A Christian Nation
There’s a myth in America today that this country was founded as a Christian country, by Christians. Suffice to say this is not the case; Jefferson, for instance, was simply not a Christian, and this went into the first amendment. The wording of the founding documents of this country are based on European philosophy and on English Common Law; while that common law traces a distant ancestry to Judaic code, it is a faulty argument to contend that it is derived from Christianity. And it’s a good thing, too, because a morality that is legislated externally by the secular authority is a less meaningful morality.
But lets get away from the topic of legislation. What if we really had a Christian nation? What would that look like?
I think the best way to describe a Christian nation would be as a nation of Christians, governed by Christian principles of governance. For simplicity, I’m going to stay away from the latter for now. What would a nation of Christians accomplish?
In Luke 10, Jesus sends out 72 early disciples. He sends them with nothing and tells them to heal the sick and tell them the kingdom of God is near. When they returned, they told Jesus, “Lord, even the Demons submit to us in your name!”
Heal the sick. I never quite understood that one, because I’ve never managed to miraculously heal someone’s illness. But now we have a lot of medical technology… if you have the money for it. Cancer treatments, heart treatments, transplants, and today biggest of all, antiretroviral medications. So our nation of Christians should start by putting our resources into healing the ills of the world, and specifically HIV/AIDS.
The kingdom of God is near when we engage in the world in the way Christ told us to.
The next thing that a nation of Christians would do is love our neighbors. On a national scale, this means no more aggressive war; we could only be militarily involved in curbing aggression. We would have fought WWII; we would not have fought Vietnam or Iraq. But loving our neighbors would go so far beyond that.
Deuteronomy 10:18: He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.
The fatherless are a sadly growing group in our society. It may seem just a result of divorce and out of wedlock parenting, but these spring from a degradation of respect for women in our society, and oftentimes from domestic violence. It is our duty as Christians to look after the fatherless. So in a Christian nation, every neighbor would be doing all we could, financially and socially, to assist children in single-parent households.
As Christians, we would love the strangers in our midst. This would mean an end to the immigration controversy: we would embrace and love these people and help them to integrate into our society.
“Sell all you have and give to the poor.” If the wealthiest of our society gave even 10% of what they have and earn to the poor, we wouldn’t even need a welfare system. Yet I hear complaints from the wealthier (and by that, I mean the nonpoor) that their money is taken away to be given to “undeserving” poor people, namely those on medicaid and TANF. But could you imagine if the wealthy really did give all to the poor? There wouldn’t be any more poor! Not in this country, anyway. We’ll see what we’ll accomplish on the global level.
A word on wealth inequity. According to the Wall Street Journal (“Plutonomics,” January 8, 2007) the rich in America control 90% of the wealth and 60% of the annual spending. Wow. And that is in the country that, comprising 5% of the world’s population, produces 20% of its income. (CIA World Factbook, 2008).
It is based on these simple facts that I can see what America could accomplish both domestically and globally if we used biblical principles to govern the use of our wealth. If we who earn the most gave a lions share of it to the poor abroad and here, just imagine what would happen.
I have so much more to say, but I don’t want this article to become a book. But a few quick words on what we would accomplish internationally.
If we ended war by loving our international neighbors, we would free up a massive and mobile labor force in the form of the US Military apparatus. A million soldiers, marines, airmen, and sailors around the world would be empowered to engage in humanitarian missions. When an earthquake or a tsunami happened, we would be nearby to render aid, to lift rocks and drain floods, to rescue people with helicopters and boats. More controversially, if our weaponry was not engaged in a selfishly motivated war, we could use it to rescue children in the war torn parts of Africa and from brothels in Asia.
If we engaged our agricultural capacity and technology to places abroad, we could simply end world hunger.
If we stopped turning a blind eye to sweatshop labor and insisted on a fair wage and reasonable conditions for every worker, we could end the global labor crisis.
A Christian Nation. 301 million neighbors loving one another and the world. Imagine it.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Thursday, March 6, 2008
The Shema
You may have heard of something called the Jesus Creed. I call it “The Two Commandments.” The two commandments? “Jim, you’re wrong, there are ten”, you’re probably saying. Actually, there are many more. The Judaic law has over 600 commandments. And one day, a group of Jews asked Jesus which of these is the greatest. He told them, Love the lord with all your heart…and your neighbor like yourself. (This is called the “Shema” and is an ancient Hebrew creed.) There is another reference to these commandments, Luke 10:25-37.
We hear that “an expert in the law”, so a lawyer or a rabbi, asked Christ what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus asked him what the scripture said, and he said, “Love the lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and Love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus told him to do this and he would live… but he wasn’t satisfied. “Who is my neighbor?”
Remember the parable of the good Samaritan?
In short, a man falls prey to robbers on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho, and while a few otherwise good people walk past him, it’s a Samaritan who stops to help him.
Jesus ends the parable, like so many, with a question. “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” Now, look at the wording of his answer, in Luke 10:37. He doesn’t say “The Samaritan”! He can’t even admit it out loud. He says, “The one who had mercy on him.”
