Raising Ignorance

I have been in Christian schools all my life.  Elementary, Jr. High, High School, College have all been Christian Private Schools.  And yet it was not until my Sophomore year in College that I had an American history class that really dealt with civil rights and the perspective of the innocent and oppressed through Howard Zinn's book A People's History of the United States.  That was a class that made us think seriously about the nature of the history we have been taught, but it stretched our worldview the way education was meant to.  I only wish I had made it to more classes that semester.

However, the class came to late.  Most of the people in my class were teachers-to-be and many came from Christian conservative homes.  Maybe, just maybe the class would spur them on to the classroom wanting to talk about the injustices of America and its policies toward race and history.  I somehow doubt it though.  As a barometer I remember my major class project was on the history and impact of Rock and Roll and I had little interest at the time in reading speeches by Dr. King or Malcolm X or any other host of passionate leaders that defined this country only 30 years prior.

If there is anything I would change about my Christian education experience, if there is anything that would seriously make a difference in the future of our children in Christian schools I would change its history curriculum.  I would tell the story of African Americans and I would tell it through their eyes and bring in visitors so the kids can hear it from their voices and I would start it in elementary school.  The earlier they can learn how we hated one another the sooner love can take root.

Un-Christian Images

The t-shirt that you see to the left is one that I found at an ordinary Christian bookstore on the web. Actually I have seen many t-shirts like this including Taco Bell take offs that insert the name of Jesus, Reeses logo that insert the name Jesus and a wide variety of other corporate and easily recognizable logos that insert the name of Jesus to replace the actual word. To be blunt: I believe it to be blasphemy.

I am not speaking about the t-shirts that might say "Jesus said to love one another," or even the t-shirt I saw my niece wearing this weekend that said, "So What if I Pray Like a Girl." Some of them are quite clever and I have no problem with making a public statement through a t-shirt or a bumper sticker or whatever. There is a difference, however with the t-shirt you see here and the one my niece was wearing.

The t-shirt you see here is conforming the image of Christ into the image of a corporate logo. Jesus Christ written in Cocoa-Cola letters does not identify you as a Christian but Christ as a Coke drinker. Or, if not a Coke drinker, at least it gives an image to Christ not his own. In Colossians we read that Christ is the image of the invisible God and in 1 John we read how we are going to be like him. Christ is the image we are being transformed into. He is the ultimate image of God that we are seeking to live up to. Being perfect, Christ is everything we should be and will be.

So how is it we put perfection on a t-shirt in someone else's image (or logo for they are synonyms in this instance)?

In the Old Testament, the Israelites dared not even speak the name of God for his holiness should not come from unclean lips. I am not saying we should return, but Jesus is more than a best friend that we can give a nickname to or put on a t-shirt. He is also our king and our judge. Everyone of us will stand in front of his throne someday and be judged. Do you want to explain to him why the powerful name of Jesus, the name above all names, was used to sell t-shirts and make money. How dare we make money off his name. It transgresses the sacredness of his name. It is blasphemy.

The balance between friend and king is an important balance. The friend allows us to come to the throne unashamed. But the king allows us to understand that we should have been ashamed to approach such light. It is in humbleness that we hold his hand and at the same time bow at his feet.

Circuit Judge Evelyn Clay: I Agree

A story in the Chicago Tribune reported that Judge Evelyn Clay has recently stated three times in her court room during jury selection that she will not have all white juries. When a few people seemingly raised a stink she apologized for being blunt but stood by what she believed would result in fair proceedings by a jury of peers. Her exact words, "I don't seat all white jurors."

Blunt? It is 2005 and people thought what she said was blunt? She is an African American woman who has become a judge in a system that has historically been the systemic deconstruction of the black identity. Thank-you Ms. Clay for being the honorable Judge clay. Thank you for standing up to a system that has never repented of its fiasco in the Emmett Till trial or even Greensboro, North Carolina. Thank-you for realizing that a jury of our peers in 2005 will be diverse in its ethnicity.

In my opinion the more diverse our juries the more fair they will become.

But about being blunt, I wonder if you haven't been blunt enough. Still in 2005 the majority of white people in this country has never repented for the systemic racism that has destroyed the African American family. We (the white community) have never repented for separating black slaves, forcing women to breed like cattle and men to be the studs in an effort for genetically strong slaves. We have never repented for the countless rapes that took place among slaves a hundred years ago. The systematic destruction of the family that white slave owners did 150 years ago still have devastating affects on the African American community today.

However, all around us we see those communities crawling out from under our curse. In spite of the limp we may have given them they have not given any excuses and have risen to become a beautiful, strong, and intelligent people.

No Ms. Clay it is not you who needs to apologize, but your critics and the courts of America for its injustice. But to those who are offended by your comments because they have little toleration for people who call a spade a spade, they owe you the apology for beating around too many bushes....lousy lawyers.

