What is a "bad neighborhood"?

I've heard the phrase a lot recently from multiple people from multiple backgrounds. They are either talking about someplace else or some people are even talking about their own areas of residence. The phrase is something like this: "That's/It's a bad neighborhood." This makes me think. What is a "bad neighborhood"? We all know what people mean when they say phrases like that. People are poor. There are probably drugs. Nobody should walk alone after dark. Black people live there. Languages other than English are spoken.
Most of us, whether we want to admit it or not, have these biases and images come to mind when we think a place is a "bad neighborhood." I believe, however, that God views "bad neighborhoods" differently. A "bad neighborhood" is where people are struggling with issues such as poverty, addictions, loneliness, depression, etc in isolation and solitude. Generally speaking, people in poverty don't suffer in isolation. They depend on each other. They sacrifice for each other and sometimes even to their own detriment. We need to stop thinking that people living in impoverished areas--generally considered "at-risk neighborhoods"- are "bad" and that living in middle- and upper-class suburbia is "good." When people are isolated from each other--like they generally are in suburbia--this is not something I classify as "god" or something to aspire to. I'm not saying living in poverty or in a drug-ridden area is a good thing. God's heart is for poverty to be abolished, and our Creator is crushed when people's lives are overrun in any type of addiction. What I am saying, however, is that the "American Dream" is not always God's dream for a neighborhood. We can't just slap someone in the middle of suburbia where they don't know their neighbors and call it "good." Now, there are suburbs where people do know each other and are doing "life together" as Bonhoeffer might say. But it can also be remarkably easy to be alone in a nice house seeking an idol of self-sufficiency and be completely a mess internally.
We need to stop using binary language where we describe something as either "good" or "bad", especially when that difference is defined by classism. Instead, we need to focus on what God envisions for every neighborhood: a place where everybody's physical, emotional, spiritual and psychological basic needs are being met. That's what can make us whole. That's what we should all strive to regardless of whether society deems us "at-risk" or "bad." That requires that we don't exist in isolation. It requires us sharing our lives and our physical assets for those who do not have enough. Relationships that become friendships are what leads us to not viewing certain areas as "bad" but as the places where our friends reside and we do life together. That's something that allows God's Spirit to work in new and innovative ways and bring wholistic healing to people of all backgrounds. You don't fear your neighbor when you know them and they know you. We label people and places because they're different than us. Clearly, those labels are hurting us. Instead, let us look toward our neighbors as a person who reflects God's image, even if we can't fully see it yet. That allows us to see God's Kingdom breaking in and to start bringing that Kingdom more clearly to earth

Looking back at #InternationalWomensDay and why we all need Egalitarian Theology

Last week was #InternationalWomensDay where we recognize all the achievements by women worldwide to our world and also recognize that we still have much work to do when it comes to dismantling patriarchy and male privilege (especially in the church).
Privilege is a loaded and hard word in today's American society. A lot of us don't like it or even believe it exists. That is why this work is so crucial. As a male, I know that if I don't look super sharp or have my house in perfect order, that's understandable because, "Why should a male have to know these things anyway?" I also know that if I speak loudly and sharply, I don't have to fear being called a derogatory term related to my gender. I can be loud, perhaps even on the verge of being obnoxious, and people will just look at me as "brash" or "cocky" or hear the old mantra of "boys will be boys."
I'm not going to get into the legitimacy of egalitarian theology in this post. However, I do suggest works by scholars Craig Keener (see here) and multiple writings of Ben Witherington (see here) to be among the best in the subject. What I am going to get into is that it is still an empirical fact that women are less valued in the world than men, and that is wrong in God's eyes and God is calling the church (and especially males) to do something about it. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like we're doing a very good job of this either even though many of our denominations and theological traditions have ordained women for generations. According to a recent Barna study, while 79 percent of all Americans are comfortable with women leading in ministry, only 39 percent of self-identified evangelical Christians are "comfortable" with female serving as clergy. Granted, the numbers for Protestants, Catholics and "practicing Christians" are much higher, they aren't where we should be. The church is missing out when we don't hear the witness of our sisters. The Body of Christ suffers when we aren't willing to listen what it is like for a female to explain how Jesus first appeared to a female and told them to go and share the Gospel message, therefore becoming the first ever evangelists. If we really want the Gospel to reach new people, we have to offer them Good News. When properly understood, the life of Jesus points us toward radical equality of genders. Jesus empowers women, and so should we. But getting there takes work. It takes us being intentional about lifting up women and recognizing their contributions. Be vocal. Support organizations like Christians for Biblical Equality. When a woman speaks, listen. Gifts are not limited by gender. Personally on my church board, everybody on there is either a woman or a member of the LGBTQI community. I think that will help our church moving forward, and I'm grateful for that.
Egalitarianism is good news for all. We no longer have to look toward culture for how we should be acting based on our gender, but we look to God and the person God has created. In Ephesians 4:11-13, Paul doesn't write that gifts are given out by gender, but by what the Spirit gives to each. This means I get to use the gifts of sensitivity and empathy that the Spirit has given me without fear of being too "feminine." It means women get to use their gifts of strong leadership and high intellect without fear of not being called "bossy."  It means we can be who God created us to be. That's good news I want to share with the world, and it's good news that we all need to hear. But in order to share that news, we have to start listening more. So, my male friends, when a woman tells you about an experience she had, stop invalidating it. We do not know more about what a woman experiences than she does. It sounds ridiculous even typing that, but I also see it from men on social media and elsewhere quite regularly. Take time to read blogs by women. Personally, Rachel Held Evans, Jory Micah and Sarah Bessy (even if you don't agree with them on everything), have made some great contributions to theological feminism. Also, when you read, don't come at them with the basic clobbering of Scriptures i.e. "But what about 1 Corinthians 14:34?" That's like asking a PhD student for their elementary school diploma. They have been past that and dealt with it for most of their vocational lives. Do some of your own research before you think to criticism them for theirs at the most basic level. By the way, that is also a privilege when we think we can bring up the most simplistic of point and actually believe that a woman has never dealt with that.
So, let's join the Spirit in the liberation for all people, and that means we should learn more about feminism. Listen to our sisters. Talk to our brothers and other males about how feminism is good news for them as well. Then we can make our world reflect more of what God is hoping for it to become.
P.S. Also, go see Wonder Woman in a few months. It looks amazing. 

