The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

When faced with the prospect of preaching to people who refuse to respond in a nation that refuses to change, Isaiah asks the Lord, “How long?” (Isaiah 6:11). Daniel asks the same question toward the end of the 70-years of exile, “Lord, how long?” (Daniel 8:13). The souls under the altar in John’s end time vision repeat the same question, “How long, Sovereign Lord?” (Revelation 6:10)

Surrounded by the problems of this world, confronted daily by the mystery of evil, a powerless spectator as sin and Satan and death and violence and disease seemingly have their way, we’re left to ask the same question.

“How long?”

I don’t know. Nobody knows.

However, you can be certain of this: the darkness of whatever present circumstance you’re enduring cannot adequately hide the glimmer of hope in the promises of our all-powerful and all-loving God.

Our Father is compassionate and gracious. slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. He will turn our mourning into dancing. He will remove our sackcloth and clothe us with joy. He will shine light into darkness. And he will bring life out of death.

Trust him. Seriously. It’s what he does.

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There are 72 hot summer days left until the Cowboys kick off their 2009 season. And in our countdown of the second-best players in Cowboys history by jersey number, today we honor offensive lineman Tony Liscio.

Liscio came out of Tulsa in 1963 and played eight full seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, mainly as a backup offensive tackle behind Ralph Neely and Forrest Gregg. In fact, 1966 was the only season Liscio started all 14 games. The Cowboys lost the NFL title in the Ice Bowl in Green Bay the following season and came up three-points shy in Super Bowl V in 1970. It was during the off-season between ‘70 and ‘71 that the Cowboys traded Liscio to San Diego for Lance Alworth, the move that  brought “Bambi” to Dallas for his final two years.

But Liscio never played a down for the Chargers. He strained both hamstrings in stretching drills at the San Diego training camp and they shipped him to Miami.  But his back was killing him, he was limping and in constant pain, so he just retired.

Until halfway through the ‘71 season.

In the middle of November, the Cowboys were desperate for help at left tackle. Ralph Neely had broken his leg in a motorcycle accident. Don Talbert had broken his foot. And Forrest Gregg was too old to carry the load. So Tom Landry called Liscio on Monday November 15. He was at the Cowboys practice on Wednesday. His right leg was heavily taped from his ankle to his hip. Both shoulders were aching. His right knee hurt. But he was the starter against the Redskins that Sunday, a 13-0 win over Washington that gave Dallas the division championship.

(By the way, Liscio was wearing #64 during this “comeback” because Talbert had been given #72 after the trade.)

Liscio didn’t allow a single sack during his eight starts in the last half of that season and post-season of 1971. In fact, the Cowboys never lost another game that year, running the table to go on to capture their first NFL championship, routing the Dolphins in Super Bowl VI. Lance Alworth actually scored the first points in that Super Bowl, a quick toss to the left side. Liscio’s side. Cool.

Happy Fourth,

Allan

“If even a tenth — a remnant — survive,
it will be invaded again and burned.
But as a terebinth or oak tree leaves a stump when it is cut down,
so Israel’s stump will be a holy seed.”
~Isaiah 6:13

God calls Isaiah to preach to people who will hear but never understand, to a nation that will see but never perceive. Their hearts will be calloused, their ears will be dull, their eyes will be closed. And this ministry of failure is to continue until all of Israel is wiped clean. Isaiah is called to a faithful proclamation of God’s Word — non-negotiable repentance and commitment to the Lord and his ways — until the enemies haul everything away and there’s nothing left but stumps.

A desolate land of stumps.

Barren. Lonely. Empty. Devastated. Hopeless. Forgotten. Desolate. Ravaged. Destroyed.

How do you feel when the doctor diagnoses cancer and gives you or your loved one just a short time to live? What does it do to you to learn that you’re now unemployed? When your spouse says, “I want a divorce”? When your children leave our Lord and his Church? When physical pain dominates your existence? When loneliness pushes in on you? When your faithfulness to the Lord seems to only result in bad news? How do you feel when your own life — to you and to everyone who sees you — resembles a stump in a vast field of stumps?

