A Christian Worldview from Silicon Valley

If you haven’t already, go read Vivian’s post. Right now. And comment, too, because we live for comments. Anyway, the following thoughts were inspired by what she said, and it would be grossly unfair to her to start here just because mine is at the top of the pile for the moment.

Nearly two years ago, I read Why Men Hate Going to Church. It opened my eyes to several things that had been right in front of me forever, yet I hadn’t been able to “see” them before. The book made me wonder if some church practices (passive activities, sweet songs, and so on) had become unduly feminine. As I grappled with that thought (continuing to this day), I came across an oddly titled book, Jesus: Mean and Wild. I had to buy it — that characterization was so different from Jesus as I had understood him to be, yet I wondered what a “mean and wild” Jesus might look like. Confession: I tossed it on my huge TBR(ead) pile of books and didn’t read it for a long time. But I looked at it. And I talked about it. Every time I mentioned the title, I’d get that, “You’re crazy!” look. Okay, whatever. Some people don’t recognize hyperbole for what it is.

At Lewis’ suggestion, I agreed to co-teach the Sermon on the Mount with him, but I told him up front, “This is not my favorite topic. I don’t get it, and I don’t like reading lectures.” He told me, “That’s okay. You’re gonna love it when we’re done, because it’s my very favorite thing!” Okay, the gauntlet had been thrown, and I picked it up.

But I am so far from the “Bible is simple. All ya gotta do is open it and read it and do it. Done deal.” Maybe I’m just thick-headed, but a lot of times when I read the Bible, I’m like, “So? What did that mean? How am I supposed to do that?” Did Jesus really want me to pluck out my eye or chop off my hand? (Interesting how most of us do recognize the hyperbole here; at least I haven’t noticed any one-eyed, one-armed Christians running around, though I bet they have sinned through their seeing or touching.) Most of the Bible is told in stories. The stories reveal — obliquely!!! — the heart of God, his goals and purposes for people, his disappointments with their actions, his irrational love for downtrodden, ostracized, marginalized groups (like Israel). (more…)

I’ve been to some amazing places on this earth, some of them highly populated and some of them extraordinarily devoid of population. Some of those places have been startlingly beautiful, some of them have contained great works of art, and some of them have been sculpted into great works of art. I consider it a blessing to both see and appreciate all of that.

But the greatest joys of life — at least for me — involve people. So I was just a little sad this afternoon as I said goodbye (temporarily, but for a while) to Sterling Stuckey and his amazing wife, Harriette, who, in passing through the Bay Area for a season, came into my life and the life of PACC and made us all better for it.

Sterling is, in some circles, kind of a famous fellow, I suppose. He might say, with a wry smile, “Oh, I don’t know about that.” But he had stopped by the church today to give me a copy of the manuscript for his latest book, African Culture and Melville’s Art, a work that will be published this year by Oxford University Press, and anyone who can get a book like that published by a major house, let alone write it, has got something going for him.

The book’s subtitle is The Creative Process in “Benito Cereno” and “Moby-Dick.” Probably not what one would call “light reading,” but I’m looking very much forward to it.

Why? Not because the title itself interests me, although it does interest me very much, but because of Sterling.

By many of the world’s standards, one might not think that Sterling and I would have much in common. But he showed up one day at PACC, and in fairly short order we learned we had three important things in common: we love creativity and the artists who created; we love to think; and we love God.

As time went on we found out that we disagree on a lot of other things, and that enriches our friendship as much as our agreements. (See “love to think,” above.) But my point is this: my life is richer because Sterling and Harriette passed this way. I hope and expect to see them again, and look forward to it.

In the meantime, my goal is simply this: to enrich the lives of those I meet, even in places where I’m just passing through.

In 1983 Harold Washington became the first black mayor of Chicago. I happened to live in a Chicago suburb at the time, and it was big news everywhere around “that toddlin’ town.” My next door neighbor, Steve, was a life-long Chicago-area resident with lots of family scattered around that unique northeast corner of Illinois, including a cousin who was a Chicago city cop.

Steve told me that his cousin was in a gang task force that, just a few nights before Washington was to take office, corralled a group of young black men who appeared to these professional officers to be a gang. The police had the suspects up against a wall and were searching them for guns and contraband when one of them suddenly turned around and faced the officers.

There was a moment of tension, but it turned into laughter when the young man spoke. “When Harold becomes Mayor,” he said, “this ****’s gonna stop!”

I think that fits WCB’s picture of expecting that things are going to be a certain way (e.g. “my way”) if a certain event occurs or if a certain position is obtained.

It could be that most of us have, somewhere along the line, practiced that kind of thinking, and it is only natural to imagine what you might do if you were in a position of leadership or in a role of authority. What is slightly more dangerous, or at least has more potential for danger, is seeking a position for the power that comes with it so that you can fulfill some kind of personal agenda.

But when it comes to the selection of elders for a church body, there is a bright side to all this that gives me peace, and it is that we are not in this alone.

Aside from all the other help we get, God is in it, and he is the one who makes the ultimate selection of elders. I’ve seen him use all kinds of tools and methods along the way to weed out those he doesn’t want in the job at a particular time and place, and I’ve seen him use various tools and methods to get those in whom he does want. I’ve seen men try to get in for selfish reasons, but I’ve only ever seen one succeed. Within a month he was done with the role, eldership not being the platform he envisioned.

It also gives me peace to know that personal agendas are very difficult to promote within an eldership. Yes, it can be done, but it is very, very rare. There is just no room for it.

