“If anyone has a right to put their confidence in their own identity, goodness, love for people and justice, abilities, intelligence, physical prowess, attractiveness, cleverness, earning capabilities, effort, gender, ethnicity, spirituality, character, potential, or accomplishments…
I had you all beat – by an immeasurable distance…. [see original text for the apostle’s personal-cultural evidences]…
But whatever things were ever gain or advantage for me — ever — those things I have ejected or let them blow away for the sake of… [see original text for the apostle’s radical change]…
In fact, I’ve gone even further than that, I now recognize the sobering reality that all those attributes were basically…” [vulgar word used by the apostle that refers to cow excreta, which I would like to use here to offend the same kind of people the original author of this quote wanted to offend. And for similar reasons. But there are sound reasons for me now to hold back].
Do I care about justice? Fairness? The mistreatment of the unfortunate? Jesus Christ was the very best person who ever lived, and was murdered by a mob running through the streets celebrating its own virtue. Christ Jesus, however seriously I have taken You in the past, keep me pressing on in the same direction — now and forever.
The Presbytery met again inside its crumbling walls. We met to form, inform, reform and reaffirm our calls, To make sure the machine was oiled and Jesus wouldn’t show. Each presbyter attended who had nowhere else to go. We met to celebrate the joy: the coming fiscal quarter. No strong emotions will arise to shame The Book of Order. And all of us still function at the common, decent level. These minutes are respectfully submitted to the Devil.
There is much background that could be given on this. Perhaps there are some who will read and be prayerfully aware of similar themes. It is certainly not easy to feed habitual poison to folks that already dismiss (or worse) anything associated with what they think of as “Christianity.” On the other hand, the most subtle defilements of our common humanity can not or should not be ignored, and sadly, some of those defilements slither around in churches (and church camps) too. Some of the background of the little rhyme above, both personal and cultural, will get some more attention somewhere in or near this site – if the gentle onslaught of time allows. In the meantime, here is a song that came out of the same experiences, providing a point of view that still struggles to unite with the one above. Both are valid but not happily married. Neither should swallow up the other.
(My apologies that the production quality is not what you’re used to.)
You and(D)me - we’re not the same Different(Em7)players in the game Different(A7)praises, different blame I for(G)give you We’ve had(D)looks and we’ve had words There’ve been(Em7)enemies and friends Each at(A7)tacks or else defends I for(G)give you I forgive you Please for(A)give me God is(F#m)watching There is(Bm)so much we don’t know And the(Em7)life of Christ with(A7)in still needs to(D)grow On warm and sunny afternoons We look out from different rooms With secret sins and secret wounds I forgive you Could we maybe have been friends In those days long past and gone When we needed to hold on to someone? I forgive you I forgive you Please forgive me God is watching There is so much we don’t know And the life of Christ within still needs to grow.
In the New Testament, James 2:1-13 provides a nice supporting text to those with a certain contemporary bent, along the lines of, “If you are compassionate, and especially if you claim to be a follower of Jesus, you will surely care about the unfortunate among us by showing them generosity.”
If you read the text in one of the translations that is more readable for a modern (I am partial to the New Living Translation) and not flawed by social agenda addiction, the clear teaching there is that our contaminated (see Genesis 3) natures tend to show a higher level of favoritism to certain classes of people while ignoring (at least) certain other classes. And the passage is explicit in placing special focus on the treatment of rich vs. poor.
I say amen! One whose treatment of others is modified up for the merely well-off (or “privileged”) while being callous toward the merely down-and-out (or “marginalized”) is clearly in need of some heart surgery. Such a person seems to be misfiring with regard to whatever goodness or right(eous)ness or justice or compassion s/he has (or claims to have).
At least that’s the case if s/he claims to be a “Christian.”