Barren. Hopeless. Forgotten.

Please remember the stump is holy. Keep in mind that there’s seed in the stump. Holy seed. Our loving and powerful God is working right now to produce something beautiful from the ugly stump. His plan is to bring salvation from the stump.

The same God who brings order out of chaos in the opening lines of Scripture, who raises a mighty nation from a 90-year-old barren womb, who lifts the ruler of Egypt from the bottom of a well, and delivers his people to the Promised Land through a desert is the God who brought the Savior of the World from the stump of Israel. The holy shoot from the holy stump of Jesse!

Stay strong. Be faithful. You may not see it. But the stump is holy.

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73 days now until the Dallas Cowboys kick off their 2009 season. And we’re counting down the days with what we’re calling the Red Ribbon Review, a look at the also-rans when it comes to the best ever Cowboys. The second-best Cowboys player to ever wear jersey number 73 is big, huge, massive, large, offensive lineman Larry Allen.

Allen played 12 seasons in Dallas during the Jimmy Johnson-induced “big is beautiful” era of offensive linemen. According to his bio, Allen stands 6′3″ and weighs 325. It was more like 345. Or 375. It appeared to fluctuate wildly. But he wasn’t just big. He was super strong. Allen bench-pressed an even 700 pounds during the 2001 training camp in Wichita Falls, an NFL record that still stands. At the time the team was boasting that Allen had only 11% body fat, translating to 300 pounds of pure muscle and bone.

An eleven-time Pro Bowler and six-time All-Pro, Allen started in 170 games for the Cowboys between 1994 and 2005, a dominant force on some pretty bad teams during the Gailey and Campo stints. Allen certainly benefitted from Emmitt Smith’s skills and stats. He also got a lot of mileage out of John Madden’s hyperbolic descriptions of Allen’s size, his blocking, and his value to the team. Still, when the Cowboys cut him going into the 2006 season, he was the last remaining player to have participated in a Cowboys post-season win.

Peace,

Allan

Picture the cemetery scene in John 11: the hysterical wailing and shrieking; unrestrained weeping and the chaos that must have been; the stench that was coming from more than one body in that dug out tomb; the utter hopelessness of the situation.

The hopelessness of the people.

Martha says, “Jesus if you had only been here…but there’s nothing you can do now.” Mary says, “If you had only been here, Jesus…but it’s too late now.” The friends and the mourners say, “What a shame Jesus didn’t get here sooner to keep Lazarus from dying.”

All hope for Lazarus — this great friend, this brother — is gone because he’s dead.

But Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. Christ is the One who personifies victory and life and resurrection as powerful realities. And he’s standing right there! He’s angry at what death has done — and is doing — to his people, to his world, to his creation. His tears are not for Lazarus. He knows he’s coming up. Jesus’ tears, I’m convinced, are connected to deep anger. This scene is the result of sin and death. And Jesus is there — he’s here! — to reverse the damage.

They tell Jesus they believe. But they look at dead Lazarus and they feel hopelessness. It’s over. There’s no hope for Lazarus because he’s dead. They’re not expecting anything.

Satan uses our fear of death as a terrible weapon against us. Hebrews 2:15 says the devil holds the power of death and holds us in slavery by our fear of death. No wonder Jesus is so upset! He sees in this Bethany cemetery the ravages and devastation of sin and death and Satan in the people and the world he created.

Death is the enemy. But it’s no match for the Lord of Life. He tells the sisters the sickness will not end in death. He tells his disciples he’s going to wake Lazarus up. He tells Martha her brother will rise again. Even if you die, he says, if you believe in me you’ll live.

With Christ Jesus, death does not have the last word. Death does not have the final say. Death is not the bottom line. The Lord of Life is the ultimate power with the ultimate authority.

