christianity

And You Wonder Why People Aren’t Christians….

/ Rev. Evan Dolive / 1 Comment

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

When Doubt Sets In…

/ Rev. Evan Dolive / 2 Comments

As followers of Christ we are called to live out the gospel message in a way that is fulfilling to our understanding of the way God interacts with the world and with humanity.  If we were raised in the church we were taught the stories of Bible, Noah’s Ark, Daniel and the lion’s den and Jesus’ ministry.  As we grow and mature in age we begin to look at the world differently.  We have different life experiences which shape our overall viewpoint.  Things that once were clear are now a bit hazy, the truth we once believed does not seem to be plausible anymore.  In any person’s faith journey there will inevitably be a section(s) where doubt has set in.

We have all been there…Doubt the very faith we have been raised in or believed for most of our life.  We question the validity of the stories, the interpretation of the text and the practices of the church.  Many Christians have left the faith all together because the level of doubt was too great.  Others have simply changed denominations or changed their beliefs about certain issues like women in ministry, baptism and even homosexuality.  All of these changes have come out of period of doubt.

Doubt is not necessarily a bad thing.  Doubt makes us question, reexamine and reflect on even the most basic of held beliefs.  Minister Brian McLaren wrote “sometimes doubt is absolutely essential.  Doubt is like pain: it tells us something nearby or within us is dangerous.  It calls for attention and action.”

I agree with McLaren, doubt does call us to action.  Church communities are supposed to be places where our doubts can be shared, where our struggles can be brought forth, a place to say “I don’t know about this Trinity thing.”  The Disciples of Christ pride ourselves on being open and accepting of a variety of belief systems and structures but too often our churches do not reflect that.

Our church today faces some grave challenges and it will be easy to doubt that anything can be done.  This, my friends, is the wrong mindset.  While doubt is healthy in one sense, it is completely destructive in another.  I am not advocating for looking at the world through “rose colored glasses” but I am saying that through this time of doubt we can renew our faith in God.  We can take this time of discontent and make it in a time of renewal and rebirth.  Let us journey with God together.

Where were the times in your life when doubt set it?  What did you do to ‘overcome?’ Let’s reflect on these questions in the weeks ahead.

In Christ,

Rev. Evan

Misuse of Scripture #420

/ Rev. Evan Dolive / 2 Comments

This past Friday was April 20 or 4/20.  There is a subculture in US in which April 20 is designated as a day to consume marijuana.  (Learn more here).  People took to public places and online communities to promote the day and ‘celebrate’ in their own fashion.  I thought it was quite bold of them to openly and public profess their love and admiration for weed.  I guess Snopp Dogg made a career centered around is music and love for pot so why not celebrate it, huh?

Friday afternoon my youngest sister (a college sophomore) posted this tweet.

Naturally this peaked my interest.  She informed me that people on Facebook were claiming that the Bible promoted the consumption of marijuana.  Which Bible did they chose?  Genesis 1:29… which reads

Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.– NIV (2011)

People in the 420 movement enjoy the more fluid language of the ye ol’ King James Version which reads

And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

(They seem to like it because of the word “herb.”)

I’m not trying to insight a debate on the legality or the morality of smoking pot or anything like that, but I do want to open the door up to discussing the use of scripture in this scenario.

It’s no big surprise that Christians from all backgrounds look to the Bible to help them understand God’s interaction in the world.  The problem that I have is when the Bible is used in such a narrow sighted way.  I don’t see people who use this particular verse to further their pot smoking views rolling up oregano or rosemary and smoking that.  No, rather they have found their herb or choice.  If this passage is true they all of plants even the ones that cause allergic reactions in people (poision ivy/oak /sumack) should also fall under the umbrella of herbage.  Why this one verse, why this one seed-bearing plant?

Generally when people are picking and choosing laws and rules to follow or not to follow in the Old Testament they don’t normally go to Genesis 1:29.  Rather they choose something from Leviticus or one of the Ten Commandments. Where is their call to action and celebration about the proper treatment of animals and sacrifice rituals?  Where is the party being held about not wearing mixed fiber clothing or not consuming pork or shellfish?  Maybe the people at www.godhatesshrimp.com have it right…The Bible has been used for and against every major issue that one can think of so I guess I really shouldn’t be surprised that people have taken to the Bible to promote pot.

To look to the Bible to find a ‘ethical’ way to smoke weed at 4:20pm on 4/20 is a gross misuse of the Bible.  Genesis 1 tells of how God created order out of chaos, brought light to the darkness and organized the world into the place it is today.  To pluck out one verse for this reason tramples on the story and what it stands for.

In Christ,

Rev. Evan

Misconceptions About Christians: Part II

/ Rev. Evan Dolive / 3 Comments

 This is my latest article in the Orange County Record.

If you missed part, check it out now!  Misconceptions About Christians: Part I

This is part two in the series of the Misconceptions about Christians.  Last week I touched on the misconception that to be a Christian you have to read the Bible literally.  Today I will speak another misconception.

Misconception #2- To be a Christian means you have to go to “church”- While this might seem a bit counterintuitive for a minister to say such a thing, hear me out.  I like to remind people that nowhere in the Bible does Jesus Christ ever advocate or command that his followers go to church.  Christ’s message was about bringing the love and reconciliation of God to all people in all places.  Never did Jesus say “And on the Sunday gather together in a building for one hour and then return to your lives.”

