A new story to tell

As we all know, Donald Trump, a man who is deeply loved by God even more than he probably knows, was elected President of the United States last night. I am deeply saddened by this and have been struggling in lament all day. I am in fear for my brothers and sisters of color, the Hispanic community, the LGBTQI+ community, Muslim community, women, and, sadly, anybody who does not share the color of my skin or my gender identity. I have heard and read about incidents locally and nationally about bullying, harassment and even vandalism that go alongside with messages of "Vote Trump" or "Trump 2016." This is disturbing that a political candidate has had this type of impact. As far as I have been aware, no presidential candidate has ever had this type of effect in our country. While the church should pray for our elected officials and for a peaceful transition, it is even more crucial for us to pray for any group who is living in fear and oppression.
However, even though I am in fear, I am not going to be ruled by fear. This post is not going to be about fear. It's not going to be about politics, either. This is bigger and wider than politics. Instead, it is going to be about the incredibly opportunity we now have as people who follow Jesus to truly be the incarnational presence of Jesus in a country where about half of the nation supports a man who has shown the exact opposite of the fruit of the Spirit.
The American church now has a chance to be as counter-cultural as it has ever been. Christianity has always been comfortable in America. Even when people have disagreed with Christian beliefs, the comfort of living the Christian life has never been threatened. I don't think that's the case anymore. Christianity in it's truest form is about welcoming the stranger (AKA immigrant), orphan and widow and not closing our door on people because their customs are different from ours. It is about following a suffering messiah and not a violent victor brandishing a bloody sword. It is about putting the least of these first and dignifying the people who our world finds remarkably undignified.
Our country looks at Christianity as a fraud because we have supported--and are largely responsible--for putting a man in the highest office who has publicly represented many things that our Scriptures call us to stand against.
When our country builds a wall to keep the vulnerable out, we bring a bulldozer. When our country says that some lives matter more than others, we lay down our own life for the people they say don't matter. When our country wants to be a winner at the expense of others, we lose our worldly selves and save our souls with those others. God is giving the American church to be a prophetic voice. A voice that calls out in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord. We prepare the way of God by mourning with those who mourn and by standing in solidarity with those who are outcast and downtrodden. We get to be the presence of Jesus Christ now more than ever before. We will be the presence of Jesus because we will no longer be shackled by the confines of cultural comforts.
There will be those who stand against us, and that can be Good News. When the people who are following the way of Jesus have to take a stand, the Gospel grows. Persecution grows the church of Jesus Christ. We are living in a time where about half of the country will strongly disagree with the church trying to be the church. That is why we're called to be faithful to God and not humankind. This is our opportunity to show that our faith truly means something to us. That despite the national rhetoric standing firm in exclusivity, we offer radical inclusion that is rooted in faithfulness to a God who welcomes every tribe, nation and tongue as equals.
We are the people of God. We are the ones who welcome the stranger, affirm the dignity of all people because all people are created in the image of God, and we are the ones called to transform a broken world. That's always been our mission, and it always will be. Now that mission just comes into conflict with our national values. We are now living in foreign territory. We are a stranger in a strange land. So be it. We are the people of God, and God is with us and nothing the world throws at us can overcome that. 