And as resurrected believers, we ought to live like it.

Afraid of death? No! Jesus has overcome death!

Dragged down by sickness or the other things that afflict us in this earthly life? No! Jesus has already defeated those things.

Is your hope stolen away by sin, by bad choices, by the destructive things you’ve experienced? No! Jesus has already obliterated it all.

So, why don’t we live like it? That’s what has Jesus so upset, that Satan causes the bad things that happen to us in this world to distract us from the reality that in Christ, we’ve already defeated all of it.

We are death-defeaters in Jesus. It’s already done. As baptized participants in the resurrection community, death has nothing on us now. And neither does sin.

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The Dallas Cowboys claim they don’t retire jersey numbers. But they do. Yes, there are some members of the hallowed Ring of Honor who have seen their numbers worn by other Cowboys. And that’s OK. But, whether they admit it or not, there are some numbers — an exclusive two or three — that are just sacred. They should be retired. And they are. Whether the Cowboys call it that or not, they are. #12 is one of those numbers. And so is #74.

So there’s no #74 in our Red Ribbon Review today. Only one player has ever donned that number in Cowboys history. And I will not desecrate him or his name by mentioning him in this space.

There are 74 days left until Cowboys season. But you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to get a second-best player.

Peace,

Allan

I’m in the middle of reading The Reason for God by Timothy Keller. It’s an apologetics, of sorts. I’m not certain he would classify it that way. But that’s what it feels like. I’m also in the middle of re-reading C. S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity with our Tuesday morning group. And the two works cross over at almost every other paragraph. The idea I’m writing about today comes from Keller’s chapter entitled The Church Is Responsible for So Much Injustice.

We all know people we would call religious fanatics. We’ve all been impacted by them. These are people who express very clearly and very loudly their calling as Christians. But they live it — manifest it — by lashing out against society. They spend a great deal of time and energy screaming against the other political party, against homosexuality, against evolution, against abortion, against other religions, against the doctrines and practices of other Christians, against the world’s values, against anything and everything — anybody and everybody — who doesn’t conform strictly to their idea of “truth” and Christianity. In your face!

The fanatic is the extreme. A fanatic is one who over-believes or over-practices his Christianity, a major turn-off to those on the outside of our faith looking in. These fanatics do great damage to our efforts to expand the borders of God’s Kingdom. Nobody wants to be around people like that. Who can blame them? To the world, especially to someone who’s experienced these fanatics personally or seen them on TV or read about them in the papers, “the best kind of Christian would be someone who doesn’t go all the way with it, who believes it but is not too devoted to it.”

The problem with viewing Christianity that way is that it assumes the Christian faith is basically a form of moral improvement. If that’s what Christianity is — a way of improving your life and/or living your life in the right way — then the fanatics would certainly be those who are intense moralists (Keller’s term). Pharisees.

Pharisees are people who “assume they are right with God because of their moral behavior and right doctrine. This leads naturally to feelings of superiority toward those who do not share their religiosity, and from there to various forms of abuse, exclusion, and oppression. This is the essence of what we think of as fanaticism.”

But what if Christianity is really all about salvation from God in Christ? What if our faith is really all about grace and love and forgiveness? What if Christianity is really all about being saved not because of what we do but because of what God through Christ has done for us? A belief that you are forgiven and accepted by God only by his sheer love and grace alone (the essence of our faith) is profoundly humbling. So, the people we would call fanatics are not that way because they are too committed to the Gospel but because they’re not committed enough.

