Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Judging Others

The image below is not a jab at Baptists. I was raised Baptist, got married in Central Baptist Church (Edmonton, Alberta), sent our oldest daughter to a Baptist college, where she met and married a young man who is a Minister at Baptist Church in America's heartland. 


I was prompted to write about this particular epigram when a friend of mine—an outspoken Christian—posted the above statement on her Facebook page. Her version wasn't a photo of a church sign, it was one of those virtual "posters" that has become popular on FB and Pinterest. The social-media practice of posting images-containing-words may have sprung in part from the frequently misspelled, misidentified, unattributed, or materially changed maxims popping up in earlier days. We now have websites filled with clever/provocative/inspiring memes in attractive layouts designed to be freely "shared." 

But wait—where are my manners? You might feel all warm and fuzzy reading the proverb above. You may have been wondering why anybody would challenge its message. If you were halfway out the door to join your local Baptist Church; if you're a Christian who just loves our increasingly tolerant (permissive?) culture; if you're pleased that what used to be called "sin" is now celebrated as a valid lifestyle choice—then you, gentle reader, are the person to whom this blog is addressed.

Lighten up, you say, isn't the statement just a rephrasing of Jesus' famous line in the Sermon on the Mount? Where's the harm in warning against judging others? Alright, let's stipulate that to the extent the statement is consonant with Jesus' words, it's useful. I can imagine this clever catchphrase reminding a Jesus follower to be more Christ-like. But to the extent that this mini-proverb differs from scripture, it's actually worse than useless. And let's not ignore the times in which we live. 

First, with just a few minutes of basic web-searching we learn that this quip was popularized online by self-described "Muslim Egyptian/Canadian Human; Ryerson Journalism Student; Spoken Word Poet; Speaker; Da'ya; Change Maker" named Amal Ahmed Albaz. The quote is from her Facebook page called "Albaz Poetry." If, like me, your first Red Flag was "Journalism Student," congratulations—you may close your textbook and go home early.

Most of her "I Am" list is pretty self-explanatory, except for "Da'ya." Do you know what an Egyptian da'ya is? A midwife. Do you know what an Egyptian midwife does to girls age 6-12? I'll wait while you look it up. Dum-de-dum-dum-dum. Are you back? Good. Armed with that knowledge, let's reflect on what Ms. Albaz might be aiming at in publishing her don't-judge-me statement in North America. What kind of "change maker" do you think she aims to be? (Hint: it rhymes with Maria.)

Second, while Ms. Albaz likely didn't originate this clever paraphrase, it's blends perfectly into Oprah Winfrey's renowned Sentiment Stew—floating alongside un-Biblical tropes like you've-gotta-forgive-yourself. These messages have been seeping into the culture since the 1960s. I remember when the book "I'm OK, You're OK" ushered in Situational Ethics, by way of Transactional Analysis. I watched the culture rush from Free Love, to Transcendental Meditation, and on to No-Fault Divorce. These kinds of make-it-easy-on-yourself concepts infect the societal bloodstream and affect followers of Jesus. Consider: divorce rates among Christians are little different from the general population. We are instructed to be in-the-world, but-not-of-it. I don't suggest withdrawing like the Amish or the snake-handling Pentecostalists. But neither should we heedlessly allow the culture to fill up our kettle until, like the frog, we're destroyed by the toxic brew.

Third, while Jesus made it clear that being judgmental—condemning, slandering, gossiping, back-biting, envying—is evil, scripture says those of us who have the Holy Spirit within us "will judge the world." Further...

"...and if the world is to be judged by us, why would we feel incompetent to decide trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, issues pertaining to this life!" Turns out that St. Paul's first letter to the believers in Corinth urged them to judge disputes among fellow believers. Also from 1st Corinthians...

Do not "associate with anyone who calls himself a Christian who is sexually immoral, or greedy, or an idolater, or verbally abusive, or a drunkard, or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person. What do I have to do with judging those outside? Are you not to judge those inside? But God will judge those outside. Remove the evil person from among you." So we see that believers in Christ are not only instructed to judge, but are given specific parameters. 

Look, everybody has to make judgment calls every day. Should I hang out with that group at work? Is this conversation fruitful? Is that person wasting my time? Parents evaluate their kids' friends—and their friends' families too. Most celebrities caught in compromising positions defend themselves by saying they exercised "poor judgment." Life demands making judgments—often about other people.

Yes, we're prone to having a log in one of our eyes—preventing us from speck-removal. 

But no, we're not to abandon judgement—we are to use it Biblically, and with humility. 

Thursday, November 4, 2021

Was 2020 America's Year Zero?

