When Did We See You?

When I tell people that I’ve been to Ghana, they often ask about the poverty that we see there.  After all, Africa is famous for being poor.  And yes, there is poverty in Ghana.  But there is also affluence.  Becky and I saw cars, homes, and clothes in Ghana that we could never hope to afford.  The prices in some of the stores we visited were way out of our range.  What struck us even more than the poverty was the contrast: well-heeled businessmen driving sleek black SUVs past people living in shacks by the ditch, and children with nothing but a ball of tape for a soccer ball playing outside a beautiful resort.  We asked ourselves, “How can such stark contrast exist in Ghana?  How can the affluent live with themselves when confronted with such desperate need?”  It baffled and bothered us.

As we talked about it, we realized that the gap between the rich and the poor is just as real in the US as it is in Ghana.  According to a 2011 study by Duke University and the Harvard Business School, the richest 20% of Americans own 84% of our nation’s wealth, while the poorest 40% own only 0.3%.  And the gap is growing: over the past 20 years, poor Americans have actually gotten poorer, while the rich have gotten richer.  Even more troubling is the study’s finding that most Americans have no idea how big the difference is between the wealthy and the poor in our country.

Becky and I saw the contrast between the rich and the poor in Ghana, while rarely noticing in the US, for two reasons.  First, we do a better job of hiding the poor from sight in our country.  The rich and middle class live in certain areas, and the poor live somewhere else.  If you don’t go to  certain neighborhoods and communities, you don’t have to see them.  And second, we’ve trained ourselves not to see them.  We’ve learned how to ignore the needy until we don’t even notice that they exist.  At the monthly deacons meeting, we struggle to identify people that we can help.  They’re in our community, but we don’t see them.  Becky and I noticed the contrast in Ghana only because we were in a different culture, where we didn’t know how to ignore what we didn’t want to see.

Politicians may engage in or accuse each other of “class warfare,” but for us Christians this is a wake-up call to do something.  In the parable of the sheep and goats (Matthew 25:31-46), Jesus cursed the goats because they failed to help him when he was hungry, thirsty, a stranger in need of clothes, sick and in prison.  Perplexed, they responded, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?”  They did not help, because they did not see the need.  They were blind to the poor and distressed people all around them.  I’m ashamed to say that those goats sound an awful lot like me.

Thankfully, we worship a Lord who gives sight to the blind and wisdom to the foolish.  I urge you to seek the Lord’s help to open your eyes to the need that surrounds us, so that you may respond with the love and justice of Christ.

The Gospel According to Shark Tank and Moneyball

The other evening I saw part of the TV show “Shark Tank” for the first time.  Apparently, it’s a chance for inventors to pitch their products to potential investors.  As I watched, a man who wanted to sell recyclable sneakers made a pitch to investors to put $50,000 into his concept.  The first four potential investors turned him down for one simple reason: “You aren’t asking for enough money.”  As they explained to him, the $50,000 would only be enough to process a first order, leaving him with no capital for inventory and production costs to go any further.  Ironically, they refused to give him any money because he should have asked for more money.  I’m no expert on recyclable footwear and business strategies, but I was struck by the way his limited vision for his product and his company hurt him.  He failed to comprehend the magnitude of the opportunity in front of him.  By trying to be prudent and start small, he lost the opportunity entirely.

Then a couple days later, we watched the movie “Moneyball,” a baseball movie starring Brad Pitt.  In one scene, the stars watch a video clip of a baseball player whose goal when he’s at the plate is simply to get to first base.  He never tries to turn his hits into a double.  Then, on a rare occasion, he hits a long ball and decides to round the corner to get to second base.  But when he does, he trips and falls.  Frantically, he literally crawled across the dirt to get back to first base.  The opposing players double over in laughter: not because of how foolish he looked trying to get back on base, but because he had hit a home run and didn’t even know it.  Sheepishly, the batter picked himself up off the dirt and rounded the bases, to the applause and laughter of everyone in the stadium.  He had a home run, but could only think about getting to first base.

I wonder: how often is this is case for us when we come before God?  Do we think too small, by imposing limitations upon what we think God is willing to do for us?  Do we set our sights too low by being willing to settle for $50,000 or first base, when God’s plans for us are so much more?  In the process of not wanting to impose on our Lord, or going beyond what we think is reasonable, we discount our expectations.  When we do, we risk losing out on the riches of God’s grace because we haven’t asked for enough.

Let me be clear.  When I am speaking about asking from God, I’m not referring to the wealth and health and fame that purveyors of the “prosperity gospel” offer.  Focusing upon such worldly, self-centered interests blinds us to the true riches that God offers, and in fact has already supplied us through the powerful work of Jesus Christ.

Perhaps we do not ask for enough because we don’t want to impose upon God.  But is that even possible?  Remember, this is the Lord of all creation, with limitless, over-abounding glory.  The only way we could impose upon him is if granting our request would somehow diminish his own glory.  And that is impossible for God to do, for two reasons.  First, think of infinity as the mathematical metaphor for the glory of God.  Infinity minus fifty thousand is still infinity.  Infinity minus fifty bazillion is still infinity.  No matter how much God grants to us, it is no imposition upon him, because he continues to have inexhaustible glory, power, wisdom, and honor.