And finally, it gives me peace to know the power of prayer. May we all be using that power as we prepare for our elder selection process!

I’ve been asked by a friend to help him staff his company. That is, he wants me to do the leg work, read the material, figure out the law, post the announcements, screen, interview, stay out of trouble and find him someone who will work long, hard and for as little reimbursement as possible.

I admit, I get confused. Am I trying to find him a worker-bee or am I sitting in on the “make-us-a-plan-to-find-elders committee” at PACC?

Here’s what scares me - I have heard “When I get the job, then I will do this, that and the other. I just need the position.” (more…)

I was playing golf a few weeks ago with a new friend who is a long time Christian and, at 83, a man with no small amount of wisdom. He knew that I was the minister at the Palo Alto Church of Christ, and as we walked down the 9th fairway he asked me a question.

“How are you doing with one of your brother ministers being so much in the news and so controversial?”

I hesitated for a few seconds while my mind tried to interpret the question, and then I got it. He was asking me about Jeremiah Wright and the Trinity United Church of Christ. And why shouldn’t he? Both churches use the name Church of Christ, and to anyone who is not familiar with either of these churches, the names would seem to indicate that they hold many things in common.

My friend, being who he is, knew that the likelihood of our churches being affiliated with one another was remote at best, but his question made me wonder if anyone else might have made that link. Do people in the neighborhood of PACC think that we are part of the same movement that defines Trinity United?

I mostly forgot about that possible link until this past week when I received a phone call at the church. The nice lady on the other end of the line wanted directions to our church from Monterey, because she was coming to a memorial service. I did give her directions but then asked if she was certain the service was going to be at our church. She said she got our number from information, and then she read the notice about the service which said it would be held at The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints on Middlefield Road in Palo Alto.

The names are similar, but the churches are not the same.  How much does the world view us by our name, and what’s in a name?

How far is your heart from your mouth?

When was the last time you felt something deep within your heart, your gut, your soul and you let it out?

When was the last time you were touched positively by someone’s actions, their words, and you let them know?

When was the last time you felt loved and you told the person who loves you?

When was the last time you were offered encouragement and you told the encourager?

When was the last time someone taught you something and you told them how much you appreciate the lesson? Hard as the lesson may have been.

When was the last time you said things like ‘thank you’, ‘you did a good job’, ‘that really encouraged me’, ‘I am a better person for having talked with you today’, ‘you are a great example of…’, ‘I wish I could be like you when you…’, ‘How did you become so good at…’?

We feel things, I know we do.

We admire people, love people, appreciate people, cherish people, are better people because of those around us. We love.

Let’s start telling people the good things we think about them. Let’s start today.

Someday, I want to visit The Hotel Utah in San Francisco, which hosts an open mic every Monday, featuring a scheduled musician and whoever else wants to play. Every week or so, host JJ Schultz sends me a note, subject line: “The Utah loves you…,” and saying something like: “Hello. Hope you’re doing good. I’m doing pretty good. Blah blah blah.* So-and-so gave a great performance and you can download it here….”

And one of my favorite music stations, KFOG, “World Class Rock,” emails a personalized note to registered Fogheads like me. The note goes something like this: “Dear Susan, Blah blah blah.* Love, KFOG.”

I like those notes. I appreciate knowing what’s waiting for me some future Monday, and it’s especially nice to get a weekly reminder that somebody loves me.

I was reading a couple of them the other day, feeling all warm and fuzzy inside when my brain kicked in — hello, “loves” me? Yeah, right. Me and thousands of other registered rock fans. Not! That is, the sentiment shown here is not even LIKE, much less LOVE. To love a person, one tiny prerequisite is that you know them, right? When I filled out the registration forms, I had to divulge some information, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t submit so much that they would truly know me, much less recognize me on the street.

Maybe knowledge isn’t the distinguishing factor. After all, what about Christians, who are called to love everyone, even strangers? Maybe what gives love its potency is not its label but its action. Y’know, like Jesus said: “If you gave a stranger food, drink, clothing, shelter, medical help, or encouragement in the form of a prison or hospital visit, it’s as though you had given it straight to me” (Susan’s down and dirty summary of Matthew 25:31-46). In other words, “Just Do It.”

In “Pagans, Christianity, and Charity,” Christopher Price cites examples of how Christians began showing a gritty kind of love that was unheard of in the ancient world, (more…)

The Beatles had a song with these lyrics - What would you do if I sang out of tune?

It might have been the title to the song. Somebody more knowledgeable than I about music (Wait! that’s everybody) will know the answer to that question.

This past week I found myself included in some funky email address list. I was asked to show up for a casting call. It reminded me of the time I was rounded up with a bunch of cows and someone took a swipe at my head. Moo!

It turns out there is a musical that is going to be put on at PACC on March 22nd and the powers that be are really hard up to fill places. A bit of type casting has me in the part of the Devil. Boo! (more…)

I wrote over at another one of my sites - Christian Groups Silenced by Law School.

In short, the University of Montana Law School has derecognized a Christian group, the Christian Legal Society, because the group wants its leaders to abstain from sexual relationships out of marriage.

The lawyers in the school say the CLS is being discriminatory. So, they have decided to discriminate back by shutting the group down.

"A student group cannot be forced to compromise its beliefs in order to maintain a presence on campus,” says litigation counsel for CLS’s Center for Law & Religious Freedom.

I am not an activist or a lawyer.

But, maybe sometimes I need to be.

We have a couple of lawyers here at PACC. Perhaps they’ll weigh in.

When do Christians need to be activists?

When do you feel compelled to say ‘enough is enough?’