Advent of Peace

This year, Trinity UMC's theme for Advent is "Advent of Peace". In order to provide a resource for daily devotions and a calendar of church events during Advent, we have launched a wonderful website- adventofpeace.org. Each of the pastors on staff will contribute a devotional every week. Mine will appear on Fridays. Check out the website here.

Sermon Link

On November 7th, I preached my first manuscript-free sermon. I was a little nervous about this new approach, but I think it turned out alright. You can find the audio for it here.

Jesus and Politics

I have long been leery of any vision that involves implementing Christian ideas and goals by means of secular politics. This includes issues such as social justice, health care, and abortion. I want the church to have space to offer its own Christ-centered vision and solutions to these issues apart from an ego- and vote-driven, non-Christian political system. In short, I do not want the church to think it has to play the game of secular politics in order for Christ's kingdom to be present. As such, I have traditionally aligned myself with the Libertarian Party. However, lately, I have even shied away from this affiliation, because of the rationale which lies behind the Libertarian Party's tendency towards small government (read: looking out only for the wealthy and so-called "natural rights").

As I wrestle with this myself, I read a pertinent blog today written by my bishop, Will Willimon. Although I did disagree with him on the issue of children's sermons (see below), I feel that he usually hits issues right on target from an orthodox Christian perspective (whether it is pleasant for us to hear or not). I strongly suggest reading his blog post on the relationship between church and state here. Also, I recommend reading John Howard Yoder's classic book The Christian Witness to the State.

Getting in Shape for Jesus

Once on The Johnny Carson Show, Carson interviewed some bodybuilders. They came on the stage with their shirts off, looking all jacked up. They were ready to show the world their hot bods. So Carson asked one of them, "So why do you bodybuild?" All the guy did was flex his guns and smile. So Carson asked him again, "Really, what's the point of bodybuilding?" The guy just flexed harder and smiled bigger.




Stories like that sadden me. It shows me how much of this world is just flash and vanity- and it's all fleeting. Maybe some folks just need to read Ecclesiastes and that will set them straight. Or maybe we are just more hard-hearted than I think.

Dieting, losing weight, and gaining muscle are all the rage, and they have been for quite some time. You even hear this quite frequently around more progressive Christian circles (although I have to say that at every meeting of Methodist pastors that I go to, at least half of the pastors are obese). So should Christians diet and take care of their bodies? If so, why?

On one hand, 2 Corinthians 4:16 says, "Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day." So maybe my fellow pastors are right? Who needs the body when our souls are being saved? But this thinking risks a sort of Platonic dualism or Stoicism. On the other hand, other Christians will point to the creation narrative and claim that a more paradigmatic reading that our bodies are gifts from God and as such, we should take care of them. But paradigmatic readings are often challenged by those who desire a more literal interpretation of Scripture (and to my mind there is no "command" to diet and exercise). In essence, this question is like many ethical questions, it depends on your opinion of the authority of Scripture.

As you might expect if you know me, I choose the latter of these two choices. My theology as a Methodist is shaped by God's grace (a word that we have butchered over time, but simply means "free gift"). Our bodies are absolutely included in the gifts we are given by God, so we must be good stewards of them. But, I must confess, I have not been faithful to this. It's not that I haven't been taking care of my body. I have. In fact, I have lost 20 pounds since June (This is the 3rd time in my life I have lost at least this much weight. Keeping it off is the hard part. My suggestion: don't get married; the first year will get you.). But my rationale for losing weight was all wrong. You know why I lost weight? 2 reasons: 1) because I was tired of my double chin 2) because I didn't think I would get any respect as a preacher if I was fat. And on some level, those reasons are valid. But on the theological level, they are vapid. In fact, I don't think my reasoning makes me any better than those bodybuilders on Carson.


All this is to say that abstract theology is fun, but it is not really Christian theology. Real Christian theology is ethical, embodied practice of the knowledge of the risen Lord of all creation. So when we watch over that creation, to whom do we give the glory?

Point, Click, Amen!