[NOTE: I wrote this brief blog post in early August of last year's Summer Of Leftist Violence. I didn't publish it then, because I couldn't discern an outcome. Last fall's controversial Presidential election was surely the strategic goal of all the disruption.]

August 3rd, 2020

"They wore black, were mostly teenagers, and people cheered them."

Burning St. John's Church, Washington, DC on May 30th, 2020 

"Schools closed. Religion was banned." 
"If you said one word against [them], you would be killed."
"The first to die in ... Utopia were the civil servants, soldiers and police ... the educated, doctors, [the] monks..."

The quotes above are from Cambodia in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge movement violently rose to power. The world paid scant attention to Cambodia, being relieved that the U.S. war in neighboring Vietnam had finally ended. But the suffering in Cambodia had just begun, detailed in 1979's little-seen documentary "Year Zero - The Silent Death of Cambodia" by Australian journalist John Pilger. However, millions of people in the West saw 1984's Academy Award-winning "The Killing Fields" by Roland Joffe.

America is not Cambodia, of course. Neither are we France, or Russia, or Germany, or Italy, or China, or Cuba, or Venezuela, or dozens of other smaller nations upended by violent, lawless, totalitarian insurgencies. But do we somehow imagine that the horrors visited upon so many countries in the aftermath of their bloody uprisings cannot possibly happen in "the land of the free and the home of the brave?"

In fact, the horrors are already happening. We've seen florists, bakers, photographers, college professors, journalists, and others lose their jobs for speaking truth to power. The power isn't the State, but the Mob (often via Twitter, but also violently in person). Have you ever been caught in a life-and-death panic with a large group of people? If so, you have seen what kind of behavior "normal" folks are capable of in dire circumstances. Imagine what kinds of things can be done by people who study, plot, and prepare to unleash a violent overthrow.

~~~

November 4th, 2021

So now we can see that Cloward-Piven tactics, along with "Rules For Radicals," are undoubtably driving the Biden administration's new-outrage-every-day operating principle. Defund the police; the IRS must monitor every American bank account over $600; deny actual science in regards to COVID therapeutics/masks/vaccines; force American companies to force so-called "vaccination" on their employees; assert falsehoods like "Critical Race Theory doesn't exist;" stop building the border wall American taxpayers have already funded; encourage unlimited illegal immigration; pay illegals up to $450,000 each; abandon Americans in Afghanistan; spend $3.5 trillion on shovel-ready infrastructure; print and print and print new money; mint a few $1 trillion coins; etcetera, ad infinitum, ad nauseum.

There is simply not enough time for citizens to assess, critique, discuss, and intelligently respond to any one of these daily grenades... because by Thursday they will have launched two NEW mortar shells out into the fruited plain. They are keeping us off balance, and trying to discourage us from resisting their lawless takeover.

Well, thankfully a couple of days ago (11/2/2021) there were a bunch of off-year state/municipal elections which dramatically rejected many of the candidates responsible for these kinds of lunacy. In Virginia the Republicans swept all three state-wide offices (Governor, Lieutenant Gov, Atty General); in Minneapolis, Austin & NYC, Defund Police policies were overturned; the NJ President of the Senate, longest-serving legislator (a Democrat) was defeated by a truck driver who spent $153.42 on his campaign.

More importantly, there are rumblings of a religious awakening across the USA. Actor/activist Kirk Cameron is touring the country with his "American Campfire Revival" program; Franklin Graham just concluded his Route 66 Prayer Tour; evangelist Mario Murillo is seeing overflow crowds at his tent meetings in California's San Joaquin Valley and upstate New York; major protestant churches from coast-to-coast are winning court battles (and in some cases have received financial compensation) against state shutdowns of public worship—even outdoors

Christ-followers understand that we do not fight against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces of darkness in heavenly places. And we have this promise: "When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him." - Isaiah 59:19b

No, 2020 was not America's Year Zero. Despite COVID shutdowns, despite lies and violence, despite corruption, despite all the usual suspects (press/media, Hollywood, academia, et al), America is still earth's pinnacle nation. As such this country matters greatly to God... and We The People will look back to 1776 and 1865 for our civic inspiration. We don't need the Left's Vision from 2020, we need God's Gift of 20/20 Vision. 

Monday, August 24, 2020

Rulers Of The Gentiles Lord It Over Them

2020 has been a kinda icky year, with a Presidential election as our cherry on top. 

You know the stereotype of Jewish mothers doting on, and bragging about, their sons. Having Peter and James's mom embarrass them in front of Jesus and the other ten disciples (Matthew 20:20-28) did nothing to erase that picture. But, as always with Jesus, he turned an awkward moment into a teachable one. The topic was leadership. Specifically the way-of-the-world versus the-way-of-God's-kingdom.

If anybody had the right to be demanding and authoritarian, it would've been Jesus Christ, maker of heaven and earth, who breathed life into man. Yet he did not act that way when on earth, and argued against it for those who would be his followers.

What of a leader who demands that you not leave your house, dictates what you must wear, orders selected merchants closed down, while deeming others "essential?" They go so far as to stipulate how many people are allowed on a privately-owned boat. And, as we all know, they decree that churches shall not gather to worship. That's more than mere authoritarianism. It's Totalitarianism. 

To be sure, not all elected Democrats in America are Totalitarians. But all American Totalitarians are Democrats. If you live in a Blue State, or in a Democrat-run major metropolitan area (some of which may be in Red States), you are much more likely to be oppressed than your friends in the rest of the country. A question for any readers who may say Trump is a Totalitarian: please name a Democrat Governor or Mayor he has overruled. Remember that the armed Feds he sent in to Portland were ONLY protecting a Federal Courthouse. And, at least in California, the Democrat Governor is openly defying Trump's classification of churches as "essential." No troops have been sent to Ventura county to guard churchgoers, the way JFK sent troops to Little Rock to guard school children.

And despite Leftists' repeated use of the word "science," Democrats are the ones suppressing the actual science, with a major assist from their bosses, the Leftist Mainstream Media. Hydroxychloroquine was the most widespread/famous science-denial*, but there's also been a dramatic exaggeration of coronavirus deaths, as described by California Pastor Rob McCoy (start at 24:48):


In fairness, counties receive extra money for "Covid Deaths," so the motivation to inflate the numbers isn't entirely about grabbing power. It's partly financial. But come-on-man, only TWO out of 102 actually died from the coronavirus? How's that not fraud? Ventura may not even be the most egregious county out there. County Medical Examiners are almost always appointed by State politicians, and in many counties aren't even required to have a medical license. Science will take a back seat to politics every time. Bureaucrats will do what bureaucrats do: protect their budget, and please their masters. And you may recall that 2020 is an election year.

So based on Jesus' description of leadership style, one can reasonably conclude that the less demanding and controlling an elected executive behaves toward her constituents, the more she is living out kingdom values. It's hard to imagine anything more "lording it over them" than forcing coronavirus patients back into nursing homes to infect all their friends. Or shutting down restaurants, churches, gyms, and hospitals (the latter to all but a handful of Covid patients), while leaving abortionists and marijuana peddlers alone.

One big reason I am a conservative, is that limited, non-intrusive government is a great blessing. A blessing Americans are increasingly pining for as the weeks turn into months. Thankfully, in America the "negative rights" that Barack Obama complained about (strictly speaking "enumerated powers"), are enshrined in our founding documents to protect citizens from overbearing rulers. It is no coincidence that Democrats are always whining about the constitution. It's the last thing standing between them and total domination.