Intentional Diversity? CRC Synod 2005

It is exciting to note the push towards diversity occurring in the CRC and the attention given to the panel of ethnic advisors. It also is exciting that there has been a study committee to try and boost the number of minority delegates to Synod. The very fact that Synod is asking all classis to develop and submit a blueprint for intentionally involving ethnic minorities in the life and governance of the church by 2007 is especially encouraging.

We are beginning to move in the right direction...or are we.

As I look at the page concerning this story in the Banner I notice there are 2 pictures of people from Asian descent and a white pastor. Where are the African Americans? In fact, as I flip through the pages of the Banner and read all about intentional diversity I see only two pictures of African Americans. One picture is of Rev. Bob Price, a delegate from Chicago and the other is of the one African American person whose part of the dining hall staff at Trinity Christian College.

In fact, towards the back there is a whole section of pictures of dark skinned people in an effort to show the poverty the World Missions works with. They are Africans, not African Americans, but because there is all this talk about diversity and very little African American representation, does the magazine perpetuate the false stereotype that black people are poor and need our help? That is to say, if we are talking about being intentional, then we must be careful how we present people in our magazines, because when our children pick up the magazine, the images of black poverty are reinforced. Alone it really is not that big of a deal because parents can talk with their children about it, however, when the same images are constantly reinforced on the Evening News and other forms of media (consistently providing negative images of African Americans over positive ones) our opinion of people are being shaped.

Meanwhile, churches are moving out of neighborhoods because the community has turned primarily black. They say its for more space, that they outgrew their old facility and yet I doubt any effort was made to find open space in the places they moved from (which there happened to be plenty). Even if the excuse for space were legitimate, the opportunity for both ministry, evangelism and becoming a multiethnic church the way the CRC denomination is asking churches to become are reasons to stay that far outweigh reasons to leave.

If space is a problem, plant another church (another initiative that the CRC denomination is strongly encouraging) and quite finding ways to excuse your prejudice and fear.

There are many things that divide America and the CRC in the issue of race and more specifically white and black relationships. But if God is asking for restorative justice as the Synod has agreed he has, then it is not only about prison ministries and the criminal justice system, but a lifestyle that seeks to restore relationships. Restoration must be sought between white and black America and the CRC stands at a significant time in its history to lead the way.

An Open Letter to the President

Dear Mr. President,

 Thank-you for further supporting the initiative to cancel the debt of the world’s poorest countries and raising the United States of America’s financial support of relief aid for Malaria, AIDS and extreme poverty.  It was drawn to my attention in Time Magazine that you have tripled America’s support for Africa, an action unparalleled by any other President in our history.  For that I am appreciative.

 However, Mr. President, it means nothing if we do not follow through on the promises made at the G-8 conference in Gleneagle, Scotland.

 Over the course of your Presidency you seem to have always done what you said you were going to do.  Like any good Texan/American, once your mind is set on something, that something gets done.  I pray your conviction is the same for relieving the debt in Africa and fighting AIDS and Malaria.

 Also Mr. President, I pray you rethink the Kyoto Protocol.  God has made America a beautiful place and already our National Parks are suffering because of our lack of concern for the environment.  No longer do they allow camp fires at Grand Canyon National Park and Yosemite National Park has a limit to the amount of traffic it can allow during the summer months.  Both of these are because of the air pollution from our cars and factories across America.  If God has created this country beautiful is it not our duty to care for it in such a way as to preserve that beauty for his glory?

 You may have said that to sign the treaty would cause harm to the economy.  I understand that politically it is not a great idea.  You do not want to leave a legacy of recession and the tension of an already slow economy has been the root of some of the chief criticism of your Presidency.

 Yet you have defined your Presidency as a President who does what he feels is the right thing to do and does what he feels God has called him to do.  Even though in some areas I may not agree with how you have carried this out, I respect the fact that you are willing to stand for what is right.

 Is it right to sacrifice the beauty of our country for economic stability?  Is it right to compromise nature preserves to save a few dollars at the gas station?  If God has given to America one of the most beautiful places on earth in all its incredible diversity of desert and mountains, oceans and the Great Lakes, the plains, the wetlands, the badlands and even the cold lands as far as Alaska, is it not our job, our duty to take care of these gifts in such a way that we can be proud to return them to the creator, that is Christ Jesus, when he returns.  Because when I look around I am afraid that I am ashamed with how America treats its natural resources both here and around the world.

 It may be bad for our economy, but we are the wealthiest nation in the world, it seems, if the environment were any kind of priority, we could afford to take care of our earth.  Not only that, by signing the Kyoto Protocol, you restore our solidarity with the other nations, improving our international reputation and quenching the angry thirst of people possibly taking their first steps to a life of terrorism because it seems that America simply does not listen.  Trust their scientists when they talk about greenhouse gasses, Mr. President, if only to tell the world that we do indeed listen to their concerns and will act with them to improve the world instead of acting without them to protect our own selfish economic interests.