Perhaps we limit our requests to God for what we think is reasonable.  But do you really want God to treat you reasonably?  By reasonable standards, the only treatment any of us would deserve from God would be condemnation and annihilation because of the sinfulness and brokenness that is inherent to our human condition.  Reasonably, we cannot even ask God to grant us our next breath, our next heartbeat, our next thought.  The indescribable glory for us is that God does not treat us with reason; he treats us with grace.  He delights to overwhelm us beyond our wildest dreams.  Why?  The only explanation is simply that he wants to.  It has nothing to do with deserving it, earning it, or reasonably expecting it.  God takes pleasure in being lovingly unreasonable with us.  When we enter the adventure of faith, we abandon standard concepts of what is logical and reasonable.  We cast ourselves into the amazing, overwhelming plan of God that outstrips even our wildest dreams, that goes far beyond what we could ever imagine would be possible.

The greatest irony of all is that God has already given us more than enough.  The baseball player already had a home run, but couldn’t even see it.  We are like him when we fail to recognize the more-than-enough that God has already given us.  Christ has already hit one out of the park for us, and has already bestowed upon us an indescribable bounty of joy, peace, hope, and love.  The Christian journey is not one of receiving more and more blessing from God.  It is the journey of running the bases to discover more and more of the blessing that Christ delivered to us through his redeeming death and victorious resurrection.  The consummation of the ages is merely the time when humanity, and all creation, finally catches up with the superabundance of the cross.

So go ahead: ask for the audacious from the Lord.  You can do it because he has already provided it for you.

Gay Marriage?

We’ve done a funny thing with marriage, and that’s a major reason for our nation’s hot debate about gay marriage. The traditional, typical way that weddings are conducted in our nation is a direct violation of the First Amendment’s freedom of religion. For all of the talk about prayer in public schools and nativity scenes at courthouses, we all seem to forget that members of the clergy act as representatives of the state when we officiate at weddings. I am an agent of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania when I declare two people to be husband and wife. I have this authority, not because of any civil qualifications or appointment, but simply because the Presbyterian Church (USA) has enrolled me as a minister of word and sacrament.

 This system of having church officials invested with civil authority is what our nation’s forebears left Europe to escape. Our freedom of religion is a bulwark against people being baptized into the official state church, whether they’re believers or not. People of other Christian persuasions or other religions (particularly Judaism) were persecuted, imprisoned, and killed. That’s why the First Amendment declares, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” But here we are: clergy in charge of establishing legally binding relationships that we call marriage. Meanwhile, back in Europe, where religious freedom used to be so rare and precious, the religious and legal aspects of marriage are now nicely separated. For example, in my family’s homeland of the Netherlands, marriages are always and only conducted in the town hall, under the authority of a local civil official. If you’re a Christian, you do what my parents did: have a procession from the town hall to the church, where you seek God’s blessing upon your union and dedicate yourselves to him.

 Many Christians (including me) do not think it is proper for churches to bless a same-sex couple’s union as a marriage. This is a religious view of marriage, not the legal or civil aspect that should be the topic of votes, court rulings, and Presidential comments. Let churches, not politicians, judges, and voters, debate the issue of whether or not God considers same-sex partners in the same that he views male-female couples.

 Many citizens (including me) think that sexual orientation should not be a factor that limits or denies human rights, and that same-sex couples should have the same rights and privileges as heterosexual couples. In other words, I and others do not have the right to impose our religious convictions upon our fellow citizens. 

This brings us to the unfortunate issue of language: marriage vs. “civil union.” Understandably, many LGBT (i.e. lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender) citizens aren’t satisfied with civil unions because they seem to be second-rate in comparison to marriages. And, also understandably, many Christian, Jewish, and Muslim citizens don’t want same-sex couples to be “married,” because it cuts against their religious values.

 I suggest that do away with the term “marriage” altogether, as a civil or legal designation. Any couple that seeks to have a legally binding relationship can do so, and we can call that relationship anything we want. Those who desire to commit this relationship to God and to seek his blessing upon it are free to do so, of course. But that celebration and service is a religious ceremony that has no legal authority.

 Not only would this help our nation avoid the religiously-inspired aspects of the gay marriage debate, but it would also help churches reclaim their convictions about marriage. Like many other ministers, I’m often asked to conduct a wedding for a couple that doesn’t care that much about faith. Getting married in the church, by a minister, is the thing to do. I urge them during premarital meetings to dedicate their relationship to the Lord, and they’ll nod their heads and agree. But that’s about it; after the rings are on the fingers and the wedding cake has been eaten, they won’t be in the church again for years. If I am no longer an agent of the state, then people will only want a marriage ceremony at the church if they really want the Lord to be the third partner of their union.