~~~

* Dr. Harvey Risch, a professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Medicine: "The evidence in favor of hydroxychloroquine benefit in high-risk patients treated early as outpatients is stronger than anything else I have ever studied. So scientifically there is no question whatsoever.”

Monday, July 13, 2020

Review of "The World Is Not Ours To Save"

Back in 2013, when this book first came out, I was working for a company that promoted InterVarsity Press (among other Christian publishers) to churches, and church staffs. I was immediately taken by the title of this IVP book, and lobbied to add Tyler Wigg-Stevenson's contribution to our eBlast calendar. No luck. The topic was deemed too far off the radar of our evangelical audience. And the author was hardly a household name.

Not sure Ron Sider's endorsement helped or hurt my case.

Not only did the company choose to not promote the book, they didn't even order a review copy. I know, I know, a book salesman should avoid picking favorites. Y'gotta be able to persuasively present books you aren't personally interested in. Sigh.

Flash forward seven years. That book marketing company is now out of business—a familiar fate these days in the Christian product category. I've been blessed to get a job back in my longtime field of Christian entertainment, where one of my tasks is to place Christian movies and stand-up comedies on Amazon Prime. And so it was that while on Amazon's site one day, this book popped up on screen... and I ordered it.

I'd forgotten about Ron Sider's endorsement. I'd promoted a 1988 Tenth Anniversary Edition of "Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger" while working for Word Publishing in Canada. I didn't agree with much in Sider's influential book. In fact, a few years later I enjoyed the terrific "Productive Christians in an Age of Guilt-Manipulators: A Biblical Response to Ronald J. Sider," written by David Chilton. So when I saw another book that appeared to challenge the current Social Justice fad among evangelicals, I was delighted. So despite the endorsement, I eagerly dug into "The World Is Not Ours To Save."

