election, but dangerous. I’m not certain this was the singularity in the matter – the point of no return – but it is definitely a potential singularity event. Over the next few days some some things could happen that escalate the tensions.

It may take a miracle to save us. Some huge mental shift toward the center from both sides. We don’t need to agree on everything, but we MUST learn to disagree honorably and with grace.

Otherwise, it will lead to war. I just can’t shake that feeling.

America was founded on the idea of freedom. The question of moral and religious leaning by the Founding Fathers is irrelevant. Even those who were devoutly religious expressed freedom as a most perfect attribute. They sometimes expressed their own moral angst in regard to those around them, but they still valued the freedom of others as long as people acted honorably.

If we cannot learn to love one another, we will self destruct.

On with the Revolution!

I wanted to be a history maker. I think I actually included that on my resume when I was trying to become a youth pastor.

That would have been in 1999. I was getting ready to graduate from Bible college and being a history maker was it. We were going to start a revolution that would sweep the world. Not a violent revolution of taking up arms, but a revolution of the soul. We were going to live so radically for God, that people around us wound not be able to help but wonder were our inspiration came from.

It wasn’t what mainstream Christianity has turned it into. It was pure. All we wanted to do was be lights. Sure, some students were more outspoken and confrontational than others, but even they did it respectfully. If someone they were talking to got angry, the student would be the first one to back down and apologize. In some circles it is still like this.

But mainstream Christianity turned the Jesus Revolution into something else. They monetized it with shirts,  bands, and branded Bibles. They armed it. The word revolution is already militant enough, but as a mainstream movement it adopted an us vs. them mentality. It was taken from being a movement of radical living and being an asset to others, and turned into a machine to push conservative values. There are definitely people living out the original vision, but as a mainstream movement, it has lost that vision.

Recently some people have been asking about the revolution. Some say that we are in the midst of it, though it is progressing slower than expected, and it’s true. There is evidence of that. Others say that the revolution did not come as it was supposed to, and they are right as well.

But I’ve seen another…an unexpected…aspect of the revolution. I’ve seen it in young Christian women who would let a stranger who just had an abortion cry on their shoulders, even though they did not agree with the decision. I’ve seen it in Christian teenagers who refuse to let their gay friends be bullied at school. I’ve seen it in young pastors who refuse to be strong armed by a board of Deacons formed by money.

I’ve seen the revolution in a young Christian woman who has been both physically and sexually abused. Instead of cowering, as many of her Christians friends have encouraged her to do, she has stood up to the world to insist that women not be thought of as lesser.

I’ve seen it in a Christian young man who felt that the only thing he could do to be truly happy was to sell of his possessions and use his money to live amongst the homeless and help them in any way possible.

And I’ve seen all of these things happen amongst non-believers as well.

The revolution is not confined to the Church, but it’s taken the Church a while to see that. For sure there are major issues in our society. Greed is rampant, and immorality follows closely behind. I should explain however. Greed is as rampant in the Church as it is in society, and immorality means something different to me than it does to some. You don’t have to agree with me, I’m just informing you of my parameters. A nineteen year old girl partying every night and sleeping with a few different guys a week is immoral to me, but a young, unmarried couple who has been faithfully together for years and are expecting a baby is not immoral simply because they lack a piece of paper.  A preacher who makes a public spectacle of burning a Koran is immoral to me. A preacher who refuses ask the recently visiting gay couple to stop coming back is not.

And people typically grow out of normally classified immoral behavior. Promiscuity is not good, but it’s mostly confined to an age group. Of course there are mid-life adults still leading promiscuous lifestyles, but typically you get married at some point and settle down. However, people don’t usually grow out of hatred, and greed, and exclusiveness. Psychologists say that beliefs change, but values don’t. I call it a rule of thumb, because I have seen my values change, but for most people the notion is correct.

In church I used to hear the stats all the time about how far morality has fallen since the ’50s (and more specifically since 1963), and the data is correct. Teen pregnancy has risen, drug addiction has risen. Some elements of society have gone to crap. But we have also become less hateful as a society since then. We’ve become more accepting of those who are different than us. We have been more willing to listen to others. Charity work has risen.

Some people think that the purpose of the revolution is to ignore the social issues, but they are the values of a new generation. My teenage sister-in-law may be wild right now. She’s done some things that nobody thinks were good ideas, but she’ll grow out of that. One day she’ll realize she was being stupid, but she’ll never grow out of always being willing to forgive anybody. She’s not stupid, she won’t let herself get hurt again (often…she is a teenage girl so nothing’s ever a definite), but she will forgive you for anything. She is a budding revolutionary who just has to find her way there.

I’ve realized that I may do some great things in my life…perhaps not…but every time I look at my three boys, I’m looking at the real revolutionaries. My boys don’t know hate. They don’t care about differences. My kids will play with anyone. They don’t understand not wanting to help those who need it.

I cannot speak for others who have spoken of revolution. I do not know their intentions or their understanding of their own words, but I can tell you how I understand it…what I believe it represents. The revolution is about progressing as a society. It’s a movement that has the potential to finally move the Church away from its obsession with sex and carousing, and give it a new obsession – love and justice. For years, decades, centuries even, the Church has been so focused on defending itself against the world, yet it has created its own enemies. If the Church was as meek and humble as Jesus exemplified and suggested, we would have no enemies except for those with true hate in their hearts. We have spent so much time attacking others, we just look stupid when we wonder why we’re being attacked. A true revolution will bring us back to our roots of a meek community who simply wishes to be an asset to society, and I see that starting to happen all around me.

The world doesn’t need a revolution run by mainstream Christianity. It may need a political revolution, but that is not ours. That’s for someone else. I respect those who are politically outspoken because of certain passions, but I personally think it’s a distraction to the larger issues. The larger issue being that there is a world of hurt people out there, and our place is not to try and fix their hurt with rules and force. Our place is to comfort them in their hurt. Sure, taking a stand against immorality will change some people, but standing with open arms when people hurt themselves with their own mistakes will change even more people.