Why "All" just doesn't cut it anymore and why it never has

The word "all" gets used a lot in today's social rhetoric. For example, many people say "All Lives Matter" and most of them, I hope, do genuinely believe that every life is of sacred worth. So why should we specify individual groups of people? It's because throughout human history even if our intention is to really include "all", we fall short. Woefully short sometimes.
 Most of us are drawn to people who look like us, act like us and believe like us. Life is easier when you're around people with the same worldview. But here's the problem, and I'll start with my own denomination. The United Methodist's Church slogan is "Open Hearts. Open Minds. Open Doors." Great slogan. For me, it reflects what I want to be about and is one of the rweasons I am United Methodist and believe in our denomination. But what about that time a person with blue hair walked through your church doors? Or what about the time a transgender individual comes in? The person who looks like they are about to go record a rap music video? Were we including them in our "Open Hearts. Open Minds. Open Doors." Probably not. If we were going to pick who was going to visit our churches, that's not who we would choose. While many churches have made great strides in this area, we still have a long way to go. When we think of the word "all", we think of people who are like us. It's human nature, but for those of us who follow Jesus it should be pretty clear that we can't trust your human nature most of the time. We have to train our mind differently. We have to recognize that our own mind and our own way of seeing things is limited and in order to have a more complete view we need to be in relationship with those who see things different from us. Essentially, we have to allow our worldview to truly be a worldview and not just an individual view. That won't happen unless we relationally invest in other people outside our circle.
So, sociologically this may make sense, but as a pastor shouldn't I be writing about Biblical topics? Guess what? This is! To me, if you look at how Jesus interacted with people, this is undoubtedly a Biblical subject. Jesus lived in a divisive time.  Cultures--particularly the Jews and the Gentiles--didn't intersect. Jesus made it clear that had to end. To Jews, the lives of Gentiles didn't matter. Or look at the Samaritans. They were generally left out and considered outsiders, and yet Jesus wanted to make it known that they do matter. A whole group of people stood in a crowd and yet Jesus went to the person with leprosy, the person they all thought no longer mattered. They wanted Jesus' attention and thought they were all worthy of it, and He goes to the person who they would have left out. Nobody--not even other women--wanted to be seen with the woman at the well that Jesus finds, and yet He singles her out and shows them that she matters.
You see, when we say that "All Lives Matter" we can't then act surprised when that includes someone else and respond, "You mean them too?" Yes, them too. When we say "all" that doesn't just include people who look like us or talk like us. It includes the drug dealer. It includes the drug user. It includes the prostitute. It includes the pimp. It includes the gay teen. It includes the Muslim. It includes the transgender woman of color who fears she will be assaulted just for walking out in public as herself. It includes the elderly who can no longer get by on their own. It includes the terrorist. It includes the victim of the terrorists. It includes the person who taught the terrorist their warped and horrific beliefs. It includes the single mom. It includes the teen mom. It includes the person with more tattoos and piercings than fingers and toes. It includes the incarcerated. It includes the recently released who can't find a job. It includes the porn star. It includes the stripper. It includes the teen who is thinking of having an abortion and hopes their parents will never find out. It includes that really annoying neighbor who plays their guitar too loud. It includes the person with a fancy car who looks down on you for driving your Volvo. It includes the depressed. It includes the anxious. It includes the person you made fun of in high school. It includes the person who made fun of and even bullied you in high school. It includes the hipster with way-too-tight of jeans. It includes the Goth. It includes the person who has never felt like they fit in. It includes the Trump supporter. It includes the Clinton supporter. It includes the cop who shot someone dead. It includes the person the cop shot from shooting more people. It includes the homeless person who you think needs to get up and get a job. It includes the slumlord who perhaps put that homeless person out on the street. It includes Wall Street CEOs. It includes that fast-food worker who acts like they could care less about you waiting 10 minutes for food. It includes your friends. It includes your enemies. It includes everyone regardless of whether or not we are comfortable around them.
If any of these people are not included in our "all", then we, in fact, do not mean "all" and that is not the type of world Jesus has called us to live in. 

Authentic hospitality: Showing yourself is your best tool

Hospitality. It's something all churches think we do well, right? Truthfully, most churches make a decent effort. The church I have the privilege of serving even does a little better than that. They are truly people who care, and I am grateful for them. But what we learned about as we dug more deeply into hospitality and what it truly means is that we have lost so much of what true hospitality truly is. The New Testament uses this word "philoxenia." The first part (philo) means love. That is probably obvious. But the second part (xenia) means "stranger." Oh oh. It's safe to say that in our culture most of our churches have fallen short in loving the stranger. We don't love them holistically like we should. We don't advocate for them. Many times I have to admit I even ignore them. It pains me to admit that, but it's true. It's easy for me as a privileged white male to go about my day and not have to worry about the suffering of others.
It pretty much goes without saying that we should feed, clothe and shelter the stranger. If we don't meet basic needs then we're the same people who didn't give Jesus a place to rest His head and shut Mary and Joseph out of the Inn. That alleviates suffering. But as someone who seeks to follow Jesus, I'm called to more than just alleviating suffering. I'm called to transformation and offering the hope of transformation to all people. No exceptions.
So how does hospitality lead us and others to transformation? It starts with us realizing that the best tool we have to offer people is ourselves. Our true selves. Not the persona we put out to the world. Not the perfect suburban, middle class family. People who are desperate for grace. People who, even if they are suburban and middle/upper class, don't find their identity in that. People who have found so much healing and grace that we put down our societal masks and show our awkward, broken and even redeemed selves.
Here's part of the problem: Us millenials have somehow been ingrained with strong BS monitors. We can see fake, and it isn't something we want to be part of. The church culture, on the other hand, has tried to remain strong and appear to be the good, faithful people they want to be. It's admirable. Many in the older generations have been taught to persevere through incredibly trying circumstances and to not show weakness. Some even want to be strong, good and faithful people for us to look up to them (and we should in many cases) But it's not real. It's not authentic. We all have struggles. We all have times of weakness. And here's the Good News: the world doesn't need people who have it together to offer hospitality. They need people who are real and don't have the perfect house or pristine environment. Hospitality says: This is who God has created me to be, warts and all, and I would love to journey with you and learn how we can help each other grow.
What our postmodern, pluralistic world needs is people who aren't afraid of vulnerability. That doesn't mean we share everything with everyone, but it does mean we can share something with everyone. It means that we are willing to put ourselves out there for the sake of others because we have been given something that we believe should belong to everybody. What we have been given is faith, and faith in Christ isn't something that we keep in isolation. It's who we are, and we share that. Not in an oppressive or forced way, but in a way that furthers the relationship so people see that we aren't a salesperson, but people who are in love with this Jesus guy and know His love is out there for all people. 

