Corporations are People

I was out and about running errands today when I came across a bumper sticker in the BJs parking lot.  It said “Corporations Are Not People.”  Next to it was a “Hillary for America” sticker, so I think I got a pretty good understanding of where she was coming from, but I must say a bumper sticker like that is part of what’s wrong with our political process.  It makes your opponent faceless so you can vilify them easier.  The reality is corporations ARE people.  I’m guessing she didn’t get the irony that she was in the parking lot of what is a major corporation.  The guy behind the deli counter, the woman at the register, the kid organizing the shopping carts, and the guy punching her receipt (What’s the deal with that policy anyway?) are all a part of a corporation.  I’m sure if I had the opportunity to ask, this woman would have told me that corporations are just greedy entities made up of fat cats and the one percent, but it’s just not accurate.  Those corporations also have administrative assistants, janitors, I.T. guys, cafeteria workers, middle managers, receptionists, etc.  Also it should be noted that most corporations are not the colossal fortune 500 types, they are actually small businesses; the “main streets” as opposed to the “wall streets.”  In summary, it was just a dumb bumper sticker that upon closer examination makes little to no sense.

I push my blog as a Christian one, so what’s the Christian perspective on all of this?  Here’s what I am thinking; if corporations actually are people, then Jesus loves them and cares for them.  He even cares for those rich one percenters that help make some of those corporations run, because Jesus came to this earth not to condemn it but to save it.  And He didn’t just die for the lowly, the down and out, or whoever else the woman with that bumper sticker may have in mind.  He died for people who work for corporations; many of whom are in my congregation.  They work hard, come to church, and are faithful givers.  We in turn take that money they’ve given and use a good chunk of it to support those in need in our community and around the world so that even more people can hear about how Jesus died for them too.  Corporations are not faceless.  They are not evil.  They are people.  We should all be thankful for them and the good they do.  

A Prayer for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton

This Sunday I’m preaching through 1^st Timothy 2:1-8.  As is often the case, as I was preparing my message God started convicting me.  This time around it was in verse two with a clear call to pray for our countries leaders.  I wasn’t convicted so much about our current leaders as I was the ones who are aspiring to the nation’s highest office.  It occurred to me that I had not said a single prayer for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.  I’ve spent my fair share of time bashing both of them among friends and on social media, but not a single prayer on their behalf.  So please allow me to remedy that now.

Dear Heavenly Father, first off I would like to say I’m sorry and ask for your forgiveness.  I have been more concerned about expressing my opinions about these two individuals than I have been about praying for them.  God I acknowledge that you created Donald and Hillary in your image.  I acknowledge that for all the faults people may find in them, I believe they are both in the presidential race because they desire to make our world a better place.  God I acknowledge that I am a sinner just like them and we all have fallen short of your glory.  Lord, barring your divine intervention it’s very likely that one of them will end up being our president and so I want to lift both of them up to You.  I pray that You would draw them close to You.  I pray that You would help them to know and understand Your heart.  I pray that they would follow the example You have given us in Your son Jesus Christ, and that they would be true servant-leaders; governing from a place of humility and not pride.  Lord, would You also help them to understand more and more what it means to be holy and set apart.  I pray that you would convict them when it comes to integrity and honesty; may they govern with clean hands and a pure heart.  Lord, I thank You that You are a God of redemption.  You have redeemed your followers, You can redeem any of the mistakes either of these two have made, and You can redeem the ugly spectacle this election has become.  Lord, whichever of these two come into office I pray that You would help them help us as a country to put away our anger and dissension, and to follow You and love You as we seek to love and serve others.  In Jesus name amen.

I’m not sure if this prayer did anything for you, but I know one thing for sure; I feel a lot better for having written it.  And let us never forget, regardless of who wins this election, God is still sovereign and on His throne.    

Grace + Truth = A Christ-like Life

This Sunday I’m preaching on the first half on John chapter 1, focusing in on verse 14.  The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.  I am so captivated by this idea of Jesus being full of grace and truth.  It’s practically all I’ve been thinking about for the past week, and that’s not just because I’m preparing a sermon on it.  I keep asking myself “what does it mean for me to be full of grace and truth?”  I figure if I’m a Christian that means I am a follower of Jesus and I desire to learn from and emulate his exemplary life.  Therefore I think I need to be doing all I can to live a life full of grace and truth.

