Hope: Christianity and America

Today marks a historic day in the life of the United States. Regardless of one's political leanings (right, left, or indifferent), today is a day when we celebrate what is good and right about America. I hope that those Christians who prayed lock, stock and barrel for George W. Bush because "Paul tells us to pray for our leaders as they are elected by God to serve in government" will continue to pray for Barack Obama even when his politics might be difficult for them to swallow. I also pray that, although Obama's election signifies an important step towards the ideal that all men and women are created equally, that others do not fall prey to a pseudo--messianic love affair with Barack. He is not the messiah.

---

Hope has become a big word in today's rhetoric. Obama used it. So did other politicians during the election. Here's a brief reflection on the substance of hope (God's future) from a decidedly Christian view point. At least one decidedly Christian viewpoint.

The end of time, as I understand it, is the full completion of becoming the humans God crated us to be. To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, I am, in this precise moment, only a sliver of my true self. All of my past selves, present selves, and future selves are part of a much larger whole. In the fullness of time I shall “known and be known.” I shall at last be the full Josh as you will be who God, long ago, set in motion you to be.

Because I’m a Christian (investing my beliefs and convictions in the teachings of Torah, the Prophets, Jesus of Nazareth, and the Jesus Movement) I am enrolled in a story moving towards:

1. Physical resurrection of all people.
2. Judgment of good and evil.
3. A complete healing of land and creation.
4. The full presence of God.
5. A mysterious new chapter called forever.

Thus, my understanding of the church’s role in the in-between time (today and God's final hour) is not so much about a narrow moralism (of the liberal bent which tends to focus solely on certain social issues or the fundamentalist bent focused on private piety). The church’s primary character is one of hope. Not hope in a New President (be it Reagan or Obama), a New Philosophy, a New Movement . . . but hope that a new day is dawning.

When tyrant will walk with victim
When Lions will lie down with lambs
When tanks will be turned into tractors
When enemies will become friends
When the crooked will be made straight

This all leads us to two important questions. First, what’s worth hoping for (what is the substance of genuine Christian hope)? Second, Are our hopes big enough? Or, put another way, do we Christians settle for crumbs when a feast has been prepared?

Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

Wilderness

Since I mentioned an article ran by The Weekly Standard, I've been thinking about the implications of hope and belief in God's ultimate victory for places like Detroit. By Detroit, I mean everyone connected to Detroit (all colors, creeds, etc.).

My friend John York recently talked about this in a sermon. He uses the imagery of wilderness and points out that wilderness often comes before revival. Very interesting.

Mitch Albom, for completely different reasons, is saying something similar in this piece that ran in the Detroit Free Press and Sports Illustrated.

Here's a piece of that work:

And yet Detroit was once a vibrant place, the fourth-largest city in the country, and it lives in the hope that those days, against all logic, it will somehow return. We are downtrodden, perhaps, but the most downtrodden optimists you will ever meet. We cling to our ways, no matter how provincial they seem on the coasts. We get excited about the auto show. We celebrate Sweetest Day. We eat Coney dogs all year, and we cruise classic cars down Woodward Avenue every August, and we bake paczki doughnuts the week before Lent. We don't talk about whether Detroit will be fixed but when Detroit will be fixed.

And we are modest. In truth, we battle an inferiority complex. We gave the world the automobile. Now the world wants to scold us for it. We gave the world Motown music. Motown moved its offices to L.A. When I arrived 24 years ago to be a sports columnist at the Detroit Free Press, I discovered several letters waiting for me at the office. Mind you, I had not written a word. My hiring had been announced, that's all. But there were already letters. Handwritten. And they all said, in effect, "Welcome to Detroit. We know you won't stay long, because nobody good stays for long, but we hope you like it while you're here."

Detroit

I don't normally read the Weekly Standard. In fact, I don't know if I've ever read it. However, one good friend sent me an article written recently describing the complex, paradoxical world that is (Metro) Detroit.

Precisely what caused all this mess is perhaps best left to historians. Locals' ideas for how it happened could keep one pinned to a barstool for weeks: auto companies failing or pushing out to the suburbs and beyond, white flight caused by the '67 riots and busing orders, the 20-year reign of Mayor Coleman Young who scared additional middle-class whites off with statements such as "The only way to handle discrimination is to reverse it," freeways destroying mass transit infrastructure, ineptitude, corruption, Japanese cars--take your pick.

What's clear, though, is that Detroit has failed, that it's broken and cracked. It is dying. But it's not yet dead. Although it has lost over half its population since 1950, 900,000 people still live there.


While, I have take issues with some under-girding assumptions of the writer (a lack of historical perspective regarding the legacy of slavery in our urban cities for example) I think this piece captures the need for hope, not cynicism to be the primary attitude of Christians--regardless of denominational leaning, color, and creed--toward the future of Detroit (or Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, Nashville, San Fran, etc.). After all, The Book of Jonah is part of sacred text some people confess to be "God breathed."

Upside Down Leadership

If you want to be a viable Christian leader in the emerging postmodern world you have no other option than to practice what you preach. The days of Star Search Leadership (when people followed because the leader was slick or dynamic) are dead. And that's a good thing.

Period.

Some churches are led by ministers/leaders who do not consistently put themselves in risky “scenarios”—their intellectual faith might be strong, but the embodiment of said faith is non-existent. And, at last, Christians and non-Christians alike are calling their bluff.

I’m preparing to lead an urban plunge formation retreat this coming week to downtown Detroit. For an entire week, we’ll be living in Cass Park at the Hope Baptist Center with a group of Christians from Michigan State University and Grand Valley State University.

Myself and several college students/young adults from Rochester College and Rochester Church of Christ will spend our time: working with a diverse church (Hope Community Church), volunteering in shelters, attending worship gatherings with diverse groups of believers, hearing lectures/presentations on the history and “world” of Detroit, social class simulations, museums, one underground railroad visit, repairing homes, Love Feast in Cass Park (our normal tradition), tutoring for students, reading, journaling, hosting a music conference, sleeping in shelters, living among the homeless in Hart Plaza and hosting a basketball tourney with a local church (you know who’s excited about that).

These are some of the things we’ll be engaged in throughout our stay.

This is an urban spiritual formation retreat. The focus is on the spiritual development of those who’ve given their week to hear the rhythms of Jesus’ teaching and how they intersect with the rhythms of life in a complicated city like Detroit. This is not about “fixing” Detroit. It’s about understanding what God might in fact already be doing.

This is the third urban spiritual formation trip I’ve led. The last two were hosted in the Bronx. Now, we take seriously the call of God to be immersed in our own backyard.

Pray for us.

-----------------------

Last night, 30 of us from my church gathered in a home to say “good-bye” to one of our beloved sisters in Christ. This new follower is going to join a holistic community in Arizona to focus on her emotion, spiritual and psychological self.

The blessing time was amazing. Skaters. Preachers. College Students. Auto Executives. Uncles. Family. Young Adults.

All under the liberating name of Jesus blessing our fellow sister to find out what it is in this life that “makes her come alive.” For the world needs people who’ve come alive.