Seeing the image of God in everyone...

We're living in a divisive time. Truthfully, our world has always been divisive. We've just been better at hiding it before. But now with the onset of social media and 24/7 news, many of our divisions have come out of hiding and our prejudices, privilege and quick opinions are no longer hidden. Unfortunately, the click baiting, name calling and anger have probably only just begun. I get it. A lot of what I see and read infuriates me, too. People of every viewpoint are--at the very least--peeved about something.
For people following Jesus, we should get mad. Jesus had moments of anger. If we don't get angry at injustice in the world, who will? But Jesus also said for us to turn the other cheek and not only forgive our enemies (7x70 times mind you) but love them. That means each and every time we see someone type, say or insinuate something that causes us pain, anger or frustration, we do not forget that they are a person divinely created with gifts by our Creator. Each and every person who has and will ever walk on the earth is made in the image of God. That means God created them in love. Nobody can take that away from me. I can't take that away from anybody else. Thanks be to God for that.
So if any of us are serious about following Jesus, the public degradation that we do to our fellow sojourners does not reflect the God we are seeking to serve. That does not mean that we don't hold each other accountable, learn from each other or seek to provide other viewpoints, but it does mean that we see no person as anything less than someone made in God's image and designed for eternity. Hillary Clinton ins made in the image of God. Donald Trump is made in the image of God. Nobody can take that away from them. Democrats reflect God's image. Republicans reflect God's image. The LGBTQI community is made in God's image. The conservative evangelical community are bearer's of God's image. Pro-choice people rest in God's image as do the Pro-lifers and all those in between. This is God's grace toward us. That even as lost as we may get, we never lose the initial marking of God's blessing. That image is what defines us.
Our culture makes it very easy for us to crucify each other. After all, the people who voted to crucify Jesus thought they were in the right and yet He clearly says, "Father, forgive them. For they know not what they do." That's who we are called to be. Let's not join the scoffers, but the people who proclaim forgiveness and mercy. That doesn't mean we don't stand for what we believe to be true and right. The point isn't to avoid what is right, the point is to not lose ourselves in the process. The point is to do what God has called us to do and to do it with love. That as we find those along the path who we think are totally off base, hypocritical and an all-around jerk face, that they are still bearers of God's image and in need of the same love that we all desperately need. 

An open letter to Dr. Ben Carson, Pastor Mark Burns, Jerry Falwell Jr, Franklin Graham, The Robertsons, and other evangelical leaders