Why do I put the word “Christian” in quotes? There is a more thorough explanation coming up soon, but some clarification is required here. In the Book of Acts, Chapter 11, we learn of the first use of the word “Christian” – referring to those who were seriously seeking to follow Jesus Christ as their Deliverer and Premier. Think Christling. The new label was needed because the dawn of the A.D. age (Please learn to detest “C.E.”) had complicated the culturally volatile boundaries separating Jew and gentile. Most of the early followers of Christ came from Jewish beginnings, meaning the one group was now separated into two: Jews left unaffected by Jesus at the time, and Jews whose lives were significantly impacted by Jesus. This divide became even more complex (and volatile) when the followers of Jesus became increasingly gentile (non-Jews). Originally, the designation “Christian” was used to distinguish the new non-Jewish devotees of Christ from the original base group, the Jewish devotees. This all might seem like so much trivial cultural prejudice to us, but imagine now if a large group of atheist scientists or leftist academics or fundamentalist Muslims began to see their ranks being altered (compromised?) by a new movement of serious religious believers, right-wing university professors, or converts to Judaism. New words, and new uses of old words, would multiply exponentially and with great intensity.
The main point: The word “Christian” started out as a label for people who were so serious in their devotion to Jesus Christ that they were willing to pay a high price (ridicule, excommunication, thievery, eventually murder) at the hands of their old tribal neighbors. This is a far cry from the many trivial or devilish uses of the word in our era. The word can now be used in countless vague and trivial ways, without censor. Thus: “Christian” (in quotes). There is a busy Department of Language and Semantics in Hell.
But what is “rich”? And what is “poor”? How easy it is to reduce the meanings (and this the passage in James) to mere matters of wealth. Easy for two reasons: (1) Almost no one, not even among those who are well-off, think of themselves as “rich.” The “poor” of first-world nations live in apartments and houses, drive cars, own televisions and indoor plumbing with warm water, several changes in clothing, and enough food to be overweight. If we define “rich” as having so much that we are forced to look inward to find the primary causes of our habitual discontent, then we are a culture of routine entitlement. That is, rich people, and the migration numbers prove it. (2) If we “care about the poor” in the non-nuanced conventional use of the phrase, then we get to walk away feeling virtuous, especially in contrast to those wicked “rich” (in the non-nuanced conventional use of the word).
Beware of the claim that one cares about the “marginalized.” In our day, this is very often a marxist-like revolutionary agenda that merely replaced class envy (which did not work in capitalist cultures due to what I summarized above) with race and gender envy (and the increasingly bizarre grievance variations that have followed).
The “community organizers” (Stalin started out as one) still stir up grievances and self-righteous resentment on one end, and motherly “compassion” on the other. The problem?: Inside dark and moist kitchen cabinets, those morally superior cockroaches are still trying to take over the house, and they’re paying lesser pests to do most of the infesting.
Make no mistake: a genuine follower of Jesus Christ has learned to throw much conventional religion out with the bloody bathwater. The Crucified and Risen One is not just “a great religious teacher.” He is everything that is truly Good, and every idea that is truly life-giving. It is the well-meaning-unwell-doing pretenders or their decievees that keep religiosity alive in iterations as new as post-modern trans-humanism and as old as the Garden of Eden and the tower of Babel.
Back to the main intent of James chapter 2, I propose a radical redefining of some of these cultural sensitivities regarding the rich and poor, etc., e.g.:
To be rich means to have more than you need of some generally desirable thing that someone in your sphere of influence (your “neighbor” in the biblical meaning) is severely lacking.
Lets use the example of what is perhaps the most common prejudicial injustice that is experienced routinely all around us – without being given the label. Physically attractive people are subject to specially favored treatment in infinite ways all the time. Does the prejudice not show itself in social gatherings? Hiring practices? Political elections? Sibling rivalries? Cliques?
If a reader here does not recognize the many societal “injustices” that could be righted by abandoning our discrimination along these lines, drop me a line. Let’s go deeper together.
