President Barack, Chairman Hu, and Jesus

I enjoyed a good cup of tea tonight with a Chinese friend. He works in a very successful Chinese telecommunications company. I only recently met him. I find my friend humble, generous (he picked up the bill), and fun. I also find that my friend is as proud of China and his company as I am of America and the companies I have worked for.

It was interesting to me to remember my natural competitive feelings toward my friend's success when we first met. America is struggling right now. The media in the US runs story after story about the cat and mouse game between China and the US as both jockey for advantage. It is too easy to view a successful Chinese company and by associate a successful Chinese employee as a threat to my country's, my company's, and my own prosperity.


The Gospel of Mark (The New International Diplomatic Paraphrase version)

Then President Barack and Chairman Hu, the sons of Commerce, came to him. "Teacher," they said, "we want you to do for us whatever we ask." "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked. They replied "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory." "You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?" "We can," they answered. ... "These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared."

When the EU, Russia, Japan, the UAE, and rest of UN members heard about this, they became indignant with President Barack and Chairman Hu. Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Okay, so this was not an official paraphrase. I had a little fun changing out the names. The point is still valid in my mind. The world tells us for every winner there must be a loser. If the growth or success of another country outpaces our own then they must be taking away some of our prosperity. So seek advantage and power whenever and however you can find it.

The Gospel's words remind me that competition with each other has no place in the church. That is what makes following Christ different. Power, wealth, and advantage become tools of service. In Ephesians, the Apostle Paul speaks of how the church is made of many parts like a human body where the function and ability of each part is different, yet all parts are equal. If even one part is missing the body can not function.

The resulting logic in my mind is that it is unimportant who has wealth, power, or advantage. I must cheer others success, and seek to serve to the best of my ability with what I have been given. Thanks, George for your friendship and this valuable lesson! (the tea was good too.)

Grief

For fun I typed in the name of a Muslim friend into Google. I found my friend was a voice of reform at home. He is an American educated moderate. I think that is wonderful. I also found a passionate letter that my friend wrote on the Islamic Awakenings's website.

A queasy awful feeling hurts me inside. My mind is spinning with random thoughts that feel disconnected from each other. I feel sickened by the realization of my fears. I fear that pro-Israel/ anti-Muslim activities and attitudes of American "Christians" will destroy the ability of other people to see them with anything but loathing and hatred. I fear those who do not follow Christ would see nothing of what attracts them to Christ in his followers.

I have attached a link to my friend's article below. Please note that I do not agree with many of his statements. The reason I post this link is so you can see his pain and the damage that MUST be over come.

article

My grief is over the view that he has of followers of Christ. My pain is because I can see why and how he would feel the way he does. My pain is because my brothers and sisters in Christ are letting Arab image bearers of God slip away because they refuse to love them. THIS HAS GOT TO STOP! How will the world see Christ in us if we are no different in action than it is. Doesn't the world have enough people who love those that love them and hate those that hate them. Please! for the love of our Savior and his great command, we must stop playing favorites and treat all fairly with love.

Is God a Capitalist?

It seems like the issue of God's "political stance" comes up more often in the days after the 2004 Presidential election. With the assistance of Karl Rove, the ACLU, James Dobson, and NOW, American followers of Jesus are forced to define God's political platform.

What happens when we put a new suit on God with a small American flag pin on the lapel? At campaign headquarters, we busily plot political-religious strategy. We have one group that screams "Truth... truth is the most important thing that God must get across. If he doesn't tell them the truth then people die without salvation!" Another group crys "Love... love is the most important thing God must speak about. He is so charismatic and warm. They are starving for the real love that comes from him and will find strength in his love. Without that strength they can not face the truth."

As Americans we feel passionately about our opinions of what God wants an obedient follower to do and say. We are his hands and feet in this world so our votes are more than just an electoral action. They become a manifesto of faith and send a message to the world around us about what we believe.

"What message is sent when we don't show unity?", we worry. "Will the world get the wrong message because some of the followers are saying the wrong things?"

The socialists point to Acts 2 and 5. The capitalists point to the parable of the talents and Paul's writings about giftings. Authoritarians point to God's model of government in heaven and the one he chose for Israel (after they rejected him). Democracy advocates point to the ability of it to facilitate open discussions about faith and smooth out the winds of generational religous shifts.

So in the end, where is God on these issues? And how should his people act and vote? I have no easy answers and am not vain enough to speak for God. I leave you to your own struggles.

However, I do think these struggles offer us a chance to remember God's promise. He promised that peoples from all the nations will be present in Heaven. He also commands his people to submit to earthly authorities which God has placed over them.