“Think of people you consider fanatical. They’re overbearing, self-righteous, opinionated, insensitive, and harsh. Why? It’s not because they are too Christian but because they are not Christian enough. They are fanatically zealous and courageous, but they are not fanatically humble, sensitive, loving, empathetic, forgiving, or understanding — as Christ was…What strikes us as overly fanatical is actually a failure to be fully committed to Christ and his gospel.” (emphasis mine)

I know I’ve thought about this many times. I’ve thought this about other people. And in moments of true reflection and scary clarity, I’ve noticed it in myself. How empowering, though, to point out to doubters and skeptics that these rigid, hard, insensitive, loud, overbearing people who call themselves Christians do not represent the teachings or the purpose or the goals of Christianity. That ain’t us! That person claiming to be right about everything does not represent Christianity. That person who refuses to bend is not acting like Christ. That person standing on the street corner and screaming condemnation to passers-by is not what our Lord and Savior is all about.

Those people are not too Christian. They’re not Christian enough.

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There are 75 more days until the Dallas Cowboys kick off their historic 2009 football season — historic only in that this is their 50th NFL season, not historic in that anybody’s predicting great things. To help us count down to that first game in Tampa Bay on September 13, we’re recognizing the second-best players in Cowboys history by jersey number.

Today’s #75 is defensive tackle Tony Casillas. He only played in Dallas five years. But he was a vital part of that super quick defensive line in the early ’90s and was in on the two Jimmy Johnson Super Bowl wins. He left for bigger money and two weird years with the Jets, which cost him a third Super Bowl ring and a lot of respect. But he did wrap up his career in Dallas with a couple of mediocre seasons in ‘96 and ‘97.

(Phil Pozderac was never a possibility. Besides, if I’d named Pozderac and Flozell Adams in back to back days, I’d be looking at 3rd and 20 and a quick-kick.)

Peace,

Allan

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
                     ~Isaiah 6:3

 The word ‘holy’ is one of our most important words. It defines our God. It defines us. It defines our relationships — to God, to one another, and to all of creation. But, for some reason, ‘holy’ in our culture means boring. ‘Holy’ means quiet and weak. ‘Holy’ means a patsy, not really alive. ‘Holy’ in our culture means “Shhhhhhhh…..” Or “Zzzzzzzzzzzzz.”

Eugene Peterson, in his great work, The Jesus Way, writes:

Holiness has been reduced to blandness, the specialty of sectarian groups who reduce life to behaviors and cliches that can be certified as safe: goodness in a straitjacket, truth drained of mystery, beauty emasculated into ceramic knickknacks. Whenever I run up against this, I remember Ellen Glasgow’s wonderful line in her autobiography. Of her father, a Presbyterian elder full of rectitude and rigid with duty, she wrote, “He was entirely unselfish, and in his long life never committed a single pleasure.”

True holiness — biblical holiness — though, is in wild and furious opposition to boredom and blandness. Holiness is huge. Holiness is alive. It’s big and it’s powerful. And holiness makes us huge. It makes us alive and big and powerful. It’s what allows our God to use us in big and powerful ways, to give life through us, extravagantly, more than we can ever ask or imagine.

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,
who was, and is, and is to come.”
                  ~Revelation 4:8

Whatever else we get out of Revelation, we know that as followers of Christ we are in on something huge. Something big. Something spectacular and eternal. As children of God we are in on the salvation of God, the glory of the Lamb, and the power of the Spirit.

Holy. Holy. Holy.

That’s the reality! This is where we live! Forever!

No matter what Rome does to the temple. No matter what the Emperor does to the city. No matter what the world or the ruler of the kingdom of the air does to me or to my family, God’s holiness and God’s glory remain the singular force that defines who we are as his people.

Because God is still creating and blessing and sending and saving.

Holiness is not some emotional devotional experience we try to cultivate in order to feel more spiritual. Holiness is a command. And it doesn’t take us out of the world. It brings us into a partnership with God to join him in what he’s doing in the world.

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76 more days until the Cowboys kick off their 2009 season. And the second-best Cowboys player to ever wear #76 is offensive lineman Flozell “The Hotel” Adams. The Cowboys’ second-round pick in 1998 out of Michigan State, Adams is huge, physically, at 6′ 7″ and 340 pounds. In his eleven NFL seasons in Dallas, he’s earned five Pro Bowl berths, and racked up exactly zero playoff wins. Jerry Wayne signed Adams to a six-year, $43 million contract in February 2008. That’s one dollar per false start penalty in Adams’ career.