Dear Evangelical leaders,
I am grieved. I know you are too. Some of our grief overlaps, but, sadly, a lot of it does not. My grief hit a crescendo this morning as I discovered that Dr. Carson compared Hilary Clinton, the presumed Democratic Nominee for President, to Lucifer, the enemy of all our souls. A direct comparison. I want to make it clear: I do not fully support nor endorse Mrs. Clinton. As a follower of the cross of Jesus Christ, I find some of her beliefs and certain behavior antithetical to the Gospel. I also agree with her on several points and can appreciate the good she has done in our world, but that does not lead to full support.
Dr. Carson's points were that as Mrs. Clinton endorses pro-choice and marriage equality she is akin to a baby murderer and destroyer of traditional family values and therefore akin to Lucifer. Not only is this public shaming but it is something Dr. Carson should be called to repentance, as well as the other Evangelical leaders who have publicly bashed Mrs. Clinton. It is perfectly fine to disagree. While I do not associate with the Evangelical right's method's of the pro-life movement, I am, generally speaking, pro-life. I believe that aligns with Scripture, although in our contemporary world there are a lot of gray areas for sure and difficult situations. I also am aware that male privilege is at play with my views and that more listening needs to be done from males such as myself. Still, that's a story for another day. What I am saying here is that neither party's pure views, especially those which Donald Trump has largely brandished, are in line with Christian teaching. Neither political party is fully in line with Scripture and as national leaders you need to stop pretending that they are.
Pastor Mark Burns proclaimed that the democrats as their enemy. Personally, I believe the Apostle Paul when he wrote "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."--Ephesians 6:12.
I don't fear Mrs. Clinton. I fear people who manipulate the Gospel of Jesus Christ to fit their political agenda, which is what I see you all doing and it greatly saddens me. Any Christian can certainly lean left or lean right politically. It is up to your individual preferences which I suggest praying about.
Mr. Trump has made his views about immigration abundantly clear. His idea of building a wall has been one of his campaign's biggest selling points. And yet one of the biggest themes throughout all of Scripture is to welcome the stranger. As a follower of the cross, you cannot hold your anti-immigration status when there are refugees across our world dying daily. Our Samaritan brother and sisters are dying, and if we ignore their cry, we are ignoring Jesus. Let us also not forget that Mr. Trump has used derogatory language against Muslims, racial minorities and women. These are just inexcusable. For all of Mrs. Clinton's faults, she has never publicly called out specific groups of people.
Let's also talk about "traditional family values." Could you cite that in Scripture for me, please? Is it when Ruth and Naomi stuck together? Or perhaps when Paul lauded celibacy in singleness? What about, you know, our savior Himself Jesus who by all accounts was single his whole life. When we talk about traditional family values, we are referring to 1950s America, a time many people feel more comfortable (if you are white, at least). I can understand how same-gender couples and families are new to you and that it makes you uncomfortable. I can also understand your convictions from Scripture, even though I have come to a different conclusion. But to believe that someone who supports same-gender couple and LGBTQIA rights is a Lucifer impersonator, well, that is like saying you can't eat a pot of chili because one of the beans on the bottom of the pot may be burned. Maybe you're right about your views on sexuality. In that case since you have a high view of Scripture, you can also not deny the importance of welcoming the stranger and loving your enemies.
So, what's it going to be? Are we going to follow political ideologies or a God who died for us while we were His enemies. He died for the people who were yelling to crucify Him. The candidate you are supporting and claiming as "God's man" isn't even willing to ask for forgiveness for anything.

In grace,
Brian Steele

Why privilege matters for making disciples of Jesus Christ...