What exactly is a Samaritan?
Samaritans were half-breeds. They were related to the Jews, and lived near them, but they worshipped a little differently, and had intermingled their blood with that of the gentiles. In other words, they were a different racial and religious group. Consider that the Samaritans were to the Jews as the Mexicans and the Muslims are to middle Americans.
Now, there’s more. Jesus said, what you do unto the least of these you do unto me! I have been seeing a horrible trend in Evangelical America. We like to care about those who are similar to us. We are neighbors to those who live near us. And maybe we even take care of our own within our local church family. But there are communities across this country (and especially around the world!) where people struggle just to get by. As Christians, it is our responsibility to reach out to those who need us, even (or especially) when it’s hard to reach.
Loving your neighbor is not usually easy. And sometimes it’s downright hard. One example is when you have to give to someone who is ungrateful. The natural human response is to stop giving. But just as we are asked to forgive our brother seventy times seven times, I’m convinced that we are to give seventy times seven times.
It’s not easy because it hurts. Giving is hard, partly because giving to requires giving up. When someone gives 10% of my income to my church, it means that they have 10% less income than they would have otherwise had. And I’m poor. I suppose its even harder for the rich, because 10% is that much more expensive for them. But tithing is not all of giving. Tithing was the dictate to the Jews. Why do you suppose, in the old testament, the cost was ten percent, but in the new testament that number isn’t given? I’m going to ask a question of our biblical scholars here. What percentage does Christ ask us to give?
Mark 10:21. “Go, sell some of what you have and give to a major evangelist, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.”
What? I got it wrong? Oh, I’m sorry. I was reading that 21st century translation again. Let me read what it really says. “Go, sell all you have and give the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.” The number is 100%. But just as Moses allowed divorce as a compromise for the hardhearted people who were truly blessed for free with a covenant from God, he settled for 10% from them. But we as Christians have a new covenant. You have heard it said that salvation is a free gift. This is true. But I read right here that its expensive. Which is true?
Now, I realize I’ve been pretty vague in some ways, so it’s time for me to say point blank what I’ve been trying to get at. The first is tithe. God has given you everything for free. And he commanded you to give everything to the poor. So there is no excuse not to give 10%.
The second is, some of you are struggling with your calling in life, and I’m going to call you to full time missions. Whatever you are doing, you should be doing it for God. To some people, that may mean quitting your comfortable job and taking a helping job. To others, that means finding the ways to serve God in what you do. And to some, it means leaving where you are altogether, to become a poor missionary.
I want to close with another quote from Luke 10. “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.”
We hear that “an expert in the law”, so a lawyer or a rabbi, asked Christ what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus asked him what the scripture said, and he said, “Love the lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and Love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus told him to do this and he would live… but he wasn’t satisfied. “Who is my neighbor?”
Remember the parable of the good Samaritan?
In short, a man falls prey to robbers on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho, and while a few otherwise good people walk past him, it’s a Samaritan who stops to help him.
Jesus ends the parable, like so many, with a question. “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” Now, look at the wording of his answer, in Luke 10:37. He doesn’t say “The Samaritan”! He can’t even admit it out loud. He says, “The one who had mercy on him.”
What exactly is a Samaritan?
Samaritans were half-breeds. They were related to the Jews, and lived near them, but they worshipped a little differently, and had intermingled their blood with that of the gentiles. In other words, they were a different racial and religious group. Consider that the Samaritans were to the Jews as the Mexicans and the Muslims are to middle Americans.
Now, there’s more. Jesus said, what you do unto the least of these you do unto me! I have been seeing a horrible trend in Evangelical America. We like to care about those who are similar to us. We are neighbors to those who live near us. And maybe we even take care of our own within our local church family. But there are communities across this country (and especially around the world!) where people struggle just to get by. As Christians, it is our responsibility to reach out to those who need us, even (or especially) when it’s hard to reach.
Loving your neighbor is not usually easy. And sometimes it’s downright hard. One example is when you have to give to someone who is ungrateful. The natural human response is to stop giving. But just as we are asked to forgive our brother seventy times seven times, I’m convinced that we are to give seventy times seven times.
It’s not easy because it hurts. Giving is hard, partly because giving to requires giving up. When someone gives 10% of my income to my church, it means that they have 10% less income than they would have otherwise had. And I’m poor. I suppose its even harder for the rich, because 10% is that much more expensive for them. But tithing is not all of giving. Tithing was the dictate to the Jews. Why do you suppose, in the old testament, the cost was ten percent, but in the new testament that number isn’t given? I’m going to ask a question of our biblical scholars here. What percentage does Christ ask us to give?
Mark 10:21. “Go, sell some of what you have and give to a major evangelist, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.”
What? I got it wrong? Oh, I’m sorry. I was reading that 21st century translation again. Let me read what it really says. “Go, sell all you have and give the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.” The number is 100%. But just as Moses allowed divorce as a compromise for the hardhearted people who were truly blessed for free with a covenant from God, he settled for 10% from them. But we as Christians have a new covenant. You have heard it said that salvation is a free gift. This is true. But I read right here that its expensive. Which is true?