I think depending on our personalities we all tend to lean one direction or the other.  I’m a bit more of a truth guy myself.  Whatever the issue is I tend to hone in on what I think the truth of the matter is, often times without a lot of understanding or compassion.  I’ll never forget when I was getting my Masters many years back; I was in a class that was discussing crime in our society and I made the mistake of using the term “dirt bags” when referring to a lot of those people who contribute to our societal ills.  I got in a little trouble with the professor that day.  Thankfully I think I’ve grown a little since then.   A more graceful person would have wanted to understand more what has contributed to said “dirt bags” actions and how can we better help them.  Although a grace leaning person can sometimes go too far as well; often looking to excuse behaviors that are plain and simply wrong. 

Here’s something that’s probably a safe generalization.  When looking at the faults of others we tend to lean more towards truth, and when looking at the faults of ourselves we tend to lean more towards grace.  Back to Jesus; He was full of both.  He called people out for their sin and didn’t back down from that.  At the same time He was full of grace, offering forgiveness and a new way of life.  Perhaps we see His fullness of both truth and grace at its best in the account of the woman caught in adultery.  Jesus identified her sin as sin and told her to go and sin no more, but he also said he did not condemn her.

So how do we let the fullness of grace and truth play out in our own lives?  For those of us who profess the Christian faith I have at least one suggestion.  I think the Church would be far better off if we could learn to focus more on the core truths of our faith and show grace in all the rest.  By core truths I mean belief in the one true Triune God, that we are sinners and belief in Jesus Christ as the sole way to salvation, and belief in the bible as God’s word to mankind.  And that’s about it.  Everything else is secondary.  We can have great discussions about such things as inerrancy, end times, creation, Calvinism, fundamentalism, worship styles, miraculous gifts, faith in politics, sexuality, baptism, how we should share our faith, and more.  I also believe we should have well-formed opinions on such things based in our study of the scriptures.  But to be full of grace in these areas means that we accept that there are those who have studied the scriptures just as much if not more and have come to different conclusions than we have.  And when that happens we resist those judgments that come to mind, dismissing the other as a wacky fundamentalist or a liberal social gospel nut (to name just a couple).  We also seek to keep things civil and respectful in our conversations and especially in our social media dialogue. I say that preaching to myself.  It’s so easy sometimes to take a “tone” in the written language we use on Facebook.  Let’s remember the rest of the world is watching us.  We all need to ask ourselves “how am I coming across to others?”  The Church is a big tent with room for all types and we need to lead the way as Christians; holding consistently to our core truths and being full of grace in all the rest.            

Colin Kaepernick's Right to Ignorance

Let me say right up front, my apologies if the title to this blog sounds a little harsh.  For whatever its worth, I’ve toned it down a bit.  My original title idea was Colin Kaepernick’s right to be a stupid idiot.  I’ll start by saying everyone gets that he has the right to sit down during the national anthem.  I don’t know of a single person who doesn’t fully believe in the first amendment.  So there is no argument here, or anywhere that I’m aware of, saying Kaepernick doesn’t have the right to sit.  My argument is that he reveals his ignorance in doing so.  I’m quite sure his heart is in the right place and he thinks he is doing a good thing drawing attention to a social problem in our country.  He rightly believes that black lives matter and he also believes there are some police officers who don’t feel that way who have oppressed and even killed black people.  Now Colin and I might have a quibble or two over how much good the black lives matter movement is doing but that’s not the point.  Even if I agreed with him 100% about the state of black lives and policing in our country I still think he is wrong to sit during the national anthem.  If I could talk to him face to face this is what I would say.