First up this author comes across as very likable. He tells of being raised in San Diego in a secular, liberal household by parents who were anti-war activists. But even before becoming a Christian, young Tyler was already living in San Francisco and working on the staff of a former Democrat US Senator. The story of his conversion involves a theophany, in which God speaks the seven words of Wigg-Stevenson's title (the publishers substituted "Ours" for "Yours"). His re-telling of the encounter sets the tone for what must surely be the most biblically- and Christ-centered "activist" book ever published.

I think Wigg-Stevenson's book is more for activists than for civilians. While making the case for temporal/political/global "peace," he isn't primarily trying to recruit garden-variety evangelicals to become activists. His main goal is to help other activists who are Christians keep Christ and His Kingdom front-and-center in their thinking, and allow the gospel to temper their earthbound activism. His bottom line on finding-the-freedom-to-do-good: the root of what ails the world is spiritual, and the best outcome we can expect from our political good deeds is temporary and tactical improvements in a fallen world.

A few of my favorite quotes:
• "Those who have aimed at utopia have often been the most effective at unleashing hell on earth."
• "No historically nuanced critique of Zionism undoes the fact that millions of Jews now make Israel their home, and their safety matters."
• "The most mundane work, if offered as genuine service to God, is greater by far than labor that seems outwardly kingdom-oriented but is self-glorifying."

The book is divided into two parts. Part 1 is labelled "The Limits Of Activism," which is nothing short of a wake-up call to Christ-followers who are activists. 

Part 2 is "A Deeper Calling," and suggests a renewed vision of activism based on Micah 4:1-5. For one who is a convinced Christian activist, you could do a lot worse than this passage as a foundation of your efforts. 

I confess that I do not see Activist among the gifts given the church by the Spirit. Of course "good deeds" are essential—almost a litmus test of genuine faith, per the Epistle of James. And any believer who feels called to work in politics or public service may be greatly used by God, provided they trust in the Lord and do good.

But I have a couple of least-favorite quotes too:
• "We must surely view imbalances in resource consumption as an example of Biblical injustice."
• "Micah preached that benefitting from inequality led to the judgment of God, citing 'dishonest scales' and the 'short ephah.'"

The notion that imbalance and/or inequality are in-and-of-themselves wicked or sinful is, at best, a novel biblical interpretation. But I see the two assertions above as originating in secular activism—generalizing backwards from disparate outcomes to arrive at "systemic" injustice. As Greg Boyd points out in "Satan And The Problem Of Evil," the problem isn't really systemic, but uncomfortably particular. It comes down to a personal choice made by an individual. If you're a butcher, keep your thumb off the scales. If you sell fabric, don't short your customers.

By itself, imbalance isn't evil, given that God bestows many different gifts and talents among us, his created beings. Still, "to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin." If I'm sitting on a surplus, and am surrounded by neighbors in complete lack, Christ would have me be as generous as possible. But Jesus's story about the Good Samaritan talked about a needy person RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. Even a child understands that eating extra food because kids in Somalia are starving makes no sense. But inviting a hungry neighbor kid to join my family for supper is exactly right. Don't paint everybody, say, with white skin, as evil-doers because their family budget is higher than that of a family in Lesotho.

The only other thing that struck me odd in "The World Is Not Ours To Save" was the dog that didn't bark. Nowhere does this book tackle the reality of spiritual opposition to efforts for peace and justice. Any ordained minister "fighting against" oppression and tyranny must surely have encountered demonic resistance. My fear is that activism continues to do battle against flesh and blood, not factoring in principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, or spiritual wickedness in high places. Alas, when I've heard activists talk about "systemic" evil, they are too often referring to conservative political philosophy. For a Christian activist, failure to identify the enemy is a glaring omission.

An activist isn't a missionary. Activists work in the governmental and political arena. Yet Wigg-Stevenson, founding director of the Two Futures Project, "a movement of Christians for the global abolition of nuclear weapons," is an ordained minister. And he proposes a different kind of activism. I, who am not an activist, do not oppose activism, per se... because scripture reminds us there is no law against good deeds. So if folks will donate money to the "cause" you are pursuing, terrific. Just be honest with your donors, responsible with the money, ethical in all your dealings, and humble in your service.

I salute Tyler Wigg-Stevenson for offering a spirited case for Christian activism, and for positing a biblical foundation for improving their serve (as Chuck Swindoll once wrote). It's a good start for him and his fellow activists.