 My greatest fear, Mr. President, is not terrorism.  My greatest fear is God’s judgment for not being a steward of the incredible wealth he has given us.  As the biblical story proves, when a country fails to grant justice to the poor and the environment God’s judgment follows and not even America could withstand that all consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29).

 Finally, I know your time is extremely limited but I have included with this document a copy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech Beyond Vietnam.  I hope you read it and reread it and I pray the question you ask when you’re finished reading and for the rest of your Presidency is this: How do we love our enemies the way Jesus calls us to love our enemies?

 Thank you for your time and may God bless America.

 Respectfully,
 Jeremy T. Heyboer
encl.

A copy of this letter is posted on my blog http://greensummerlawn.blogspot.com.

Is Focus on the Family Changing Their Name

Today I received an advertisement in the mail from Focus on the Family asking for a subscription to its new "Christian" magazine Citizen. With it came the promise that they would tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth...forgetting to mention the truth would be from their conservative, republican perspective. I know it is a conservative republican perspective because with a subscription I would get the DVD The Faith of George W. Bush. A DVD that guarantees to inspire me.

As I continue to learn, read and study, I am finding that truth is not subjective. That is that The Truth is not subjective. The Truth being, of course, Christ Jesus. But when it comes to reporting stories, no one really comes from an objective point of view and so never really gets the whole truth of the story. The closest I have witnessed to truth is on NPR who often doesn't necessarily give the truth but gives both sides of the story. The Citizen being admittedly conservative from a conservative evangelical powerhouse such as Focus on the Family seems to me a way to gain influence and make money but not necessarily the right way.

If we are truly desiring to change America why not support our writers who are Christians in their careers, urging them to work for magazines such an Time or Newsweek. This would encourage Christian people to engage the world with confidence rather than isolating ourselves for fear of moral desecration from the secular world. Something, just to note, that Jesus modeled everyday of his ministry.

Finally, I am frustrated with Focus on the Family's willingness to seemingly use Christian and Conservative or Christian and Republican as synonyms. I know many "liberal" evangelical and even some of them so happen to be democrats and they love Jesus and desire to follow him with all of their hearts. I know many Christians, Christians who are so called because of their actions as much as their words, who have strong criticism of George W. Bush. Truth be told, the example Christ gave us on the cross does nullify any justification for war.

I am certain many people at Focus on the Family are strong evangelical Christians striving to live out life from a biblical worldview. I simply do not trust the opinions of Christians who vote for one ideology when nearly all ideologies are flawed. The Conservative stands against abortion and appropriately so. But far too often they miss the issues of justice in the context of race and economics, alienating other vulnerable and voiceless members of the society like the poor. The Liberal tends to be better at this and is often a proponent against war, an action that always, and this is the truth, always sacrifices the lives of innocent, often voiceless people. But often liberals support the violence of abortion.

Both Conservatives and Liberals contradict themselves where they stand which is why if Focus on the Family really wants to speak the truth they will either walk the middle line or give both sides of the story. Unless of course that is a bad marketing idea.

Simple Living: Action Against Consummerism

Here is a web site that The Advocate (CRC Office of Justice) mentioned. Check it out! The image is from their "About Us" page. The group is called Alternatives For Simple Living.

A Time for Fasting

It is hard to drive across America without running into a McDonald's or other fast food chain. Actually, it is probably impossible. We are surrounded by food. We waste millions of pounds of food everyday. And yet, according to Prism Magazine, 210,000 children die from starvation every week. It is like having a Tsunami every week of every year.

We do need to give more.

But maybe that is not the only thing we must do. Maybe getting back to the spiritual discipline of fasting would invite us to consider more carefully the blessings God has given us. Maybe fasting is one way to resist the gluttony that has become an American epidemic. Maybe if more American Evangelicals were to fast, they would be more open to help the poor as God has called us to do.

We are great at ranting about pro-life and teaching creationism or even intelligent design in our schools, but Reformed Christians and, more broadly, Evangelicals are often silent about the poor people in their backyard, or their responsibility to them. Isaiah links fasting and justice in chapter 58. He does not desire our worship (something we seem to be very good at) unless we are a just people. Fasting for "religious" purposes turn God off unless we are fasting for the poor or for justice. When our worship and our justice line up to glorify Jesus Christ, it is then that we will start to alleviate the hunger of a starving world.

So next time you pass by McDonald's and your stomach growls, pull off to the side of the road and instead of eating, pray. And after praying find something you can do to call America to the road of shalom, that is justice with peace.

What Can I Give?

According to statistics, during the depression in the 1930's Americans gave 3.3% of their annual income to charities and/or church. After unprecedented economic growth into the wealthiest nation in the world and in history Americans now only give 2.6% of their annual income to charities and/or church. Selfish? No. It's just plain narcissistic. It is a disease. It is why America will be judged most severely when its time comes unless we respond with repentance as individuals and as a nation.