You know what Colin?  Our country is not perfect. There are all kinds of issues where we could do better.  For you; you’re upset over a tiny minority of police officers who have killed black people while in the line of duty.  You don’t seem to be upset over white people who have been killed by police, but I guess that’s another argument for another day.  But either way, sometimes cops screw up.  You have that right to be upset and speak out about that.  Just like everyone else has a right to be upset and speak out about what upsets them.  People who are pro-life and believe life starts at conception have the right to be upset and speak out about those millions of innocent lives lost in our country.  People who want to see an end to the abuse of animals have a right to be upset and speak out against abuse and killing of animals.  People who believe we might be sending our children and grandchildren to an early grave because of global warming have a right to be upset and speak out about that. People have a right to be upset and speak out about human trafficking, and drug pushers, and pedophiles, and…… well you get the idea Colin.  There’s no shortage of issues in our country.  So if this is your issue Colin, then more power to you.  You just chose the wrong way to speak out and in doing so you showed your ignorance.  Because when you sit down during the national anthem, the issue is no longer about black lives mattering, the issue is now about disrespecting your country.  It’s about disrespecting the lives lost of those who would fight for your freedom in so many wars over the years. It’s about disrespecting a land that even with all its faults is still the best at giving all of its people opportunity.  You, a millionaire athlete of all things should get that.  Don’t you think it’s a little odd that you are the only one doing this?  With all those issues people have to get upset about that I mentioned earlier, you are still the only one who chooses to sit for the National Anthem.  Do you think your issue is somehow more important?  You are not the only athlete who has ever cared about a cause.  And yet still, all the rest stand.  It’s because they get it, and they are thankful to live in the United States of America.  And they can promote their cause in interviews, and press room conferences, and blog posts, and social media, to name just a few.  And so can you Colin. You can make your point without disrespecting our country.  But it’s up to you.  It’s your right to sit or to stand.  Just know that the more you choose to sit, the more respect you will lose, and less good you will do for your cause.     

Everything You Should Learn from a Graduation Speech You can Find in Proverbs

As I write this blog entry my son will be graduating from high school tomorrow.  How did that happen already?!?  Being a Youth Pastor for many years I’ve been to more than my fair share of graduations.  I’ve heard some great speeches and I’ve heard some big time duds.  But I got to thinking if a graduation speaker really wanted to leave students with some good advice all they would have to do is take out a bible and start reading from the book of Proverbs.  Consider the following examples.

·        Don’t be stuck up and think you’re better than everyone else.  30:13

·        Leadership gains authority and respect when the voiceless poor are treated fairly.  29:14

·        If you think you know it all, you’re a fool for sure; real survivors learn wisdom from others.  28:26

·        You can’t whitewash your sins and get by with it; you find mercy by admitting and leaving them.  28:13

·        Walk straight – live well and be saved; a devious life is a doomed life.  28:18

·        Committed and persistent work pays off; get-rich-quick schemes are rip-offs.  28:20

·        Justice makes no sense to the evil-minded; those who seek God know it inside and out.  28:5

·        It’s better to be poor and direct than rich and crooked.  28:6

·        God has no use for the prayers of the people who won’t listen to him.  28:9

·        A nagging spouse is like the drip, drip, drip of a leaky faucet; you can’t turn it off, and you can’t get away from it.  27:15-16

·        Don’t call attention to yourself; let others do that for you.  27:2

·        Listening to gossip is like eating cheap candy; do you want junk like that in your belly?  26:22

·        Smooth talk from an evil heart is like glaze on cracked pottery.  26:23

·        Don’t respond to the stupidity of a fool; you’ll only look foolish yourself.  26:4

·        If you see your enemy hungry, go buy him lunch; if he’s thirsty, bring him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness, and God will look after you.  25:21-22

·        Like billowing clouds that bring no rain is the person who talks big but never produces.  25:14

·        Patient persistence pierces through indifference; gentle speech breaks down rigid defenses.  25:15

·        An honest answer is like a warm hug.  24:26

·        First plant your fields; then build your barn.  24:27

·        Don’t talk about your neighbors behind their backs – no slander or gossip, please. 24:28

·        One day I walked by the field of an old lazybones, and then passed the vineyard of a lout; they were overgrown with weeds, thick with thistles, all the fences broken down. I took a long look and pondered what I saw; the fields preached me a sermon and I listened: A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there, sit back, take it easy – do you know what comes next? Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life, with poverty as your permanent house guest!  24:30-34

·        Fear God, dear child – respect your leaders; don’t be defiant or mutinous. 24:21

·        It’s better to be wise than strong; intelligence outranks muscle any day.  24:5

·        Don’t for a minute envy careless rebels: soak yourself in the Fear of God – That’s where your future lies.  Then you won’t be left with an armload of nothing.