For the past three weeks we've been doing a sermon series on Amos, one of the lesser known or talked about prophets. To give the spark notes version, Amos was a small town shepherd who went into the metropolis cities and told all the rich Israelites that they were going to hell in a handbasket. To me, it is one of the great social justice manifestos ever written. Not only does it promote social justice and equality, but the more research and studying I did on it, the theme of privilege also came up. "Privilege." That's a loaded word these days. White privilege. Male privilege. Straight privilege. These are not terms that straight white males like myself are comfortable talking about. But we need to. Badly. Especially for those of us who have committed to following Jesus.
While I am not going to get into the evidence for these privileges in this post (the scholarship and evidence is out there and explains it better than I could as I am still learning), but what I am going to talk about is the importance of this for the Gospel. Unfortunately, the rhetoric of today has been telling us that this idea of "privilege" is a liberal agenda. It has become politicized and because of that many people in evangelical circles have turned their ears and even hearts off to this idea. What Christian leaders need to do is Gospel-ize this idea of privilege and shine a light on the dark corners of society. We cannot expect to be transformers of our world if we do not acknowledge the reality and brokenness of our world.
Why is privilege a Gospel issue?
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."-Galatians 3:28
We are either all equals or we aren't. Christians cannot claim something like #AllLivesMatter (even though, literally speaking, of course all lives matter), and see how our country as a whole does not believe #BlackLivesMatter when people of color are continually more and more likely to be killed and incarcerated.
The United Methodist mission statement is to "Make disciples for the transformation of the world." If we are to truly make disciples, that means we become equals. We are all equal at the foot of the cross. Therefore, when we see inequality across our world, we stand against it. We seek equality. We do not say to anybody that they are welcome to follow Jesus with us, but we're only going to allow you to be a partial member. If we desire to make disciples of all people--and all means all--then that means we do it as equals.
Amos came and told privileged Israelites that what they had done had oppressed people and has put them on the path toward destruction. Our social lives and the beliefs and paradigms we support, impact our spiritual lives. You can't separate your social beliefs from your spiritual beliefs. That's not how Jesus works. If that were the case, I think our churches would be a lot more filled than they already are. If you could follow Jesus without sacrificing anything, well, then more people would be doing it.
Personally, I'm not where I need to be yet. I still need to die to myself more. I still need to acknowledge and come to grips with my privilege more. Fortunately, there is grace. Loads of grace. But God's grace may not come unless I'm willing to accept it and what that means. If I'm not willing to carry my own cross and continually pour myself out in humility, then I'm not making room for God's grace to work. When we make room in our lives for God's grace to work, the end result of that is more of Him and less of me. That means owning and seeking to bring death to my privilege.
Privilege does not mean any of us are bad people because of our privilege. I am not a "bad person" because I happen to be male, white and straight. But It does mean that I have some inherent societal advantage that my LGBTQI, female and brothers and sisters of color do not. In order to become a full disciple to transform the world alongside them, that has to change. 

I have been following Jesus Christ for about 15 years now. After these 15 years, I have come to the following conclusion: I'm a hot mess.
I don't know what else to say. I don't have it all together. Sure, I'm a pastor, and I guess that means I'm supposed to have things together. But I don't.
Here's why: The more and more I have followed Jesus, the more I have come to recognize that easy answers are, in fact, not answers. That platitudes rooted more in a church culture than they are in the Gospel aren't what we should be about. The church has been trying to give people easy answers to tough questions, and that is part of the reason why mainline Protestantism has been in a numbers decline for longer than I have been alive.
I fully believe in the risen Jesus Christ who conquered death more than 2,000 years ago and believe that gives us freedom from the power of sin in the here and now. I affirm most of the traditional Creeds as well. I graduated from a conservative, Wesleyan  seminary with two degrees. So, I'm an evangelical, right? Wait. Because of those beliefs I have also become more and more social justice oriented and--GASP--even believe same-gender marriages are within the grace of God. So, wait. I'm a progressive Christian? I seek for our world to be a more equitable place for those who are the most vulnerable in our society as I speak up for LGBTQI rights, immigrants, gun reform, breaking down racial barriers and being a racial justice advocate, etc, etc. So, that makes me progressive, right? Wait. I don't want to leave my more conservative brothers and sisters behind and break that community (I did go to an evangelical seminary, after all). I fully believe both voices need to be in community and working together. I'm also pro-life* (an asterisk is because my beliefs are more complex than what either "side" promotes and I don't support the rhetoric of a lot of pro-life advocates show). I even voted for Romney in the last election!
So what in the junk am I? A progressive evangelical? What's that? The bottom line is that I don't fit any of the societal constructs. Personally, I think more people who confess to following Jesus should be admitting these same things. The world doesn't need us to have it together. People aren't expecting us to have it all together.
If more Christians would admit that they are, in fact, a hot mess, I think our churches might actually start doing what many haven't done for an entire generation: Grow. We don't need to fear that we don't have it all together. God has got this. God is still moving. God is still speaking. It's okay to be a paradox. It's okay to feel conflicted. It's okay to feel like you're a walking contradiction. Following Jesus should make you a complete and utter weirdo. As a recovering approval addict, I still occasionally have insecurities about all this. If I really put all of myself out there, I'll be rejected by some. When that happens, we all just have to rest in that there is nothing that makes you quite like Christ like rejection. There has never been an individual that was so praised and yet also so heavily rejected. I'm continuing to learn to be more and more okay with that. I think all of us should learn to be more okay with that. When we admit that we don't have it all together and we are in fact more of a mess than a well put together person, we find we'll have a lot more company than we realize.