Last week, I went to Leawood, Kansas (outside of Kansas City) with six of my Trinity coworkers to the annual Leadership Institute at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection. CoR is the largest United Methodist congregation in the U.S. with over 14,000 members. They are always on the cutting edge of evangelism (a concern particular to my own position), and they do many tasks of the church extremely well. Some pastors would consider these approaches a little too innovative and straying from the truest definitions of church, but I generally admire their work. As such, there was one particular topic breached last week that raised some eyebrows- including my own.



That is, online worship. CoR has what they call an "online campus" of their church. Internet surfers can view worship services from the comfort of their laptops without ever heading out the door to grace the threshold of a sanctuary. And as they view the services, they can chat with their online pastor, who answers their questions about the church. The response to this approach has been phenomenal. Thousands tune in online every Sunday for online worship. Many have converted to Christianity because of the online worship experience. And several have even become motivated to shut down their computers and visit the church in person for the first time in decades.

The main criticism of this approach is obvious: without interpersonal interaction, can this really be church? Christ calls us to be in tangible communion with one another. That is the foundation for the Eucharist. It is why we have baptismal, confirmation, and membership candidates stand up in front of the whole church. In order to "bear one another's burdens" (Gal. 6:2), don't we have to be physically present with one another?

But CoR and its senior pastor, Adam Hamilton (pictured above), are showing us that "tangibility" has changed in the 21st century. Hamilton admitted that he has issues with the approach as well, but that his opinion does not really matter. Instead, it's about what people need in today's world to start the path of Christian discipleship. Reality has been altered by "the cloud". Pokes, tweets, and e-mails are the first line of reachability in today's world, and we simply need to adjust to it. I agree with his assessment of today's world. However, I hope the church is not satisfied to stop evangelism at the first line of reachability. It is my desire that tools like online worship are not a substitute for worship, but instead a means to bring folks into real, interpersonal (read: non-cyberspace) communion. Your thoughts?

Jesus Is a Friend of Mine

If you must watch one YouTube video today, please watch this one.

Let the Children Come?

I have no idea how to relate to kids. In fact, I would venture to say that most pastors, due to their time spent pondering the "deeper questions of faith", struggle to relate those questions in terms that children can understand. So, besides preparing for a sermon, the part of worship that I (and most pastors) get the most nervous about preparing for is the "Children's Moment".

Recently, my bishop, Will Willimon, released a blog article about the Children's Moment. He derides the idea as a noble attempt to show a congregation's emphasis on children, but a poor attempt to convey the gospel to the little ones. For Willimon, kids simply cannot grasp the abstract information in a sermon, even one directed at their level. And furthermore, these sermons are so superficial (most of the time) that kids grow up deluded by some of these ideas as they learn more in-depth information about the faith (at least that is my interpretation of part of his argument).

But he certainly realizes the importance of utlizing children in worship, so as to not marginalize them (Luke 18:15-17). He suggests having them sit at the chancel to observe baptisms, which I have seen in practice before, and it is a beautiful moment for sure. But this suggestion falls apart in most small churches where they may baptize children once or twice a year. Another suggestion is to have them pray or read a Scripture passage, which I wholeheartedly endorse. However, this suggestion can only affect one child every Sunday.

As a person who has to lead Children's Moments, I understand Willimon's frustrations. Sometimes, I too wonder if the kids are "getting it". But have issue with Willimon calling out Children's Moments on two grounds. The first is, I have seen kids "get it" in the Children's Moment before, and there is nothing greater in my eyes to see a child's eyes light up when they understand even the tiniest bit of the gospel. Perhaps the fact that this has happened so often to me is because I serve a church where most of the kids grow up in solid families where the education at church is being supplemented by good nurturing at home. Secondly, I cannot think of a better alternative for most churches (who don't have baptisms every Sunday) to exhibit their devotion to Christ's command in Luke 18 than for all of the children present to gather in front of the church- to remind the congregation of the gospel's preference for those who are meek and mild.

I agree that the Children's Moments do not have to be merely abstract information. There are certainly more creative options for conveying the gospel to children. The burden here lies on pastors to be creative, to reach out to those who work with children on a daily basis (Children's Ministry directors, elementary school teachers, etc.) and find fresh and tangible solutions to Willimon's quandry. Most importantly, though, I call for pastors (especially myself) to put more care and planning into Children's Moments than to just be satisfied with seeing it as another check to mark off on the worship bulletin. I think the gospel deserves at least that much from us.