I keep circling back around on this issue. So many people are so angry and it is making my social media feel like a morass of hatred.

It is funny, because as I’ve grown I’ve found myself further and further away from the hard right on so many issues. I don’t know if this is because I’ve changed that much, or if the “right” has changed that much.

Once upon the time the Republican party was a minority party. That is, they fought for minority rights and also had a minority in the political arena. It is well known that the first Republican president was Abraham Lincoln. He fought a war to free slaves. Of course some people will argue the war was fought for various other reasons but there can be no doubt that abolition was a big part of his platform. This is why the South broke away.

Over the years the Republican party stood for important ideals but it seems in recent times, there has been a big shift away from those ideals.

But wait! The Republican party is in support of…

I’m sure people are quick to point out all the good things the party supports. They want to keep religious freedoms, protect innocent babies, and cut taxes among other great things.

At least that is what they say they want to do. I find it very interesting that the Republicans have a majority in both houses plus the White House, and yet they struggle to get anything accomplished. To hide from this lack of progress the President is creating a three ring circus.

This whole thing pains me because I believe many of the things the Republican party claims to stand for is important.

However, I am completely missing how making a huge deal about how some people choose to protest things we should all support helps us to reach the goals the party claims to cherish.

Instead, it shows the true nature of the party.

Nationalism

Nationalism is different than patriotism. Patriotism says, “we have an amazing country and there are amazing people. Now let’s work together to maintain what is great, improve what can be improved, and cut away what should be cut away.” Nationalism takes the approach that the country is amazing and any one questioning that is a traitor.

Let’s consider an example from literature that I think really captures what is happening and makes it clear why it is evil.

The most universally hated person in the world of Harry Potter is Delores Umbridge. I hate to even use her given name. She is so vile that I typically call her “Foolores Dumbridge” or “we hates her.”

This woman is EVIL. Like, given the choice between Voldemort and Dumbridge, I’ll take the noseless one every day.

Dumbridge believes that the Ministry of Magic is above question. When the Minister of Magic says that Harry Potter is lying about the return of Voldemort, then she believes it is her responsibility to punish Harry and force the truth out of him. She tortures him for a year before being attacked by centaurs in the Forbidden Forest. Sadly, she returns 2 books later as the grand inquisitor. Once again the Ministry has decided that any witch or wizard born from non-magical parents must have stolen their wand and with it the powers they possess.

This flies in the face of everything that is known to be true in that world. If a muggle picks up a wand, it will not give them power. The wand channels the power.

However, Foolores goes all in on this. She doesn’t just use this lie to gain power, she simply cannot accept the possibility that the Ministry could be wrong, even if it is being run by the evil wizard that she legitimately believed had not returned to power just 2 years previously.

This is what nationalism does. It blinds to the possibility that the government and representatives of the government could possibly be wrong.

Nationalism is a big part of what gave rise to the Nazi party. It’s also what buttresses many other evil empires. I won’t go into the history of them all, but I will consider one interesting story from the Bible.

To kneel or stand

Right now there are some football players who feel they cannot stand during the anthem. It is their belief that the position they hold can help bring attention to important issues and so they choose to kneel. They risk their careers, fan base, and even lives considering what some people have said about them.

In the book of Daniel, 3 young men had to take the opposite stand (see what I did there). Their conscience guided them to stand, when everyone was commanded to bow. I’m sure that some readers will be quick to shoot down the comparison. The young men were following the Bible and thus following God. They were doing the right thing.

I agree, the comparison is not 1:1, but consider the context. There was a nationalistic fervor to worship the emperor. Everyone was commanded to bow to the statue with the music. Everyone else did exactly that. I am certain there were other Jews who chose to bow. I am certain there were representatives from other cultures who worshiped other gods who chose to bow. They rationalized the choice and considered it an empty gesture to appease the culture they were in.

These 3 young men did not bow. They stood and they stood out. It was clear who they were and what the cost would be.

In the end it worked out. The young men are spared because of the power of God and so we lift them up as heroes of faith.

Yet we vilify others who are following their conscience.

Why is it wrong?

Patriotism is powerful. In the middle of all of this there is a story about a player who chose to stand when his entire team did not. See, we are quick to celebrate this man because he did what was right. At least in our mind he did what was right.

