One side of me is somewhat understanding.  I like that cities and other entities are starting to get serious about what is indeed a public health crisis.  People are not taking care of themselves and this is a public concern.  After all many of the ailments that we are treating at ever higher costs can be placed squarely at the feet of unhealthy diets and lack of exercise.   Part of me wants to say, “let’s crack down on people and their McDonalds addictions.” 

At the same time, I’m not sure if steps like this are really going to fix things.  I’m not sure limiting the total number of new fast food restaurants is really going to discourage McDonalds regulars from eating there.  I’m not sure people can be forced into healthy eating habits.  There has to be some inner motivation.

This is a motivation we should have as a Christian and something we should be talking about in churches.  How often do we take a hard look at ourselves and our fellow members and start talking honestly about the temples God gives us called bodies?  How often do we call ourselves on sins against them?  It’s one of those “little sins” that we don’t seem to find very offensive.

So what can we do?  What would you suggest churches do to start promoting healthier living?  What can the church say that would change the way people think?  I know it’s not a Christian thing, but I remember hearing once that a Jewish man was able to completely turn himself around by simply stating to himself that certain fatty foods were no long kosher for himself.  Could Christians do something equivalent?

Well, the above article does a great job of summarizing the details of this find and what is most important.  Namely, this discovery like all the other archaeological finds (both the true ones and the frauds), do not change faith.  We put our faith in Christ and in his Word.  Archaeology is fun and interesting and helps us understand Christ and his Word, but it will never prove it.  At the same time, it will never actually shake it either.  Since the Scriptures are true, no find will truly undermine the Bible.  I encourage you to read more and enjoy the current debate.  I love this stuff!

Any other thoughts on archaelogy and faith?  What was your reaction to the “Lost Tomb of Jesus”, “Gospel of Judas”, James, brother of Jesus, sarcophagus, etc?  What finds have most fascinated you?

It’s a beautiful video- scenes of our beautiful planet, of God’s creation.  Images like these remind us of our place within the earth as God’s stewards.  Certainly he has created something wonderful and we bear a responsibility to care for it.

I could have picked quite a few videos that showed similar things to this video, but I chose this one for a reason.  Did you notice anything surrounding this video?  The site it was posted at?  The statement at the top of the page that you may have read before watching the video?  Did you notice anything about these?

This site is called The Secret and is pushing a book that teaches the concept that humans have natural attractive forces, that they can affect the world around them with their positive thinking, and that this ultimately controls the direction of your life, money, relationships, and health.  It’s all about you and The Secret.  Not exactly Christian theology which puts God at the center of things.

You see, there’s often a kind of new age tilt toward many things associated with environmentalism and that can take many forms.  Sometimes the physical is celebrated at the expense of the spiritual.  Sometimes god and earth/creation are equated.  Sometimes people get so wrapped up in God’s general revelation in the earth, the beauty they see around them that they become so focused on today’s age, they forget that all we see is only a foretaste of the new heavens and the new earth that is to come.

Don’t for a minute lessen your wonder at God’s creation.  Don’t ever forget your responsibility to steward God’s creation.  But do look critically at the sources you read and think about the assumptions behind what they’re saying.

Have you ever noticed this new age association with environmentalism?  How do you work to take the good from some of these sources without buying into their assumptions?

Now this is a short piece, but I want you to think about the spirit behind it. What idea is it promoting?  This video grabs a hold of the concept of true stewardship- stewarding all the resources God has given us, and opens us up to the idea that both money and the earth’s resources can be conserved.

Do you remember that simple phrase many of us learned as kids- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.  How often do you truly push yourself to do this?  This is the question- are you willing to be inconvenienced to be a better steward?  Will you make sure all papers in your house are recycled- notes, loose leaf, etc and not just the morning paper?  Are you willing to take the time to fold up cardboard boxes that food comes in and recycle that too?  Are you willing to take the time to shut off items that don’t need to constantly run?  How about actually doing what you’ve probably been hearing now for a couple years- when a bulb goes out, replace it with a compact fluorescent?  Or adjust your thermostat a degree or two?