·        Don’t drink too much wine and get drunk; don’t eat too much food and get fat.  Drunks and gluttons will end up on skid row, in a stupor and dressed in rags.  23:20-21

·        Listen with respect to the father who raised you, and when your mother grows old, don’t neglect her.  23:22

·        Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich; restrain yourself!  Riches disappear in the blink of an eye; wealth sprouts wings and flies off into the wild blue yonder.  23:4-5

·        Don’t be afraid to correct your young ones; a spanking won’t kill them. A good spanking, in fact, might save them from something worse than death.  23:13-14

·        Observe people who are good at their work – skilled workers are always in demand and admired; they don’t take a backseat to anyone.  22:29

·        Don’t hang out with angry people; don’t keep company with hotheads.  Bad temper is contagious - don’t get infected.  22:24-25

·        Watch your words and hold your tongue; you’ll save yourself a lot of grief.  21:23

·        Sinners are always wanting what they don’t have; the God-loyal are always giving what they do have.  21:26

·        Do your best, prepare for the worst – then trust God to bring the victory.  21:31

·        A sterling reputation is better than striking it rich; a gracious spirit is better than money in the bank.  22:1

·        Simpletons only learn the hard way, but the wise learn by listening.  21:11

·        God hates cheating in the marketplace; rigged scales are an outrage.  20:23

·        Love and truth from a good leader; sound leadership is founded on loving integrity.  20:28

·        We justify our actions by appearances; God examines our motives.  21:1

·        Arrogance and pride – distinguishing marks in the wicked – are just plain sin.  21:4

·        Don’t lose your grip on love and loyalty.  Tie them around your neck; carve their initials on your heart.  3:3

·        Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure everything out on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. 3:5-6

That should do it for now.  In case you didn’t notice, all I did was open my bible to Proverbs chapter 30 and I started going backwards selecting a couple verses from each chapter as I went.  I started to realize that even in doing this my blog would end up way too long, so I skipped to one of my favorite chapters (chapter 3) and threw in a couple more verses to finish this off.  I chose “The Message” translation for this particular endeavor.  To the graduates out there; I hope you have a good speaker at your graduation, but if you don’t just sneak out your cell phone and read this over again while you wait for him or her to finish up.  You can’t go wrong with life advice from Proverbs.

Bathroom Quarrels

I enjoy following politics and I have my fair share of opinions that I’m more than happy to debate with those who may disagree with me, but as I look at a lot of the headlines lately it seems like a lot of folks are only fighting because they don’t know any other way.  For me the whole transgender bathroom issue is representative of this.  It’s just the latest issue they have at their disposal to remain angry at the opposition.  Contrary to how some are trying to portray it, I just don’t think the transgender bathroom issue is that big of a deal. 

Having said that, I can already hear the counter argument that goes something like this; “What if your own child had to go into a bathroom with a transgender person?”  Okay, let’s play that argument out.  When our children are young we go into the bathroom with them so no real worries there.  As they get a bit older we start letting them go in the bathroom on their own and we will occasionally step inside just to make sure everything is okay. Eventually they become old enough and we are no longer concerned about their wellbeing when they have to use a bathroom.  So let’s say your child has reached that age and they go into a bathroom on their own and they encounter someone who strikes them as a little confusing in appearance.  What would happen?  They’d probably come out and tell you about the person they just saw and perhaps this might lead to a good parent-child educational moment.  Would that be the end of the world?  And let’s also be honest about the likelihood of all of this happening as well.  Think about the percentage of those who are transgender, and then think about the likelihood of your child being at the age where they start going into bathrooms on their own and then going into a particular bathroom at the exact same time a transgender person goes.  What are we talking about here, maybe 1 in 100,000? 