It seems Villanueva was motivated by patriotism. He served and understood what his privilege cost so believes the most respectful thing he can do is to stand.

The difference between this and the people who chose to take a knee is surprisingly slight. They also believe they are doing the right thing by the country.

Remember, patriotism doesn’t mean we believe the country is perfect. When Lincoln took office, there were great aspects of the nation but there were also aspects that we’d rather pretend didn’t exist. They are uncomfortable to think about. Men and women died to change those things, not because the country was perfect, but because it was worth making better.

When a player choses to kneel he is taking the position that this county can be made better.

To say, “if you hate this country that has done so much for you then you should leave,” because someone believes the country can be made better, then you are spitting in the face of law enforcement, soldiers, and everyone else who has believed this country can be better.

Let’s be perfectly clear here, the men who have been paid millions to play a sport have been incredibly fortunate. They could literally take that money and go to a small, third world country and live like kings. The easy thing to do is just pretend everything is fine, cash out, and enjoy the party.

The hard thing to do is to stand out. To say, “there are things that can be improved,” and to find a way to bring that to the national eye.

Several years back another player was called a hero because he took a knee. Tim Tebow would take a knee as part of his victory celebration to honor God above himself. Many were offended at this, but he did it anyway. He took advantage of his position to bring his beliefs to the national eye and many of the people who celebrated him are full of hate for those who would do the same in a different context.

The reason we view one as good and the other as wrong is because one lines up with what makes us feel good and the other with what makes us feel shame.

Shame

I believe that most of the people who are so full of hatred about this issue are not angry because they believe black people are inferior and should be abused and killed. I believe, given the chance, they would rather see all men and women treated well regardless of color.

The problem is, the issue is shameful. It is shameful like slavery and many other dark marks in our history.

There is an interesting story in the book of Genesis. After the flood receded, Noah planted a vineyard. Then he made wine and had himself a party. I can imagine that after all of the events, some serious drinking would be in order. Noah became drunk and did some serious frat boy level crazy stuff that resulted in his son seeing his nakedness.

In shame, Noah becomes angry. He curses his son and sends him away.

Shame causes us to hide and when those shameful things are brought to light, it makes us angry.

This issue brings shameful things into the light and ultimately it means we have two choices. We can become angry or we can work to fix it.

Cleaning House

There is a classic allegory of the Christian life called Pilgrim’s Progress. During the course of the journey the protagonist sees a man attempt to clean a dusty room. The dry dust flies about and makes things worse. Then a Damsel bring water to sprinkle on the dust and the room is easily cleaned.

This is an illustration of the act of cleaning the spiritual heart. We can work to clean it up but only make things worse. In a sense, that is what this situation has done. Everything is stirred up and people are choking on the shame and becoming angry. We see the person who stirred up the dust as the problem, but they did not create the dust or the shame of it. They have just tried to clean it however they could. It is a big mess now.

In the allegory, Damsel spreads water to make the clean up easier.

This is the Holy Spirit bringing the Gospel into our lives so that we can be set free from the sin. Much like this, our nation needs the Holy Spirit to bring us the gift of Love. By this we can work to resolve the things that bring shame and restore the rightness, and even righteousness, of our nation.

Instead of nationalistic pride, we must have patriotic love for our fellow man and country.

There is great pain, shame, and even anger; however, we can become great again. Not through hate but love.

Let’s stop vilifying those who are showing us our shame, and instead seek the Spirit and power of God to correct those shameful thing for the good of all.

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
1 John 4:20 ESV

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As a minister of the Gospel I feel compelled to write a love letter to you, the Bride of Christ. I am also a part of the Church so I take these words to heart.

Know that you are loved. Christ paid so much to have you set free. I can’t even begin to comprehend the price that was paid for you and now you are free. You don’t have to be a slave to sin and death any longer. Christ waits for you because you are his chosen bride. That is powerful and amazing. I wanted you to hear this just in case you have forgotten who you are to Him and what He has done for you. You are loved with a greater love than any of us can understand.

