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Theology

stan hauerwas is sorry to tell us youth ministers

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this little snippet of stanley hauerwas, prominent theologian, speaking to the youth ministers at the princeton institute for youth ministry. with statements like..

  • How many of you worship in a church with an American flag?  I am sorry to tell you that your salvation is in doubt.

this is more of lobbing pop shots at the people who have little influence over things of this sort. however, i can appreciate the challenge presented in getting youth folks thinking of some of these things. too bad if they go home and tell parents this stuff they will be gone in a few months.

the problem with the Lord’s prayer

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The problem with the Lord’s Prayer is neither its content nor its historicity, but its familiarity. Many congregants don’t actually think of the meaning of the words or, if they do, find only comfort rather than a challenge. Little children still happily conclude that the deity’s name is "Harold" fear that the major sin they might commit is trespassing on someone else’s lawn, adn earnestly hope that they are never led "into Penn Station." When placed in a first-century Jewish context, the prayer recovers numerous connotations that make it both more profound and more political. It fosters belief, promotes justice, consoles with future hope, and recognizes that the world is not always how we would want it.

the Misunderstood Jew: the church and the scandal of the Jewish Jesus, by AJ Levine

how true.. and it made me giggle too

update: those crazy folks at church of the resurrection are talking up the Lord’s Prayer as well.

the declaration of independence reframed

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i can’t help but share this. it hit me like a ton of bricks. the follow is an encounter brian mclaren had at davos a few weeks ago.

Another moment – when a Muslim conversation partner introduced me to
a group of Muslims I hadn’t met: "This is my friend, Brian." When
people stop being "that Jew" or "that Christian" or "that Muslim," and
instead become "my friend," followed by a real name … the state of the
world improves a little bit.

And another – sitting with a Muslim scholar who explained to me, "If
you want to understand our struggle, think of your own Declaration of
Independence." She rehearsed the lines, known by heart: "… we hold
these truths to be self-evident … created equal … endowed by their
Creator with certain inalienable rights." She asked me what these lines
were intended to do, to accomplish. I replied, "To counter the
pre-modern notion of the divine right of kings with a new notion – of
the God-given rights of individuals." Why, she asked, was it important
to bring God in? "Because God represents an authority higher than a
king’s authority. If God gives individuals rights, a king loses his
right to abrogate them."

Then she said, "This is a primary reason why there is such a
religious revival in Islam. Millions of Muslims live under
dictatorships. They need to have their human rights validated
theologically so they can gain freedom from dictators, just as American
colonists wanted to gain freedom from the king in 1776." Sadly, she
added, many of these dictators have remained in power with U.S.
support, which helps explain much of the antipathy toward U.S. foreign
policy. A simple thought, perhaps obvious to many, but it clicked for
me as never before.

1. i like how brian explains the declaration of independence, that God is above kings. so it is no surprise that in that it hit like a ton of bricks… why do we enable other countries to live in a framework that we would not allow ourselves to be in. i am not advocating nation building, like we are experiencing in Afghanistan or Iraq, certainly we did much to help them to where they were. but what if there were other creative means to enable all people to live where God is ultimate authority? even over that of a king or president? hmm..