Yes these are little things, but they do truly add up and here’s where the Christian is really called to step it. up.  To make some sacrifices to care of the earth.  The good news is that many of these small sacrifices are not costly and can if fact save us some money as well.  Now that is Christian stewardship.

Sometimes this “settled” phrase concerns me a little. I’ve got no problem with scientists doing research and with governments starting to ask serious questions. At the same time, I’m not so sure about how settled things are. Go ahead and glance at this article and you see Gore trumpeting catastrophic global warming as “settled” science, yet when you read the scientists at the end you see them raising some questions about the science behind his predictions even while they support him. Go ahead and read this article and you hear about a layer of discussion going on about scientific data that goes deeper than the headlines. Or read this series of articles on “The Deniers”, prominent and esteemed scientists who are raising serious questions about climate change science and how much we really know.

Now I don’t want to give the impression that some kind of human influence is impossible. Obviously, many scientists are convinced the threat is real and humans needs to do something right away. What I want to do is say that Christians need to be careful and prudent in how we approach this issue. To enact the drastic measures some activists are calling for could sends costs spiraling for energy, food, and many other products. Now maybe that’s a tough but legitimate sell to countries which are more prosperous, but tell that to the families who are barely able to afford foodstuffs and other essentials in less developed nations. Of course there’s the other side of the issue, which is that warming itself could have costs if it truly is responsible for storms, floods, and other environmental events that would obviously affect economics.

Christian stewardship, as pointed out in the first of this series, is something we have to take quite seriously. That means not just paying attention to headlines, but digging more deeply. That means we need to care enough to push our politicians to enact policies that are thoughtful and informed, not overly reactionary or that only paper over the problem.

How have you experienced this issue as a Christian?

Well, I was recently forwarded a blog post discussing the Christian commitment to the environment (thanks Scott) and also noticed this article about offshore drilling.  Since I’ve noticed the tenor of this debate rising and rising, I think this could be a very valuable discussion for us.

So let’s get things rolling.  Obviously, this will take more than this week, so look forward to the next few weeks of “Reading the News” to be focused on this issue.

I think the blogger in the post linked to above does a good job of pointing out some of the key principles of Christian commitment to the environment.  I especially appreciate that she emphasizes our first commitment being toward bringing others to faith in Christ, but doesn’t let us off the hook in caring for the world. Remember redemption is a big word, primarily spiritual, but Jesus also uses it in terms of healing others and caring for neglected (Lk 4:18-21).  There’s no reason not to include redeeming creation and caring for the environment in this as well.  And we as Christians should feel convicted when we are careless or hurtful toward the environment we’re expected to steward and redeem.

At the same time there are a couple of problems that can arise.  We can begin to focus so much on creation and taking care of the environment that we take our eyes off the ultimate prize, the redemption of souls and the end when Jesus will recreate all things.  The second piece, and this is probably even harder to discern, is what stewardship and redemption of the environment looks like exactly.  Think about the above article.  Do we ban offshore drilling or any action that might hurt the environment out of concern for creation?  In doing so, we must remember that rising gas prices and everything associated with them (increased food prices and so on) are hurting people all over God’s world right now as well. 

The key is for us to find a balance.  That’s what we’ll be exploring these next few weeks.  How do we find a balance on these issues, whether it’s oil, air pollution, or global warming?  Give me a first reaction.  Have you ever felt convicted about the environment?  Where do you see us abusing it?  How do you think a Christian should deal with the oil crisis given the tension of environment, economics, and faith?

But what about these kinds of injustices?

Do you realize that every week my inbox (as well as those of thousands of other people) receives an update just as lengthy and troubling as this one?  Literally, every single day Christians are openly harassed and harmed by governments, military groups, and mobs of people for no other reason than that they want to gather in worship and share their faith with others.

It certainly helps one appreciate the freedoms we have here, freedoms to watch candidates debate openly and that we can voice our opinions, but also that we have such incredible freedom to worship and share our faith.  At the same time I’m saddened as I read these stories- that so little attention is paid to such persecution by our own government or news agencies and that so few people here in the US take advantage of our religious freedoms.

If you have any thoughts share them.  But how about this as another step- get involved!