The church at one time in the United States was the cultural center of a town.  The perception was that everyone in the town was a Christian and attended service somewhere on Sunday mornings.  It wasn’t ‘if’ you were going to church, rather it was “to which” church you were going to attend.

But over the years, the understanding of ‘church’ has changed and not everyone is on board with it—a conflict has arisen.  One of the biggest so called ‘worship wars’ is how church is supposed to look.  Some people want the ‘traditional’ way of worshipping: pipe organs, hymnals, wearing your ‘Sunday Bests’, etc.  On the other hand there are those who want a more ‘laid back’ or ‘contemporary’ approach- ‘come as you are’ mentality to clothing, praise bands, screens with images and song lyrics.  You can try to blend the two together which sometimes works, but more often than not, one side feels the other side has “taken over.”

These two different styles have literally split congregations.  But the truth is to be Christian does not mean that you have to attend a worship service in a stained glass windowed building on Sunday morning at 11am.  No, rather, worship is supposed to be an expression of gratitude and adoration to God, so how one connects with the Divine is up to them.  Don’t get me wrong I believe that fellowship and support of other Christians is vital to faith formation, but it is not limited to a building we call “church.”  More and more churches are finding that small group and house church ministries are reaching people that had never graced the door of a church before.  Why? Because these groups are generally smaller and more intimate.  There is something comforting about expressing one’s doubts about faith issues in someone’s home than in a church building.

The church grew out of a collection of people that wanted to get together and worship God.  In the early church, they did not meet in multi-story buildings rather they met in homes.  The church today is still the place where faithful followers of God come to worship, but what that looks like for the future is still unknown.  I believe that the Church may not look like it does today fifty years from now.  But one thing is for sure, I believe what Christ said about where two or more are gathered, there he will be also.  Whether it is in a home, 100 year old stained glass building, an old Wal-Mart or a strip mall, the church will remain.

Next week I will continue my series on the misconceptions about Christians.  I would love your feedback.


Misconceptions About Christians: Part I

/ Rev. Evan Dolive / 6 Comments

Below is my latest article in the Orange County Record.

Being a minister, I am often asked why more people are not Christians. Sometimes this question comes from a person struggling with the notion that there are others who do not believe in Christ. Others ask this question because they see the decline in the particularity of the Church.

Whatever their reasoning, the question is asked out of love for their faith.

To be honest there really is no clear cut answer; this is something the Church has struggled with for centuries. But it seems like today this predicament is on the minds of Christians of all walks of life. People leave the faith or are not interested in Christianity for various reasons. Maybe they had a bad experience with a particular minister, maybe they could not ‘wrap their brain’ around a particular theology, maybe they were told that their beliefs were wrong or that their questions were not valid. For whatever reason the fact of the matter is that the Church itself does not hold the cultural and societal significance that it once did. I do not know if it ever will be that way again—a sobering thought for a young minister like me.

There are a lot of misconceptions about Christians today and I want to explore some of them over the next few weeks.

I believe that the “Achilles heel” of the Church are Christians themselves. Mahatma Gandhi is quoted to have said “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” If we claim to be followers of Christ, then why aren’t people experiencing the presence of Christ when Christians are around them? There seems to be a disconnect between what is professed in sanctuaries around the world and what is actually followed through with by fellow Christians.

So what are the misconceptions about Christians?

Misconception #1- Christians have to read the Bible literally. – The Bible is the foundational document of the Christian faith and has been the focal point for millennia. However, the way that it has been read and interpreted varies greatly. The Bible has been read by billions of people and each person has taken something different from the text.

How much are we limiting the Bible and the power of God to reveal Godself through the pages of scriptures if the Bible is limited to one interpretation? If there was one way to read the Bible then all of the churches should be on the same page. But the last time I checked this is not the case at all. Many people who believe in the literal interpretation of scripture often do not all agree on how that looks in actuality. First Corinthians states that women should cover their heads in worship, but a small fraction of Christian women actually do this. If the Bible is to be taken literally then how to do you know what to take literally and what not to take literally? Obviously one cannot take Jesus’ parables literally because they are stories in help get across a main point. What about the commandments on how to treat slaves? What about the dietary laws in the Old Testament? Not many Christians have ever sold all they had as Christ stated was a requirement to enter the Kingdom.

Does this mean that the Bible is unimportant? No, but the way that one person interprets the scriptures may be completely different than the way another person interprets the scriptures and the shocking part is they both might be in the same congregation. Too often all Christians are labeled as literalist and this is flat wrong. Some of the most famous and prolific Christian thinkers did not take the Bible literally. Maybe some people believe that women should not hold a leadership position in the church, others do. Some people believe that world was created in six days and others do not. They are both reading the same scripture, following the same Christ but see the Bible in completely different ways. Does this mean that one is wrong and the other is right? No, it just means that they see the experiences of the faithful of God printed in the pages of scriptures in ways that speaks to them.

Next week, I will continue this series on the misconceptions about Christians. I would welcome your insight and feedback. You can contact me at evandolive@att.net.