It seems to me to be just another issue people can use to make mountains out of molehills and keep on fighting.  As someone who is a Christian and leans conservative, once upon a time I used to get pretty worked up about the culture wars.  But I must admit I now find I’m tiring of them.  Don’t get me wrong; I do think there are plenty of things worth standing up for; I’m just not all that interested in getting worked up over the lesser things.  I think the powers that be in North Carolina were simply looking to keep a fight going when they passed that law.  I also thing President Obama took the bait on the other side of the issue in trying to allow transgender kids their right to choose the bathroom they want in public schools.  Is all of this really about rights or is it more about trying to stay angry at the other side?  2^nd Timothy 2:23-24 comes to mind.  Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil.  I don’t want to get caught up in foolish ignorant controversies because I know I can have a tendency to be too quarrelsome, so I think I’ll sit this one out.

Sex, Drugs, Rock-n-Roll, and Dead Guys

Since the passing of Prince more and more seems to be coming out about his addiction to a various assortment of drugs.  I highly doubt anyone is surprised by this.  It seems to be the norm for so many in the entertainment industry.  I recently posted a question on Facebook that drew the ire of some of my Facebook friends.  I asked “am I the only one who remembers Prince as a creepy and perverted little guy?”  The Prince defenders came out hard and fast.  Perhaps it was a bit too early to pose such a question.  Understandably when someone passes we try and focus on the good things we remember about them.  In the case of Prince I received a lot of posts about his awesome guitar playing skills, his ability to entertain (although in hindsight we’re discovering that ability was primarily fueled by drugs) and his humanitarian efforts.  These are all legitimate points, which makes his probable death by overdose all the more frustrating.  Why did he have to do drugs in the first place?  Why do so many in the entertainment industry get involved with not only drugs but a life of debauchery in general?  I’m getting a little tired of people talking about the demons that must have plagued their life every time another musician or actor dies from drug use.  Somewhere along the way, long before they ever become addicted to any kind of drug, these people made conscious decisions to do something they knew may not be good for them in the end.  They choose a “party and player” lifestyle all on their own.  That’s where the old “sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll” saying comes from in the music industry.  It seems the money and fame comes and they just can’t help themselves.  Except they can help themselves.  They just choose not to.  They can make a conscious choice to not get involved in risky behavior.  While it may seem like they all do drugs, we know that’s not true either.  There are no doubt plenty who don’t.  Plenty with tough backgrounds, coming from dysfunctional families, who still don’t.  Plenty who are able to say “I’m not going to use the difficulties in my life as an excuse to get involved in such a lifestyle.”

The book of Proverbs is full of passages about the long life we can have by pursuing wisdom and righteousness and the short life we have when pursuing a life of debauchery.  Perhaps Proverbs 10:27 is the one that sums it up the best.  The fear of the Lord adds length to life, but the years of the wicked are cut short.  I have to admit I found the Message translation of this verse sadly funny when considering the recent death of Prince.  The fear of God expands your life; a wicked life is a puny life.  But I really don’t want this blog entry to be about poking fun of Prince.  The truth is none of us are perfect and we all have struggles.  I really do hope that Prince was able to discover what it means to be a follower of Christ.  I hope he was able to discover God’s love and grace for him.  But the evidence thus far isn’t encouraging.  I’m concerned that all that humanitarian stuff we have heard about him doing was done based on a false religion.  One that emphasizes good works to earn your salvation, instead of excepting God’s love and grace through the person and work of His son Jesus Christ and choosing to live one’s life for Him.  It occurs to me there are a lot of folks in the entertainment industry living incredibly sinful lives while at the same time doing a lot of good, getting involved in charities, and the like.  Why do you suppose that is?  Could it be they view their lives on some sort of cosmic scale?  And they’re hoping that the good is going to outweigh the bad when it comes to the sex and drugs part?  Could it be that’s what Prince was doing?  It wouldn’t surprise me. 

If you get nothing else from reading this blog, please know this one thing; the order matters.  We can’t perform good works to somehow earn a right relationship with God.  We have to accept God’s love and grace for us first and give our lives to Him, and then the good works just come naturally as a response to the love God has shown us in the first place.  The only thing the first order gets us is an eternity separated from God.  Accepting God’s love for us and choosing to live for Him first on the other hand gets us eternal life after death and abundant life in the present; a life that has no need for drugs.  Which order are you choosing?