Food for thought… Are we as Christians merely ‘selecting’ the parts of the Bible or the Gospel we like and ignoring the others?
Can one truly live out the gospel completely, in its entirety?
Month: May 2012
Transitions: Let the Journey Begin…
Change is never easy. The future is never as quite as clear as you would like it to be.
One of my seminary professors told me once “Remember you are always someone’s interim.” As a first year seminary student I remember hearing those words and thinking that once my time was over at a church it wouldnt be that bad. Boy was I naive…
Our time in Orange will soon be coming to an end. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers as we wait patiently on Gods next calling to ministry.
So yes, we will be searching for a new church, a new place to call home. We would ask for your prayers and thoughts as we trying to sell our house in this crazy housing market as well as listen for God’s call for the future.
Misconceptions About Christians: Part Four
Here is my fourth installment of my “Misconceptions About Christians” series for the Orange County Record.
If you missed the first three misconceptions read them now!
- Misconceptions About Christians: Part I
- Misconceptions About Christians: Part II
- Misconceptions About Christians: Part III
This is the fourth installment in the series “Misconceptions About Christians.” So far I have discussed three misconceptions: that being a Christian one must read the Bible literally, that being a Christian means you have to go to “church” and that TV minister/evangelist are representative of all Christianity. Today we tackle another misconception.
I was walking through a parking lot the other day and I saw a bumper sticker that made me stop to examine it more closely. It was a blue sticker with white words and a yellow Christian cross; it read “Christian Democrat.”
Misconception #4- Being a Christian means that you have to vote for Republican candidates and conservative ideals.
Generally I shy away from mixing politics and religion. It is of course the two things we are warned do not mix. We are taught this adage for good reasons, people are passionate about their faith just as they are passionate about their ideals about how the country should be run and organized. But somewhere along the way the two were interlinked and interconnected.
When did it become the norm that stating that you were a Christian meant in the same breath you were saying that you supported conservative ideals?
Christians for years have been reading the same Bible and yet due to their life experiences and personal understanding of God glean a completely different interpretation. Christians for the most part have never been unified on much of anything. Debates, often heated ones, are still raging today over women in ministry, homosexuality and contemporary music. Debates and differences are nothing new to the church and the Bible has been at the center of most of them. For the most part, the Bible has been used for and against war, used for and against slavery, used for and against accepting homosexuality and the list goes on and on– the same book at the center of all it.
Christians are free to express their understanding of God and Jesus Christ in the world in a variety of ways. Some take to the streets and feed the homeless and needy, some fix up homes for those who are unable to do so, some go door to door inviting neighbors and strangers to church. It is the same when it comes to government as well. Some Christians believe that government should be as giving and caring as Christ was, some believe that charity should be the work of the church; herein lies the problem.
Most Christians would not object to some people living out the gospel by feeding homeless people, but once you start making statements about politics, then all bets are off.
Why do Christians who agree with the philosophies of other political parties than the GOP have to resort to bumper stickers to show that they are different? Does the fact that some punched their ballot for a person with an “R” or a “D” by their name really matter? How is this any different than having a different interpretation of the Bible? For some people being a Republican or Democrat and Christian is fine, but there are some who believe that the Bible commands all of Christianity to come under the banner of the conservative movement. This is not what Christ came to this earth to do. Christ did not come to start a political party or even support one; yes, Jesus was political in his time, but he did not ever want to be President of the United States of America.
With all of this said, this does not mean that our faith does not inform our political assertions.
If Christians are supposed to be about sharing the love of Christ in the world today, why bring politics into the matter? Should politics be in the church house? Maybe… but then again maybe not. Does it matter if someone votes for a Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, or Green Party member and still calls themselves a Christian? No, it does not. The church has bigger problems to worry about than whether or not a particular party’s candidate is in office come November.
Milestone: 1000
I know it’s not much but its something to celebrate in my book.
On May 5, 2012 this blog received its 1000th hit!
I launched this blog on February 28, 2012 so after 67 days I broke the 1000 hits mark. That is average of 15 per day!
I just wanted to take some time and say THANK YOU SO MUCH! Thank you for reading, thank you for sharing!
HERE’S TO NEXT 1000!
(“Fireworks” available under the Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0 at http://www.flickr.com/photos/malfet/4881325010/)
“What Does Your Church Believe?”: The Beginning of a Series
I wrote this for my church’s newsletter and I thought I would share it on here as well. I will be posting this series as they come out. How do you respond to people when they ask you “what does your church believe?”
Enjoy!
