Friday, November 21, 2008

"Tanzania" by Alli Rogers

Wendy and I went to hear Derek Webb last Sunday evening at Eddie's Attic with Eric & Veronica, two new and really good friends. What a blessing that night was! Webb is a prophet after the order of Micah or maybe even Jeremiah. Sandra McCracken's music (she and Derek are married) was incredibly moving. The surprise of the evening for me, however, was the music of Alli Rogers. Most intriguing lyrics and vocals Check out the video (lyrics supplied below).


It’s eight hours later in Tanzania.
When Jen lays down
Mary’s just opening her eyes.
Her child’s feet land on the ground
and dirt scatters,
And she feels left out in the open,
always left out in the open.
She says, “son, wear my shoes to school today”.
He turns and smiles and walks away,
and she thinks to herself…

Someday I will wake
where the earth is clean and safe.
My children have a place to play,
not here in Tanzania.
And someday I will live
in a house that’s built by
hands that hold the world.

It’s eight hours earlier in Chattanooga.
Mary sits down and Jen’s just put the coffee on.
Katie Couric is talking news and fashion,
and Jen feels pushed into a corner,
always pushed into a corner, she says
“Baby I know what girls at school are like”.
And her daughter rides off on her bike,
and Jen thinks to herself…

Someday I will wake
where my children get a break,
And there are chances that they’ll take,
not here in Chattanooga.
Someday I will live
in a house that’s built by
hands that hold the world.

Well it’s hard to be mother,
and it’s hard to be a woman,
and it’s hard to live in Africa sometimes.
It’s hard to be mother,
and it’s hard to be a woman,
and it’s hard to live in America sometimes.

But someday I will wake
in a body that won’t break,
On ground that doesn’t shake, not here.
And someday I will live
in a house that’s built by
hands that hold the world.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Quotation of the Week


If the very nature of the church is to confront evil with suffering, cross-carrying love, and if the very nature of the state is to confront evil with threat and if necessary to confront violence with violence, how can a person be involved in both at the same time? Can a person simultaneously pull out the sword and "turn the other cheek"? --John Howard Yoder, Discipleship as Political Responsibility (p. 26)
Pretty decent questions.

The Cross is Not a Totem Pole


"In the beginning God created human beings in his own image, and we've been returning the favor ever since." I'm not sure who said that, but shut up!

Tough as it is to be told that we often create God in our own image, I suppose it's true. It's probably true of everyone, including Christians. We Jesus followers seem to be in a never ending struggle against "creeping totemism." You know what totemism is; it's a system of belief centered around a totem. Duh. A totem is a representation of an animal or object thought to possess those attributes that a clan or tribe most appreciates in itself. If the clan cherishes wisdom, the owl may be the totem. Wise as an owl. If power or majesty are cherished traits, the eagle or lion may be the totem. Soars like an eagle or strong as a lion. You get the picture.

I've never seen a totem pole in person. Sure, I've seen pictures of them in books and on TV, but never in real life. As a kid I always imagined them to be about the size of an average human being, maybe a little taller. The first time I ever saw a cigar store Indian I thought it was a totem pole (Is that politically correct? 'Cause I'm all about political correctness). When I finally saw a picture of people standing next to a Native American totem pole I was shocked. It was at least twice their height, a broad heavy thing. Mysterious, colorful, imaginative. People obviously put a great deal of energy and devotion into the making of their totems. Problem is, with a totem they end up worshiping a representation of themselves - powerless to protect. "God is not man said in a loud voice" (thank you, K. Barth).

Hopefully this will not come as a surprise, but the Bible takes issue with all that stuff. God did not create us in His own image so we would return the favor. It seems recently, however, many of us have been doing just that - fashioning a Jesus that looks strangely, well, like us. Compile the traits and values that Americans admire. What is on the list? We certainly commend those on top, people who bring something to the table. People whose hands are full, not empty. Winners, not losers are the stuff of Americana. Ladders are for climbing; any fool can see that. Climb or be climbed over. That's how we do it. It's how success is made. It's how we make ourselves. It's the rugged individualist. Applause is for the strong. He is the man who needs no help. She is the Type A who cannot be stopped.

Maybe the recent election got to us or maybe our misplaced investment in this world's power struggles brings what is already there to the surface. In any event, when Jesus begins to sound more like a CEO than a Galilean peasant, when he sounds like Nancy Pelosi or Rick Santorum, or when Jesus is wrapped in the flag or if he's burning one, I begin to wonder if we haven't taken our most cherished traits, attributed them to Christ and set him up on a totem pole of our own devising. Derek Webb is certainly on point with his song, A King & A Kingdom:

"There are two great lies that I have heard: 'the day you eat of the fruit of that tree, you will not surely die' and that Jesus Christ was a white, middle-class Republican. And if you want to be saved you have to learn to be like Him."

Jesus was a Jew. He was poor. He loved God. He had almost no stuff. He live the ethic of the Sermon on the Mount. He did not put his family first. He loved his enemies. He prayed for his persecutors. He welcomed sinners. He inexorably pursued outcasts. He refused to draw the sword and forbade it of his followers. He chose death over a violent self-defense. All you politicians who are born again, put that in your campaign ads. You'll get my vote.


(Wendy and I are going to see Derek this Sunday evening at Eddie's Attic in Decatur, btw. Here's a link for tickets. Come join us!)

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Now, if the church will only follow suit...


We must face the fact that in America, the church is still the most segregated major institution in America. At 11:00 on Sunday morning when we stand and sing that Christ has no east or west, we stand at the most segregated hour in this nation. This is tragic. Nobody of honesty can overlook this. Now, I'm sure that if the church had taken a stronger stand all along, we wouldn't have many of the problems that we have. The first way that the church can repent, the first way that it can move out into the arena of social reform is to remove the yoke of segregation from its own body. Now, I'm not saying that society must sit down and wait on a spiritual and moribund church as we've so often seen. I think it should have started in the church, but since it didn't start in the church, our society needed to move on. The church, itself, will stand under the judgment of God. ~Dr. Martin Luther King, 1963
Dr. King's words would almost be funny if they weren't so terribly tragic: "I'm not saying that society must sit down and wait on [the] church..." It's a darn good thing society hasn't waited on us. In our defense, however, we've been busy considering some really critical issues like coffee cups in the sanctuary.
Prophets have always been a royal pain in the behind.