True Humility is Hope in Emmanuel

Hatred, Ignorance, Nihilism, these are just some of the way we can describe the condition of our splintered and pluralistic North American society this holiday season. We live on the edge of these emotional extremes because it seems there is so much to be thankful for and yet so much to get angry about. If you choose to dive into injustice in both your society and the world it is easy to be become jaded. Is the only option to demand violent revolution or give up on the world entirely? If you choose to embrace the privilege of being born into a society with a powerful economy, the tendency can be to become ignorant to injustice and numb to the suffering all around you. Maybe you are relatively poor in this society filled with wealth and resources. Are you supposed to not give yourself the best chance for survival by shopping at cheap yet oppressive corporate stores?

I think the answer for us today lies in giving up our false pride and embracing the true meaning of humility. Not a humility where we feel too insufficient and insignificant to even care. Nor a pride where we put others in danger for the sake of our own ideology. Choose to watch the suffering, soak it in, understand it, weep for it, and help where you can. Don't ignore it and go back to your shopping because you fear losing your safety and wealth. Don't ignore it because you feel there is nothing you can do anyway. Don't selfishly declare you're too weak to help. But don't delude yourself into thinking you're Jesus Christ either. Help where you can and leave the rest up to God. Today's injustices will not be won through violent revolution, nor can they be ignored and distracted by our wealth and consumption. Our best option is a slow resolve. Love people in small steps and small ways, don't expect to save people, but help them anyway.

Don't expect to end religious violence, welcome refugees anyway

Don't expect to end all poverty, give generously anyway

Don't expect to reverse climate change, care for the planet anyway

Don't expect to end global capitalism, resist it anyway

Emmanuel is coming, place your Hope in him.  

A Response To My Friend James Wilt

Dear James,

When I read your article A Fall From Grace I deeply resonated with the frustration and pain the Christian religion has caused you. I too have had a two year relationship ended because of Christian misperceptions of sexuality and marriage. I have also had close Christian friends attack me for dating outside of my faith. On a deeper level, this is a misunderstanding of the most fundamental Christian principle: Grace.

And James I think you are closer to this then I have ever seen you. Your realization of Christianity’s corrupted “anthropocentric belief system” is a profound one. You see Christianity is never meant to be centrally about us, but about God and what he does for us. The mantra of mature evolutionists that we stop seeing ourselves as “special” but should work towards cooperative and communal adaptation with nature is a strong one. It is also not as far away from the Christian tradition as you might think. The central tenet of Christianity is not meant to be about us fulfilling a "divine mission" but is most centrally about a shepherd who would sacrifice his life for one lost sheep. It is most centrally about a God who chooses an obstinate and ever failing nation and refuses to abandon them, in spite of their ignorance and betrayal. This is a God who suffers for us and therefore understands our suffering; all of us; humans, lions, and lambs.

The central goal of the human ideal is not our human fulfillment of it, but how it exposes our need for God, and his promise of loving reunion for all creation. Redemption is not a slow evolutionary process. It is and it isn't. We are all paradoxically found and lost. At home yet homeless. I am glad your new direction has humbled you, and I pray that if you feel the need for Christ’s unconditional grace in your life, you will see he never left you. I realize this may sound arrogant, but hopefully it is also comforting. In my own attempt to run away from Christ, this has always brought be back.

Your Friend,

Jesse

The Otherness of God

Everything we do has God’s signature on it. Our lives are so intricately tied with God sometimes this can cause us to think that God needs us, that we can change his mind, and influence his decision making process.