Pastor's Blog

I found this interesting article today. I don't highlight this article for political reasons. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of either politician at this point. What I find interesting is the ease with which human beings are able to claim they believe something without actually acting to do anything about it. It's not just politicians, it's all of us. We're all prone to hypocrisy. It's very easy for us to point out that trait in others, but how easily do we recognize it in ourselves? Jesus' instructions ring loud and clear: we need to worry more about the plank than the sawdust.

The folks over at Christianity Today Movies have been taking some heat lately for publishing less-than-glowing reviews of recent films made by Christians while positively reviewing "questionable" R-rated movies. CT has published a commentary on the topic. It's actually an edited version of a blog entry by Jeffery Overstreet, one of the CT Movies reviewers. I highly recommend reading it, and then re-reading it.

This issue and these responses got me thinking about a related issue. There seems to be a feeling among some Christians that we should all be "nice" to each other, that we should never criticize each other, especially if we're doing the "right thing". In other words, if the message is the right message, you shouldn't criticize how the message is being communicated. I think this attitude is wrong-headed.

The underlying assumption here is that being nice = being loving. It's not true. In fact, sometimes being nice is most assuredly NOT the loving thing to do. We are called to spur one another on in the most literal sense of the word. The NIV and NET translations chose the word "spur" because the original Greek word literally means "a sharpening". Sometimes, being "spurred" is painful, just ask any horse.

We must speak the truth in love, but we still must speak the truth. Our primary goal as Christians should not be to avoid conflict but to provoke continual growth and maturity, not just in areas of life traditionally considered "spiritual" but in all areas of life. We need to encourage and cheer for each other when we use our gifts, but to deny each other the "spur" of constructive criticism is to act un-lovingly.

I appreciate Jeffery Overstreet, Peter Chattaway, and their collegues over at CT Movies. I value their reviews and the way they address both the message and the artistic qualities of movies in an honest way. Keep up the good work, folks. Spur Christian artists on to excellence. It's the loving thing to do.

Here's an interesting video about a church just across the river to the South that's creatively loving their community with the love of Christ. Pastor Kevin asks a good question at the end of the video. What do you think the answer is?

More info about this church can be found here.

HT: Missional Jerry

As Scot McKnight said, David Fitch gets it. I think so too. 

This campaign bugs me a bit. It reminds me of all the mud-slinging political ads we get around election time. Now, I couldn't care less what kind of computer you use, any more than I care what kind of hammer you use to hit your thumb. The ads would bug me just as much if they were Microsoft ads poking fun at Mac users. It's a matter of trying to win an argument by degrading your opponent through personal attacks. Yes I know, it's just humor. Just like all the jokes played on me when I was the nerd in high school.

The ad campaign got me thinking, however, about the church and our "marketing". How do we "sell" people on the gospel? Do we try to degrade all other options to make Christianity look more attractive? Do we paint caricatures of other belief systems so they're easier to knock down? I hope not. The transforming power of the gospel of Jesus is all that is needed. For too long, Christians have tried to "help" the gospel by degrading everyone from homosexuals to liberals to Hollywood. It's called a "culture war". The problem is, as I said in a sermon recently, we're fighting the wrong battles and the wrong weapons.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)

P.S. My Windows-based PC has a built-in camera, just like a Mac, and it works great!

I greatly enjoyed Michael Spencer's recent essay entitled Grace and The Gospel in Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” over at InternetMonk.com. I love Shakespeare's plays as well, although I originally came to them through the study of theater rather than literature. It's been many, many years since I've seen a staging of "The Tempest". I was too young to grasp what is possibly Shakespeare's most complex work. Reading Michael's analysis makes me hungry to see it again. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a decent version on DVD, so I guess I'll have to wait until the Hilberry or Stratford Festival stages it.

(Yes, yes, I know. I can just read the play...and I will. But plays are meant to be staged, not just read.)

Michael's essay got me thinking about faith and the arts again. Shakespeare spoke to the human condition. His tragedies, in particular, were cautionary tales addressing the besetting sins of mankind. Macbeth warns against greed and lust for power, Romeo and Juliet: revenge, Hamlet: falsehood and deception, Othello: envy. Even his comedies often addressed similar themes from a different perspective. We need more art like that today. Art that inspires and challenges assumptions, rather than simply feeding the monster or numbing the brain.

I was all set to get up this morning and write a blog entry about Groundhog Day, one of my all-time favorite movie comedies. Imagine my surprise when, lo and behold, Keith beat me to it. I don't know whether to thank him for saving me the effort, be angry that he cheated and posted it on February 1, or wonder about his strange mental abilities. (Get out of my head!!!) Anyway, enjoy his post. I'll try to beat him to the punch next time.

When I was in my 20s, there was a weekly Sunday night pilgrimage to a place called Carlos Murphy's after church. (There's a flashback for long time Detroit suburbanites. It's now the Southfield Fishbones.) Each week there would be 8-15 semi-rowdy 20-somethings sharing a too-small table and laughing loudly. All the wait staff there knew us and knew where we came from. They were always friendly and accommodating even though I'm sure we were not the easiest group to accommodate. Yet every week when the hat was passed to cover the bill, we were always woefully short in the tip department. This always got under my skin and I worried about the impression we Christians were leaving with the wait staff. I usually ended up kicking in extra to make up the difference.

I'm reminded of this by Trevin Wax's "5 Tips for Good Tipping" over at Kingdom People. IMHO Christians be notable for their generosity (Proverbs 11:25) and that includes tipping. Not just to be a witness for Christ, but as a spiritual discipline. Unless you're dining at The Capital Grille, you're only saving a buck or two by tipping light. Personally, I start off at about 18%. I only go down to 15% if the service is really bad, and I can't remember the last time I tipped less than 15%.