However, we’ve been far from a perfect bride. While we wait for Him we’ve become a bit of a bridezilla. We fight with each other, we point out all our flaws, and we complain about all the things. I’m a bit worried because we have winked at our own sin and pushed people away by yelling about their sin.

Christ wanted so much more for us when he paid that great price. He had hoped that we would become more like Him. In fact, He said to the Father, “make them one even as You and I are one.” We shouldn’t spend so much time bickering. We aren’t really living in unity when we do that.

He also declared that he came into this world not to condemn, but to save. Once he called one of us who was waiting to be stoned because she was adulterous. He saved her and told her “neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.” The truth is, we all fall into that category. I know I was in a place where I deserved death when He saved me too. He lifted me up and made me a part of the Church, His beloved Bride. How amazing it is that we were delivered from sin and death.

Some of us have become quite zealous because of that deliverance. We have railed against sin because of all the pain it cost us. I hope you understand, Christ already defeated the sin you hate so much. He delivered us from it. It hurts to see others who have not been delivered, but we need to help them come to Christ because He is the one who can set them free. Use your zeal to share the Good News. We are free from sin and death. He did it all and he will do it for anyone who would dare to believe.

On the other hand there are those who wink at their sin. It breaks Christ’s heart because He set you free from that slavery. Why do you keep going back to it? Don’t you understand that he wants a pure, spotless bride? Yes, we were a mess when He saved us. We were dirty and impure, but then He cleaned us up. We were pure and spotless after He set us free. When we go back to the sin we were delivered from, we become stained once again. It doesn’t matter if you are “more clean” than someone else, it’s not good enough for the one who set us free.

I know He will clean us up again, but don’t you love Him? Yes, I get it, when He cleans us we feel so good, but we don’t have to go back and get dirty to have that feeling again. We feel good because He is there with us and when we come together in unity, He is there.

Unity is the thing I want to write about most. It’s so hard to write this love letter to you and tell you that you aren’t perfect. I want to only say good things to you because you are his beloved bride. I would be pretty angry if someone wrote a demeaning letter to my wife. On the other hand, if she were taking voice lessons again and her instructor gave her advice on how to sing I would welcome it, as long as the advice were kind and loving. My wife has a beautiful voice but an expert voice teach could probably help her sing even better.

That is what Jesus was saying to the churches in his love letters from the Revelation. He said, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.” He spoke in love for His Bride.

I’m speaking in love for her too. I hate when I see “open letters to the church” that do nothing but put down and beat up the church. I know we aren’t perfect.

We are loved

This is a love letter, not a dear john, not an ultimatum. It is expressing love for the church. As broken and messed up as we’ve become, actually considering the stories in the New Testament always have been, we are still loved.

Because of that love let’s strive to do better.

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Today a new Pope was elected and interestingly I saw some rather painful posts on Facebook. Yes, there are many making fun for various reason but those are not the ones that were painful to me. It is the “Evangelical Christians” I see making comments about how Catholics are idolators and deify the Pope and just how sad all of that is.

I’d like to take a moment to thank my RCC friends for taking time to remedy my own ignorance on these issues. See, there was a time that I would have probably joined in, but I’ve learned some interesting things by taking time to ask people who I respect.

I do not have hundreds of Catholic friends. Maybe half a dozen would consider me a friend. They have been very good at answering my questions though. See, I believe that the cure for ignorance is a question. When I was born I knew nothing, then I began to learn by observation until I was able to ask my first question. I do not know what that question was but through school I tended to impress my teachers, not by the answers I had but by my questions.

Eventually I developed this saying, “The only stupid question is the question not asked.”

It seems that some people would rather say things in ignorance on the hope that they are right based on their perceptions. That is fine, but maybe I can help you a bit by asking some of the questions you may be wondering.

To my Catholic friends, please chime in with a comment if I get any of this wrong. I have to defer to your authority on your own beliefs.

Do Catholics worship the Pope and the Saints?

That is a really good question. I was actually taught that they do, but one day I was having lunch with a good Catholic brother and flat out asked him about this. It turns out they do no.

The term most Catholics will use (providing that it is translated into English because most Catholics are not English speaking) is “Venerate.” Now you might think this is splitting hairs, but it is a very important distinction, and to be honest it is one we tend to automatically apply when it comes to our own practices.