Since we know these facts, we should not force a communist to become a capitalist before we share fellowship with him/her. The same is true for views on social and cultural issues such as dress, grooming habits, and body language. Must we "civilize" the "savages" as a condition of belief in Jesus or is it enough for them to "savagely" seek and praise God?

I challenge all of us including myself to seek to strip away my culture and bias from his gospel, love, truth, and glory.

Ordering Skinny Lattes with Plato

I have always thought Israel a powerful nation albeit ruthless and stubborn. I just thought "well that's just their way". Mostly, I think I just figured it was better to have them as a friend rather than enemy. If I thought about the Middle East growing up, I usually thought it was dangerous and a mess and I was glad that I didn't live there.

The introspection for me began when a friend passionately debated America's foreign policy with me. He argued that if America threatened to stop foreign aid to Israel then it would engage in a meaningful peace process and 70% of the world's terrorists would stop. Being an American and natural moderate, I told him even superpowers don't have magic wands and I looked for the middle ground on the issue.

Then I came home and had a brief chat with my wife who corrected some large misconceptions I had. This led to the inevitable "uh oh" feeling that I get when I realize that I just argued something that I was mostly ignorant about.

I imagine myself in a toga sitting in a Greek Starbucks with Plato, Freud, and Sun Tzu. We are casually discussing modern life as I sip my skinny latte and let my expansive mind work. "I have amazing news. Did you know the Internet was invented by Al Gore?... Of course I am certain Freud."

These moments are usually followed by panic which is usually followed by a determined study of the available facts.

So over a Sprite and BBQ beef burger my wife (nerdy history major) gave me a brief synopsis. After this I did a little digging around on the US State dept web site (while not snoring!). The experience was sobering.

I now have an answer for why so many people around me in Egypt are politely dismissive if we start to talk about the Middle East. This combined with a belief that all Americans are Christians and thus the actions of America reflects the beliefs of the Christian faith can make cultural conversations difficult.

I love Israelis as fellow products of God's creation. I love those that follow Jesus as brothers and sisters. I love those that do not follow Jesus as friends and beautiful image bearers of God. I feel exactly the same towards the Arabs, Turks, and countless other ethnicities around the world. So this gets to the heart of this post. It hurts me that American favoritism toward Israel damages the ability of Americans to relate and connect with other Middle Eastern people.

The pro-favoritism arguements go something like this:
Israel can be a strong ally against the forces of chaos or militarism or extremism.
Israel must become strong for the end times to come so we should help that process along.
God promises to bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel.

While I can't find support for these points of view in the bible, I understand and accept that some people believe them. I don't believe any of these points is significant enough to encourage a deviation from the example that both Jesus and the Apostles set for seeking those who have not heard about the Messiah and God's salvation for mankind.

Two biblical examples stick out in my mind.

Luke 9:51-55; a Samaritan village refused to let Jesus stay the night because of anger and tension with the Jews.

John 4: 4-42; Jesus strikes up a conversation with a Samaritan woman who introduces him to more people and many believe in him.

I think about the lives that were lost because ethnic barriers and the inability of the disciples to get over them. For now I will try to listen with more love and empathy and hope that the source of this wound (favoritism) will be removed in God's time.

Blame and Blindness

Student: Sir, my grade on the presentation was to low. Was it because my topic was offensive? I will not accept the low grade.

Teacher: All topics are permitted in an academic setting. Your grade was a result of your mistakes during the presentation. They were the following: ... you could improve by using the following tricks.

Student: But I showed you my work before I gave the presentation. You should have told me about all of this before my presentation. It is your fault so I will not accept the grade. Ps: I am being oppressed.

Teacher: Your presentation is your responsibility not mine. The grade is final. But, I still would like to help you improve your presentation skills if you like.

Student: I accept your authority but I disagree with your assessment of what I did during my presentation.

The end.

The word play above is a paraphrase of some emails that I read recently between a student and teacher. They traded emails back and forth for a while, but in the end it appeared the student miscommunicated during the presentation which contributed to their poor performance.

Miscommunications happen everyday between people of different cultures. So why was this one so interesting to me?

I think it was because the dialogues happened so rapidly. I was able to watch as both sides struggle to communicate in a blended world where their words didn't mean the same thing and there were limited common vocabularies.

It was like watching two kids coloring in a big poster together with the lovely 64 pack. You give both of them instructions to make the grass green and sky blue and match each other. Then you send them into different rooms with different crayons. You bring them back after 20 minutes and viola! you have a mismatch and conflict.

Another thing that was interesting to me was how the student in their anger looked to blame someone. This only made communication harder since they attack the teacher verbal. The teacher then struggles to not get defensive. Blame and defensiveness are two sides of the same coin. Both force you to put your complicity onto someone or something else. When this happens, you can't see your part in a problem and thus you can't improve next time.