Peace,

Allan

There are 78 days until the Dallas Cowboys kick off the 2009 football season against the Bucs in Tampa Bay. And we’re counting down the days with a Red Ribbon Review, a daily look at the second-best players, according to jersey number, in Cowboys history.

Anybody can compile a list of the bests. That’s simple. You’ve probably never seen a list of seconds. See, how clever?

The second-best player to ever wear #78 for the Cowboys is big John Dutton. Dutton spent nine years in Dallas on the left side of the Cowboys defensive line, helping the Danny White-era Cowboys to reach three straight NFC Championship Games.

No, it’s not Kurt Vollers. It’s John Dutton.

I’ll never make it to update this thing on Sunday. So, in order to stay ahead of the Red Ribbon Review, the second-best #77 is a long-time backup defensive lineman, Bill Gregory. From 1971-77, Gregory provided depth behind the likes of Bob Lilly, George Andrie, and Jethro Pugh. He played in four Super Bowls with Dallas, including the team’s first title win over the Dolphins in his rookie year and the Super Bowl XII victory over Denver.

Some of you were thinking Bruce Thornton or Solomon Page. I know.

Peace,

Allan

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory!” ~ Isaiah 6:3

As God’s people, we are not defined by the times in which we live. The government does not have control over how we live our lives. Technology does not define our existence. Postmodernism does not determine how we think. News and entertainment do not account for who we are.

Just like Isaiah, we are plunged into the holy. We are given a holy vision. We see the Lord reigning in holiness, we hear the holy songs of the holy angels, filling the holy air with holy words: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

Hurst is full of his glory. Bedford is full of his glory. Richland High School is full of his glory. Your living room is full of his glory. The post office is full of his glory. The Wal-Mart is full of his glory. The Northeast Mall is full of his glory. Your workplace is full of his glory. The intersection of Highway-183 and Precinct Line Road is full of his glory. The whole earth is full of his glory.

Everywhere you walk is holy ground. Everywhere you go is a sacred place. Everybody you meet is a holy opportunity. Everything you do is a sacred activity. Everything you involve yourself in is ruled and governed by a holy God and made sacred for his holy purposes.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship.” ~ Romans 12:1

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There are 79 more days until the Dallas Cowboys kick off their 2009 season. And we’re counting down the days with what we’re calling the Red Ribbon Review. We’re recognizing, by jersey number, the second-best players in franchise history. I know you’ve been worried about #79 since this time yesterday. Well, it’s not Jacob Rogers or Rob Petitti. It’s not Char-ron Dorsey. Hall of Famer Forrest Gregg actually finishes third because he only played that one 1971 season in Dallas.

The second-best player to ever wear #79 for the Cowboys is offensive lineman Erik Williams. “Big E” was a third round pick in 1991 out of little Central State in Ohio, coming into the league the same year as another fairly significant “E,” Emmitt Smith. Williams earned himself four Pro Bowls and two 1st team All-Pro selections blocking on that left side for the NFL’s greatest running back ever. And how many times did we hear in the ’90s that Williams was so critical to the Cowboys’ success because he “protected Troy Aikman’s backside?”

Erik Williams played ten seasons in Dallas, making 13 playoff starts and helping the Cowboys win three Super Bowl titles. He’s also mainly responsible for the NFL’s hands-to-the-face penalty. Reggie White received more than his share of those head slaps. That league rule and a horrible auto accident in ‘94 slowed Williams’ down tremendously. I’m not sure if his close friendship with Michael Irvin and his involvement in those high profile incidents weren’t also a factor in his limited productivity in his final three or four seasons.