It turns out that we elevate certain Christians in a somewhat similar way. For some people it is their local pastor, or that elderly saint who can pray down fire (almost literally). Huge crowds of Christians will venerate someone like Tim Tebow or Billy Graham. They can literally fill a stadium.

We instinctively recognize that our relationship with those people is not worship. We do not believe them to be divine, though we are often shocked when we see they are human. A good example would be Jimmy Swaggart. When he fell from grace it was huge.

So that is the difference between worshiping the pope and venerating the pope.

Ok, but don’t they pray to the pope and saints? We don’t pray to Tim Tebow

See, you guys have some great questions. To be honest I had to ask this as a follow up to my first question too. I mean think about it, if you pray to someone you are clearly one breath away from worshiping them aren’t you?

My friend took time to explain the concept to me though. See, when I pray to God I am asking Him to move in a situation. If I have a sick kid I ask Him to heal the kid or at least let us all get some rest, right?

When a Catholic person prays to Mary or some other saint, it isn’t really to get that person to meet the need. Weird right?

Well, maybe not. See if I have a sick kid I might call my pastor (actually I’d end up talking to his wife) and ask them to agree with me in prayer. In short I’m asking them to take my need before God. That is what a Catholic is doing, they are asking the saint to ask God to move in a specific situation.

Now, I’m not arguing that this is something that is exactly required or even helpful. For me the jury is still out, but I have to admit, it is not exactly the same as what I thought it was.

Other Questions

I’d like to post some more on this issue. What other questions might you have? I’ve asked quite a few things but I’m over 700 words already so I’ll get to them later. Let me know in the comments and I’ll either answer from what I learned by asking or I’ll pester my Catholic friends about the question if I haven’t already asked.

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I opened with Tamar, who wasn’t a Jew, who lost 2 husbands and lost hope in the promised marriage. She took matters into her own hands and posed as a prostitute to get what was owed to her. We learned that sometimes people in teh church will give us lip service, claiming that we belong, but treating us like we don’t. We also learned that God never gives us lip service, and will bring us honor even if everyone else puts us into a place of dishonor.

The following week we learned there are a lot of prostitutes in the Christ family tree (ok, maybe not a lot but the first one pretend to be one and the second one was one, so it sure seems like a lot). Rahab probably didn’t grow up with great plans on how she was going to sell her body, but for what ever reason that is the path she ended up walking down. Then one day she got some customers that didn’t fit the mold. She was certainly full of fear, but she also had hope, probably for the first time in years. Over the course of several days she probably had some seriously mixed emotions. She betrayed her people in the hope that the spies would keep their word. Would they save her? Would she go from bad to worse or would things get better? She was an outsider, not part of the invading army she was trusting. Would they leave her and her family to starve? In the end she marries a war hero and lives happily ever after. God saw her in her brokenness and shame and saw fit to lift her up.

Last week we talked about Ruth, who’s life took a terrible turn through no fault of her own. Her sister in law went back to her old life and her mother in law found nothing but misery in the pain of her loss, going to far as to name herself “bitter.” God redeemed Ruth for her faithfulness in tending to her mother-in-law.

This week we will talk about Bathsheba. She also experienced loss, and more likely than not a good deal of shame and judgement. Even now she is judged. Was she trying to show off her body for the king and trap him with her womanly ways or was she forced into a no win situation by the most powerful man in the land, one clearly favored by God? How often do bad things happen because good people over step their bounds and how often do the victims get painted in the light of accusation? Fortunately we have a God who sees all and desires grace for the victims.

What a wild and crazy family tree, but we know that Christ didn’t come for the perfect, he came for the broken.

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“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were: any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee. Neither can we call this a begging of misery, or a borrowing of misery, as though we were not miserable enough of ourselves, but must fetch in more from the next house, in taking upon us the misery of our neighbours. Truly it were an excusable covetousness if we did, for affliction is a treasure, and scarce any man hath enough of it. No man hath affliction enough that is not matured and ripened by and made fit for God by that affliction. If a man carry treasure in bullion, or in a wedge of gold, and have none coined into current money, his treasure will not defray him as he travels. Tribulation is treasure in the nature of it, but it is not current money in the use of it, except we get nearer and nearer our home, heaven, by it. Another man may be sick too, and sick to death, and this affliction may lie in his bowels, as gold in a mine, and be of no use to him; but this bell, that tells me of his affliction, digs out and applies that gold to me: if by this consideration of another’s danger I take mine own into contemplation, and so secure myself, by making my recourse to my God, who is our only security.”