A love/hate relationship with Habakkuk...

Last week we explored the story of the prophet Habakkuk in our "Rebuilding After Disaster" sermon series. To give the spark notes version, Habakkuk confronts God and asks why a righteous and justice-oriented God could possibly be allowing all of the blatant injustices and unrighteous acts in the world. I don't blame Habakkuk. I've been asking some of those same questions lately and so have a lot of my friends as well. Those outside our walls are even asking this question, and in the long run I think that will be a good thing that they ask those questions. We as the church can learn from them as they ask those hard questions. God's answer is a tough pill to swallow. He tells Habakkuk that even though, yes, there are terrible things going on, God is still in control and bringing justice. So he tells Habakkuk to wait. Habakkuk as a finite human being just can't see the infinite God's wisdom. Through this, Habakkuk finds that even amidst all of this, he really has no choice but to live by faith amidst the waiting.
For someone who is justice-motivated, this sucks. It sucks that God cannot be a magic wand and fix everything for the thousands and even millions people who are living in horrific circumstances. It sucks that all types of -isms are thriving and the imago dei that resides in every human being is not being recognized by privileged and power groups in society, especially here in America. When you're living amidst America suburbia, waiting doesn't seem so bad. We get to relax with cable TV, Applebee's meals, and easy access to most if not all of our immediate needs. That's not to say that there still aren't emotional and psychological struggles, but rather that those of us in privilege can usually see a way out of our struggles. On the other than, telling Syrian refugees to wait or any group of people who continually face personal and systemic discrimination to wait and that God will make everything right in the end? That sucks. This doesn't mean that we don't work to alleviate the immediate suffering. We do. As people following Jesus, we must. But it means that we have to accept that we're not a Savior. It means we can't fix everything. Thus, this is the "hate" part of my relationship with Habakkuk. I hate it that sometimes suffering is a major part of a person's life.
While it is difficult to tell people to have faith during this time, what else can we say? This is why I love Habakkuk. God makes it abundantly clear that our Creator sees the suffering and will redeem every last part of it. God will wipe away every tear and we can trust that the God who has taken us this far will run with us toward the finish line. I love that we can take our burdens to God and that God hears us. Habakkuk shows that it is okay and even appropriate to look at injustice and yell, "WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?!" But God is remarkably justice-motivated. More than any human being ever could be or has been. God will bring more justice than we could ever dream of, but in order for that to happen there will be injustice in the meantime. We have all gone astray, and for God's justice to fully reign, we have to learn hard lessons.
So, yes, we hate to wait, but we most love to have faith in the waiting. And even when we don't love it, we recognize that God is still with us and guides us back firmly yet gently toward faith. 

Our need for lament...

This week hundreds of thousands of women marched across the world for a variety of reasons. Some marched for environmental and creation care reasons. Some marched for equal pay for women in the workplace and for the treatment of women to be viewed as equals and not objects for male gratification. Some marched to keep the Affordable Care Act so many of them and millions across our nation depend on for adequate healthcare. Some marched to take a stand against the racist, xenophobic and sexist remarks newly elected President Trump has said. Some marched for LGBTQI rights that are in jeopardy with a new Supreme Court nominee coming. Some marched in support of #BlackLivesMatter. Some marched for refugees and to stand against the building of a wall between America and Mexico. Some marched for their reproductive rights. Some marched for racial healing and for the safety of racial and religious minorities. Some marched for rights for those with disabilities. Some for several other reasons as well that I can't quite think of at the moment, and many marched for all of the above.
Regardless, millions of people worldwide, including myself, are lamenting. Merriam-Webster defines "lament" as a passionate expression of grief or sorrow. Lament is painful. Lament is difficult. Lament is something nobody should just be told to "get over" and move on. This leads me to my point: Our churches should be the places people can lament. They should not be places where people have to hide their pain. It should not be a place where they put on a happy face because that's what you do in church. God is giving us an opportunity to be a place where people can come share their deepest sorrows and we allow them that space. People need a place to cry. People need a place to yell. They need a place to be human. We need to give space in our worship for lament. We don't need to stay in lament, but many times we do not even give space for it. We want people to fall in line with our church customs and to not rock the boat too much or else our eyes may be opened to something that makes us have to change and impacts our faith.
When we invite people to join us, we must be inviting their whole person. Their joyous self. Their grieving self. Their lamenting self. Their laughing self. The church should be the place where you become your truest self, and in order for us to be our truest self we have to deal with the hard emotions as well. Jesus did not avoid lament (see the Garden of Gethsemane), and Jesus did not avoid lamenting people. Yes, let us walk toward faithful liberation, but let us also find time for lament. 

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.