As a minister I am often asked “what does your church believe”? I try to explain to them that within the walls of our church (and more than likely theirs as well) we can have a wide range of beliefs on most issues. Generally this is a bit puzzling for them. The follow up question is usually “doesn’t that cause problems within the church?” I usually smile and say “all the time, but that’s OK with me.” I truly believe what I said. Conversations about our faith and the questions that arise are vitally important. People today are seeking answers to life’s biggest questions. For many years people turned to the church to help ‘sort out’ their inquires but sometimes the answers they received were not good enough. Today, for the most part, people do not want to be told want to think or what to believe. They want to experience it for themselves and have a place to discern and evaluate their experiences. This is where the church comes in. The church needs to be a place of openness, a place where the questions are asked and the discussions are held.
As members of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) we pride ourselves on being open and accepting of other belief systems and interpretations. We want to have discussions about faith and practical matters. That is why our founders believed in the motto “No creed but Christ.” We are called to live out our faith in a way that is in accord to teachings of Jesus Christ. If we are able to believe and affirm that Jesus Christ is the son of the Living God and offers saving grace to all of God’s children, everything else is just secondary.
I have heard it said that Disciples of Christ churches are the ‘best kept secret’ or ‘if people just knew what we stood for, they wouldn’t want to go anywhere else.’ Well for the next five weeks I am going to be discussing the some of the theological beliefs and practices associated with the Disciples. This will be by no means an exhaustive account but it should give you a good foundation to build from.
We are never too old to learn, grow, change, think, rethink and think again about the issues of faith. Our faith is never stagnate. I hope that this series will be one that is informative as well as challenging.
In Christ,
Rev. Evan
And You Wonder Why People Aren’t Christians….
I’ve said many times before that I believe that some people who were Christians and left the faith or those who reject Christianity altogether do so not because of any objection to the teachings of Jesus Christ. They object to the actions of Christians themselves.
This is just another example of how one stupid act can make all Christians look bad.
I give you once again, Dr. Terry Jones, Minister of Dove World Outreach Center in Gainsville, Florida. You may remember him as the person who wanted to burn the Koran (the holy text of Islam) on the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11th; he dubbed it “International Burn the Koran Day.” This event (which was eventually cancelled) made national headlines. The President, The Pope and countless others followers of Christ rejected the burning and rightfully so. It was pointless and hate filled.
Dr. Jones and his band of 50 or so followers have a hatred for the religion of Islam. They have even gone so far as to proclaim that Islam is of the devil and that it has a 1400 year history of rape and slavery. Jones even went to far in 2010 to put the Koran “on trail” where he was the judge and jury and lo and behold he found the Koran guilty.
Now Jones has upped the ante just a little bit more, he actually followed through with burning the Koran AND a picture of Mohammed. Read more about it here. In a video posted on YouTube Jones and others speak of the ills of Islam and how the followers of Islam must be converted to Christianity to be saved in the end times. To be honest, I tried to watch the 40+ minute video (the burning starting around minute 35 or so) but I couldn’t handle it. I skipped around through the video and heard three different people say the same thing but in different words.
The message is one directed to the Iranian government who is holding a Christian minister in jail. Dr. Jones believes that the Iranian government’s mind will be changed if they witness their holy book with an image of Mohammed being burned. Iran was quick to respond and denounce the act (read more here). I believe that they minister should be released too, but you dont see me going around lighting holy books on fire. What kind of reaction about Jones give if he saw the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, burn a copy of Bible and call out all of the times and ways that the Bible has been misused for the destruction of others and the world? My guess… he would not take it lying down…it might actually fuel his Islam hate firm more.
But alas while this didn’t make huge public headlines, its still a black eye for Christianity. People outside of Christianity need to know that this is not indicative of all Christians. This is not what the gospel is about. Maybe Dr. Jones forgot that whole passage about the spec in your neighbor’s eye and the log in your own. Maybe he forgot about Christ loving his neighbor. Maybe he forgot that even people who practice Islam are children of God. Maybe he forgot….
What Dr. Jones did was terrible with a “T.” It was heartless and disrespectful to a religion which for the most part has not done anything wrong to him. In most religions you are going to find radicals and fundamentalist who take their religion and doctrines to the extreme. Dove World Outreach Center joins the ranks of Westboro Baptist Church. They are in an elite class of Christians who give Christians a bad name. Yes they are trying to live out their faith and yes they have that freedom. But when action go against the central teachings of Jesus Christ, then they have missed the point. Jesus Christ’s message was one that brought wholeness to people not hate. What good could be done in Gainsville if that small group of Christians turned their attention to the hurting, the forgotten, to the lonely instead of the “evils” of Islam.
Ironically, Jones serves a congregation named after the bird of peace… the dove. May he forgot that too.
Below is the video if you care to watch it.
In Christ,
Rev. Evan
Rev. Dr. Evan M. Dolive 