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New series I’m starting with my students tonight. Do you ever ask/yell, “WHY!!!???” to God? What kinds of answers have you received? What was the question about? How do you think that question affects your relationship with God?

Share your thoughts

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I just bought Give Us Rest or (A Requiem Mass in C [The Happiest of All Keys]) [+digital booklet] at Amazon. They are almost always cheaper than iTunes and I can use the music on whatever device I want easily. I’m only a couple songs in, but I’m enjoying it. The first song opens almost exactly like “It is Well” by Kutless. So much so I thought I played the wrong album. In any case, less than $12 for 34 songs from a band I love … no brainer

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“I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ. ”

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“Rain began falling drop by drop. He said, “Not for such rain have I prayed, but for rain that will fill the cisterns, pits, and caverns.”

It began to rain with violence. He said, “Not for such rain have I prayed, but for rain of goodwill, blessing, and graciousness.”

Then it rained in moderation.”

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That night my heart was heavy. I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking about this family, and then all the other families in need. I know we made a difference for this family. But my heart was crushed at all of the families out there who need more from those who can help. I kept getting up to pray, then trying to sleep, then getting up again. I finally gave up on sleep at 4am and saw you had already given quite a bit. I was happy to see it but I still kept thinking of everyone else that needs help.

But before I go there, I want to share about what we’ve been able to do and what I’ve been hearing others doing.

To date there were over $300 in donations. My wife is going right now, literally as I type this, to take the money to help pay their rent. I talked with them last night and basically they would be on the street today if we didn’t have this money to give. That is why my heart was so heavy, because I wanted to give them a good Christmas, but what is a nice Christmas morning when you get kicked out on the street a few days later.

The day after I wrote the last post, my wife went Christmas shopping for this family. She bought them food, clothes, and some other presents. The young lady didn’t have a winter coat, so we made that happen too. God has really blessed us in this past year and for once we have disposable income. I was thinking about computer upgrades, other nice toys, generally enjoying the money. Turns out I got the opportunity to really enjoy the money.

The family was just beside themselves with gratitude for the presents. We also got a small tree and a few decorations. They called me a few times just to say thanks again. I am telling you all this because I want you to know they are thankful for your help as well. If it weren’t for you we wouldn’t have been able to give them as much, we would have been forced to chose between giving them food, paying for their rent, and giving them that Merry Christmas. Thank you.

This year we exchanged gifts with friends, and for the first time we were buying and receiving some pretty nice gifts. Normally we had to set really low limits, not because our friends couldn’t afford it, but because we couldn’t spend as much on them as they could on us. I talked to someone I work with online and this year their family did a donation gift exchange instead of their traditional one at the extended family party. They raised $500 for a charity when normally they would have played dirty Santa with stupid little gifts.

Based on that it occurred to me that next year my friends and I could do the same thing, instead of giving gifts to each other we can bless families in our community.

How cool would it be if we all did that next year? At the office party, skip the office gift exchange and raise money for a local charity that is helping keep families warm and full. In your church, sponsor families. With your friends, take the spending limits off and see just how much you can do for the people in your community.

What would happen if we took that same attitude and spread it through the year? What if the 99% said “I don’t need what the 1% has to help my fellow man.”

I guess I’ve been kind of all over the place here. Let me close by once again thanking you from the depth of my heart on your gifts to this family. Because of your giving we didn’t have to choose between keeping a roof over their head, food in their stomachs, and a Merry Christmas morning. You helped us do it all for them, more than anything we could do on our own.

Please continue to pray for them and those in need through our world. Specifically, pray that they are able to get a job and get into the apartments they have been trying to get into, there the rent will be better and they’ll even have more space, a kitchen, and a better opportunity for a better life.

What have/are you doing to help others? Does your family have any traditions this time of year or through out the year? Share in the comments so we can all be inspired to more.

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