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What a great night last night at the Colonial in Fort Worth for Austin Graduate School of Theology! The “Continuing the Dream” banquet (if you’d like to give, click on the AGST link or give me a shout) gave me a chance to spend some time with Stan Reid, although not nearly enough. And it gave me another opportunity to tell the story of how my two years at Austin Grad completely changed my life.

You know, I was humbled from the first moment I walked into that place in September 2005. I was overwhelmed by how much I didn’t know. And not just Peterson’s Greek. I learned more about our God and his Word and his plan for redeeming the world in those two years than I had in my first 39 years combined. Austin Grad showed me the Scriptures and the Church and the Christian faith and God’s activity in his world like I had never seen it before.

And it changed me.

I began to interpret my faith in light of those who had lived it before me. I was thinking through and reflecting on my own faith. I was becoming much more aware of God’s hand — his continual provision — in my life, in the life of his Church, and for all of creation, from the beginning of time to right now and through eternity. I gained a new perspective. I saw the big picture much more clearly. I began to think theologically. And I see that now as the only way to really pass on the Christian faith.

I’m forever grateful to Austin Grad for the education, the knowledge, the examples, the wisdom, the mentors, the humility, and the training I need to best serve my Lord and the people in his Kingdom. It’s rich. And it’s deep. It’s meaningful and important. And it’s being taught there by sensitive, caring, compassionate, brilliant Christian men.

Today I’m struggling and wrestling and growing and teaching and loving and sharing with all the members of this beautiful congregation of disciples at Legacy. And I pray God will use us to turn this community upside down for him. I pray God will completely use me up in fulfilling his mission. And I will keep studying and interpreting and growing and preaching. I will keep preaching. It’s the highest honor I can pay to those who’ve lived the faith before me. And to my God.

Thank you, Austin Grad. I’m forever grateful.

Peace,

Allan

In exactly 80 days, the Dallas Cowboys will kick off their 2009 regular season against the Buccaneers in a Sunday afternoon game in Tampa Bay. 80 days from right now, this historic 50th season of Cowboys football will be underway. And we’re going to count down the long summer days on this blog with what we’ve dubbed the Red Ribbon Review. For the next 80 days, we’ll honor the second-best Cowboys player to wear each jersey number.

Similar to the countdown to football season we did two years ago in which we named the best players in football history by number (99 Days of Football), we’ll take this thing one day and one number at a time. Except it’s all Dallas Cowboys. And it’s all second-best. I hope you enjoy the pictures and the stats, the guessing and second-guessing, and the daily anticipation.

We begin with the second-best player to ever wear #80 for the silver and blue, wide receiver Alvin Harper. Harper was a first round pick of the Cowboys in 1991 out of Tennessee and teamed up opposite of Michael Irvin for four seasons and two Super Bowl championships. After catching 124 balls for 2,486 yards and 18 scores, Harper left for bigger money and  greener pastures (and a different jersey number) in Tampa Bay. He bombed out for one year with the Redskins before finishing his short career back in Dallas where he appeared in two games in ‘99, but didn’t catch any passes.

Harper led the NFL in ‘94, his last good year in Dallas, with a 24.9 yards per catch average. His one Super Bowl catch came in the first quarter of the blowout Super Bowl XXVII win over the Bills.

Harper grew up in Frostproof, Florida where he set the state high jump record as a junior. He also broke the SEC high jump record at Tennessee in 1989.

Not Rod Barksdale. Not Everett Gay or Oronde Gadsden. The second-best player to ever wear #80 for the Cowboys is Alvin Harper.

Peace,

Allan

Is Jesus trustworthy? He tells us to trust him. “Trust God; trust also in me.” He tells his disciples to trust him, even as he’s preparing to leave them. Can we trust him? Is he trustworthy?

Well, what’s his motivation? What drives Jesus? What does he want from me? Why does he want a relationship with me? What moves him to act on my behalf?

Love.