Email this blog entry to freinds.  Check out this website and get involved through prayer updates or even by writing letters.  I know I’ve appreciated spending time in prayer weekly and I’ve even written a couple of letters and emails before. God’s blessings on you as you support our brothers and sisters in Christ.

But that’s not exactly where I want to go today.  I’m curious about something of a more fundamental nature.  How do you feel about politics as a Christian?  I know I’ve been really discouraged at times.  You listen to rhetoric that is often so vicious.  You see personal attacks.  You watch polls go back and forth and so often what seems to really be moving people isn’t the candidates stand on issues or their character, but instead sound bites, slogans, money, and misleading ads.

It’s enough that coming into this year’s presidential race (which actually started well before this year, another frustration I have) I was tempted to finally withdraw a little.  Just sit on the sidelines, ignore everything, and when November came around, decide then whether or not it was even worth going to the polls.

Then as I was thinking about things a little more, getting ready for a sermon, praying, I realized that this wasn’t an option.  You see, God gives us politics.  Does that seem a little laughable to you.  It’s true.  The government, the public realm, is one of the spheres in this world that God is working through, just like families and businesses, to make his world work.  Now obviously, just like families and economics, there is a lot broken in the world of politics, but we can’t give up on it either.  So I have to stay involved, learn about the candidates, and pick the best person for the job.

So what about you?  Have you ever felt like giving up?  Where have you seen God working in the past in politics?  Are there any signs of hope for the future?

And I know this is hard to do, but let’s try to avoid getting too partisan here.

But it was about so much more than that.  It talked about how the Obama candidacy is drawing more attention to the issue of race- because he has a white mom and black father, because of the questions being raised about who will or will not vote for him because of his race, etc.  It spoke about the issues of racial marginalization, and the confusion experienced by many people about race today.  It finished with a quote by a man named Louie Gong, “Mixed race isn’t post race. It’s not less race. It’s more race,” Gong said. “In order to dialog about mixed race, we need more understanding. It’s not a dialog to forget about issues of race.”

So why do I bring this story up as an item to be read through the lens of faith?

Well, I think race is an issue many church members feel like we’ve moved beyond.  Sometimes it feels like race was an issue that the churches of the 60s and 70s debated.  Now we’re all for equality, so why should the church pay attention?  But as Gong said, even in an age with increasing diversity and mixed race, we aren’t moving past race.

Why else might we be concerned?  Well, when the LCMS is well over 90% white, maybe we should pay attention.  Look at your communities.  I know some of them are pretty white, but everywhere around us there are growing populations of people from other ethnic backgrounds.  Yes, we’re making some steps to reach out to other populations, but there are many factors holding us back.  Do we want to be part of the landscape of an America that is growing in diversity?  Do we want to be reflective of the Church as God envisions it?  Then we need to come up with answers faster than we have been.

That’s a challenge to me too.  What do you think?  Does it ever disturb you to notice the growing diversity in our country, but not in our church? How do you think we should respond?

This is a hard idea to get used to isn’t it?  Most people who are alive today think of the US as one of, if not the foremost nation state in the world.  While the US is still clearly an influential nation and will be for the foreseeable future, we keep hearing and seeing hints that times are changing.

China is on the rise.  India too.  We see more and more stories indicating that the US is stretched thing in terms of military, political influence, economics, etc.  And this is disconcerting for us.  It seems to be especially disconcerting to many Christians.  Why do you think that is?

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m as patriotic as the next guy.  I think a strong US is key to promoting justice around the world in the way God would desire.

At the same time, we need to carefully think about how much we want our faith to be wrapped up with a country and it’s power.  If the US was to lose its influence over the next years, how will that affect Christianity?  What do you think the emerging trends will be?  (You may be interested in the book, Next Christendom that explores a Christianity focused in the Global South). 

God has allowed power to shift many times in the history of this world- Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, Spain, England, the US, . . .China?  If it is China, what does that mean for us as Christians?  Note that not all of those Superpowers were Christian in population.  God doesn’t always work in the world the way we expect him to, but he does always preserve the faith, and even under hostile regimes, it often flourishes.  These are some interesting things to ponder as we live in the midst of changing times.