“…to have more than you need of some generally desirable thing that someone in your sphere of influence (your “neighbor” in the biblical meaning) is severely lacking. Intelligence? Education? Health? Youth? “Maturity”? Language usage? Gender? Military service? Diet? Weight? Accomplishments? Quantity of friends and associates? Sense of pride? Encounters with nature? Pet ownership? (I kid you not!) Social skills? Clothing? The list is very long.
So if you believe yourself to be concerned with goodness, fairness, justice, kindness, I ask that you read James 2:1-13 with slightly different glasses. Here are two possible helps:
I need to take some time now in this quiet place with all the noise and struggles left outside. Some pieces of my soul are out of Your control, But I want You for my Friend and Lord. I need You now to
Take all my life. Take it into my life. Take what I’ve kept from You and all that chains me inside. Precious Lord, the time is right. I’m ready to give up the fight. Your children die in order then to rise.
I need to take some time now in this quiet place. I need to know exactly who I am. With hungry souls to feed, and my own soul in such need, No human strength is strong enough, and none is needed.
Take all my life. Take it into my life. Take what I’ve kept from You and all that shames me inside. Precious Lord, the time is right. I’m ready to give up the fight. Your children die in order then to rise.
"A mean and greedy deed, indeed. He would not heed the leader's lead. You plant the seed, then weed the weeds, So growth with speed can feed our need. It is decreed. All are agreed. A child could read the simple creed.
But he is of a hackneyed breed. A knock-kneed weakling weasel. We'd plead like feeble reeds, while he'd proceed unyielding, guaranteed, and freed in his mind to recede. He would not heed the leader's lead. A mean and greedy deed, indeed."
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful, be thankful
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord..., giving thanks through Him to God the Father. [:14] And beyond all these things put on love…
Colossians: 3:14-17 [verse 14 is partial, and repositioned]
music: James Taylor’s “Don’t Want to be Lonely Tonight”
Teach me the language that apes silence Bring the sociology that integrates forgiveness and accountability Experiment within that science that pierces the shroud of engineered objectivity –
With instruments of neglected truth No mere rhetorical device No advancement for profit, masquerading as the next hypothesis
Toward people I like so much that they can’t possibly offend me
I want to learn from the true substrata The true black holes Create for me the essential holy visceral art
Men and women loving and learning together for some reason beyond ourselves
Philosophize out of emptiness Let us plod along together to the laboratory of terror And concoct something too Good to be unTrue
The courtroom was full and the facts were clear Heinous crimes and horrible deeds But the counsel for defense turned it upside down with lies, manipulation and sleaze O what a performance! O what a show! till no laws were left to obey He did it for legitimate pay, O Lord He did it for legitimate pay
2.
When Jesus arrived with courageous love the leaders of the masses looked grim With righteous civic pride they unveiled their plan to decorate a cross with him The peace–keeping forces from glorious Rome stood guard at that bloody display They did it for legitimate pay, Oh Lord They did it for legitimate pay
< – – – >
Verses 3 and 4, which are not included on the audio version, appear at the bottom of this post.
5.
We dreamed as a child –– foolish, childish dreams –– of what we would make of our lives But who has the courage and poise to see when the critical moment arrives? This job with its paychecks makes it easier to ignore what is slipping away To ignore it for legitimate pay, Oh Lord We do it for legitimate pay
< – – – >
Additional verses not included in the audio:
3.
The train puffed and whistled with national pride happy for a cargo to pull The soldiers herded all the Jewish children in until the cattle cars were full Another day, another dollar, one more job well done, they wished each other, “Have a nice day” They did it for legitimate pay, Oh Lord They did it for legitimate pay
4.
The ground started shaking, the world caught fire Thousands were lost in the plague Then down from the hills savage warriors came to destroy what could not be enslaved But I was at the office, and so were you with lots to keep us busy that day to earn our legitimate pay, Oh Lord To earn our legitimate pay