Pure, unlimited, unconditional, boundless, selfless, sacrificial love. Love. How long and high and wide and deep is this love? This love that surpasses knowledge. This love of Christ that can’t be overcome by death or life or trouble or hardship or angels or demons or any of that other stuff listed in Romans 8. Love. Love for you and me that is so great it compelled Jesus to give up everything to die on the cross.

Jesus doesn’t want your money. Jesus doesn’t want your house or your car. He’s not trying to take what’s yours and make it his. Jesus has never one time ever done anything in his own self interest. Never. He gave up all his rights, all his privilege, his status, his glory, his wants, needs, desires. He gave up everything, freely, willingly, because he loves us.

Now, what about his track record? To me, that’s the ultimate test of someone’s trustworthiness. Character. Integrity. Our past together. His track record. And each one of us has our own experiences with God’s Son. But I’ll share mine.

Everytime he’s ever warned me that something is harmful to me by calling it sin, he’s been exactly right. Every time. When his words tell me to make the better and tougher choice, he’s been right. Every time. When he tells me he’ll take care of me, that I’ll always have everything I need, he’s been right. Every time. He’s always right. He’s never been wrong. Sometimes it takes years to see it. But he’s always right. I look back at some of the rougher times in my life with Christ and I see clearly that things couldn’t have gone any other way.

Jesus says, “Trust me.”

And we don’t have to. We’re free to give in to our doubts and cynicism and skepticism and live our lives that way. We can. Some of us are. Or we can leap out in faith into his waiting and trustworthy arms.

Peace,

Allan

“Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ‘All this I will give you,’ he said, ‘if you will bow down and worship me.’” ~Matthew 4:8-9

The world has been trying since day one to redeem the world. The world says if we have power we can redeem the world. We can make it better. But they can’t. For thousands of years they’ve tried. It’s one of the devil’s most effective lies: more power, more education, more wealth, more technology equals a better world. We’ll make the world a better place by imposing our knowledge and our systems on the people around us. Eugene Peterson, in his book The Jesus Way, writes:

“War has always been the classic way of choice to impose our idea of what is good on the people we don’t like or disapprove of. It still is. In the century just completed ‘all the kingdoms of the world,’ led by the most advanced kingdoms economically and educationally, outdid themselves in not getting along. The facts and statistics are indisputable: the smarter we get, the more prosperous we are, the more murderous we become.”

The world has always said ‘might makes right.’ And sometimes the Church falls into that same trap.

Every single Christian believer has an important voice and an important presence in the way this country is run and the way our culture is formed. Yes. It’s critical for the redemption of creation. The world must see us and know where we’re coming from and where we’re going. But, we are being deceived by the devil if we think for one minute we can speak in a way or act in a way other than or counter to the way Jesus spoke and acted.

And we are guilty. Contrary to the clear example of Jesus, the Church of God is guilty of seeking and exerting power.

From Henri Nouwen’s In the Name of Jesus:

“One of the greatest ironies of the history of Christianity is that its leaders constantly give in to the temptation of power — political power, military power, economic power, or moral and spiritual power — even though they continue to speak in the name of Jesus, who did not cling to his divine power but emptied himself and became as we are. We keep hearing from others, as well as saying to ourselves, that having power — provided it is used in the service of God and your fellow human beings — is a good thing. With this rationalization, crusades took place; inquisitions were organized; Indians were enslaved; positions of great influence were desired. Every time we see a major crisis in the history of the Church…we always see that a major cause of rupture is the power exercised by those who claim to be followers of the poor and powerless Jesus.”

Love is the method of redeeming the world. Power is the shortcut. Power is easy. Love is hard. It’s easier to be God than to love God. It’s easier to control people than to love people. It’s easier to own the world than to love the world.

Jesus asks his disciples, “Do you love me?” And his disciples ask him, “Can we sit at your right hand in the Kingdom?”

The Way of Jesus is in deep, personal, intimate, loving, and giving relationship. With each other and with our community, for the salvation of the world.

Peace,

Allan