Now, I realize I’ve been pretty vague in some ways, so it’s time for me to say point blank what I’ve been trying to get at. The first is tithe. God has given you everything for free. And he commanded you to give everything to the poor. So there is no excuse not to give 10%.
The second is, some of you are struggling with your calling in life, and I’m going to call you to full time missions. Whatever you are doing, you should be doing it for God. To some people, that may mean quitting your comfortable job and taking a helping job. To others, that means finding the ways to serve God in what you do. And to some, it means leaving where you are altogether, to become a poor missionary.
I want to close with another quote from Luke 10. “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.”
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Giving it up
The rich young man walks away from Christ, the source of salvation, with his head hung low, because the price that is asked is too high.
You don’t have to be rich to make that mistake.
Very often, there’s something in our life that we’re just not willing to give up. I challenge you that following Jesus is not as simple as making a simple decision and praying a seven word prayer. It’s about daily taking up his cross, and that involves sacrifice.
For some, like the man in the biblical story, that sacrifice could be money and riches. For others, it might be a car or a “toy” of some sort. But materialism isn’t the only thing that gets in the way of our walk with God.
Have you ever met a Christian who was so caught up with something, anything, that they lost sight of the Gospel for even a moment? Perhaps it was a career. Perhaps a spouse or a girlfriend. Or it might be something you don’t even possess.
It is necessary to give it all up to God, even our desires. Remember that many things are impossible to man, but become possible to God. If you are struggling with a desire, give it to God.
It’s an easy thing to say “Give it up to God”, but how do you actualize that goal? It’s not easy. In my experience, all I can say is, visualize the opposite of your anxiety. If you’re anxious about finding a relationship, examine your life without a relationship, and pray for acceptance of your life as a single person. If you’re anxious about success in a career, pray for acceptance of your real abilities and not those you wish you had. These are just examples, but they apply to very important realities. If you’re anxious about money, pray for contentment and poverty.
“I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has (given up) for the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age ... and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
By truly giving up, you’re setting yourself up for human failure and divine success. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather be successful and fulfilled in God’s eyes than in those of my fellow man or even myself.
So give it all up to him.
You don’t have to be rich to make that mistake.
Very often, there’s something in our life that we’re just not willing to give up. I challenge you that following Jesus is not as simple as making a simple decision and praying a seven word prayer. It’s about daily taking up his cross, and that involves sacrifice.
For some, like the man in the biblical story, that sacrifice could be money and riches. For others, it might be a car or a “toy” of some sort. But materialism isn’t the only thing that gets in the way of our walk with God.
Have you ever met a Christian who was so caught up with something, anything, that they lost sight of the Gospel for even a moment? Perhaps it was a career. Perhaps a spouse or a girlfriend. Or it might be something you don’t even possess.
It is necessary to give it all up to God, even our desires. Remember that many things are impossible to man, but become possible to God. If you are struggling with a desire, give it to God.
It’s an easy thing to say “Give it up to God”, but how do you actualize that goal? It’s not easy. In my experience, all I can say is, visualize the opposite of your anxiety. If you’re anxious about finding a relationship, examine your life without a relationship, and pray for acceptance of your life as a single person. If you’re anxious about success in a career, pray for acceptance of your real abilities and not those you wish you had. These are just examples, but they apply to very important realities. If you’re anxious about money, pray for contentment and poverty.
“I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has (given up) for the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age ... and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
By truly giving up, you’re setting yourself up for human failure and divine success. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather be successful and fulfilled in God’s eyes than in those of my fellow man or even myself.
So give it all up to him.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Why this, why now?
Honestly, “because I could.”
I was sitting around a proverbial coffeeshop with some friends and we were talking about the impact God was having on our lives. I told a few stories that you can read on my other blog and talked a bit about what I’d discovered while reading Mark 10. What I found was that in the new testament, Jesus does not ask for 10% like I am so fond of asking people to give, but 100%. Now this is a very unpalatable idea, but it’s real. And I think it’s something we need to get talking about.
So I googled it quickly and found that these domain names were available, so I snapped them up. (richyoungman.com and .org)
This site will hopefully become a place to read and respond to some ideas about interpreting this very difficult passage and applying it to our lives.
I was sitting around a proverbial coffeeshop with some friends and we were talking about the impact God was having on our lives. I told a few stories that you can read on my other blog and talked a bit about what I’d discovered while reading Mark 10. What I found was that in the new testament, Jesus does not ask for 10% like I am so fond of asking people to give, but 100%. Now this is a very unpalatable idea, but it’s real. And I think it’s something we need to get talking about.
So I googled it quickly and found that these domain names were available, so I snapped them up. (richyoungman.com and .org)
This site will hopefully become a place to read and respond to some ideas about interpreting this very difficult passage and applying it to our lives.
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