In the end, the greatest lessons I learned from this experience were from watching the teacher's approach. The teacher struggled to aid a person in a way that they did not want and with a problem they felt that they did not have. When the student questioned the teacher answered. When the student rebutted the teacher responded with more information in an effort to help the student see and solve the real skills problem. When the student accused the teacher focused on the problems not the insult.

In the end, I think both student and teacher learned positive things from the experience. I did too. I learned to allow extra time and tolerance for cross cultural communication. I also learned how blame and defensiveness only set hurt feels in like a pen stain in the dryer. They damage and wound us because they blind us to the strapnel still in the wound when the outer flesh heals over.

The greatest freedom in my life came when I realized that I could turn my pain and burdens on to God and draw from his strength at the same time. It is this that allows me to be honest even as I hurt and seek a real solution. The real solution in the end is to look for my own part in the source of the pain and let God take the bullet out. That way the memory of the pain fades and I learn another way not to get shot.

Because we love our children

In the Gospel of Mark Jesus asks a little child to stand up and he puts is hands on him and utters the following words:

"Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."

I find it interesting that Jesus made no distinction about the child beyond little. He didn't say believer child or jewish child or pagan child or crippled child or sick child or healthy child or rich child or poor child. He just said little child. I think he was getting to the heart of what his time on earth was about... loving someone (or mankind) simply because they were made by God in His image. I think children are important because I find it easier to see God in them than in adults. When I see the children of my Muslim friends or Buddist friends or Athiest friends I am reminded that same image of God that I see in the child is in their parents. When my Muslim friend tells me about each of his children I see the pride and love radiate through and I can't help but love his children too. Children also help us as human beings cross lines. When my Saudi friend told me how her daughter's best friend is suffering with Lukemia and her family just found out my heart broke for the child, my friend's daughter, and all the families involved. I am reminded that these are people in God's image that are suffering a pain that He never wanted for them. So when my friend asked me to pray for her daughter's friend my heart wept for the chance to lift her up before God. When I pray tonight I do it having the joy of knowing that he is listening to my prayer a her bedside because he was already there. I will remember she was one of his little children first. He loved her first and always will love her. If you feel like joining me and my friend, please pray for Joud in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Round numbers

Okay... a random thought. In Western culture we love numbers but our love affair ends with numbers that take effort.

For instance, does anyone really writeout 3,600,000,000,000 when we write about the budget plan for America? No way, I could screw up all the zeros! Let's take a stroll into math land and meet some interesting numbers and their imaginary playmates... 2+2i^0 anyone. Then there is the mother of all headache numbers: pi. Otherwise know as 3.14159 26535 89793 23846 26433 83279 50288 41971 69399 37510... (and it keeps on going).

So what do we do when we face such numerical monstrosities? Like Monty Python we make these beastly things cute small and easy to understand (anyone else remember the killer fluffy bunny from the Holy Grail Movie).

We put the numbers into the microwave push a button, wait 30 seconds and out pops our kinder gentler numbers otherwise know as approximations or "round" numbers. Try out these fuzzy friendly and puppy dog like numbers... 3.6 trillion, 4, and 3.14. Not cute enough? how about ~4 trillion, or 5. now were talking!

Okay so your wondering why all the fuss on numbers. The answer is because something gets lost when we make numbers cute and easy. The something is accuracy. And when your talking about population numbers the loss in accuracy means somebody just pushed grandma off the cliff because it was to difficult to remember her. So with this comforting thought in mind let's bring grandma with us and check out some numbers from The Joshua Project:

USA
304,742,000 people and counting.
364 separate people groups or cultures and counting.
60 of those groups are in the "least reached" categories.
162 living languages.

The World
6,640,875,000 people and counting.
16,306 separate people groups or cultures and counting.
6,650 unreached people groups.

So what do these numbers tell me? I see that there are a LOT of people in the States that aren't like me and I never knew they existed here in the States. Imagine the joy of a chance to be a living witness of God's grace and love to a least reached people group without having to give up modern plumbing or your neice's birthday parties. How awesome!

The whens, hows, and whys of prayer

So what exactly is prayer? How does a "Christian" pray? I know how I pray. I know what prayer is to me, but is it the same for all Christians? Do I have the right to speak for all of them? How do I describe the joy of praying in the Spirit and the feelings of being safe at home that I feel? These were my thoughts the other day when a Muslim friend asked me when do Christians pray. When I replied all the time or anytime, the follow-up question of how do you pray was not far behind. The unasked question was why do I pray. The conversation was a quick one, but thoughts and feelings from it resonant within me like church bells within a small village that search for "ears to hear".