a little razzle dazzle
I got a postcard recently from a church who was marketing this new sermon series. Come to find out my R and K buddies must have disregarded the wooing too. Maybe, if the postcard only had a more creative way of selling us God. Maybe a cool God slogan or something... one that ryhmes ...or is a play on words... has a pop tv show theme... you know, a little razzle dazzle. Then maybe we would give up our peaceful meal together on Sunday morning at our local diner.
I most recently wrote about Christianity and the revelation of how I was the center of a religous reality for as long as I can remember. After days of pensive meditation, the timing of a Derek Webb podcast, and the presidential race I began intentionally starting conversations about politics. In my awkward attempt at making sense and the various vague responses that bounced back, our uneducated convo birthed some humbling conclusions. One, if the statement, "It's difficult to soar with eagles, when you are scratching with the turkeys" is true, then when it comes to me and my political savvy mates, there is alot of gobbling goin on. Secondly, a Christian nation is an oxymoron. Jesus said to Pilate, "His kingdom is not of this world". Pause......
Human laws and guidlines are feeble and broken. These structures are put in place b/c of our human ability to be human. When Politicians use Christian as the describing adjective of their title, their religous superiority is running in front of their identity. Christian is not meant to be an adjective. We do not need anymore Christian politicians or Christian teachers, or Christian athletes or Christian whatevers. We need Christ in Spirit and in Truth. Hench the reason for the seperation of Church and State, so people can't drag God's name behind their political propaganda like GOd endorses them or something "Huckabee flirts with that concept". Our founders realized even the most valiant attempts of governing humans would fail. To not sound so anti-politics and anti-christian I propose this thought: Maybe our actions speak louder than words. Maybe upon deep meditation and tireless wrestling with God, and humble revelation, our forefathers setup this government in a way that spoke of God, but more importantly setup an unselfish system that help people choose God and allowed the revealing nature of God thru His spirit to bring about life change. Government will not save us, law will not save us, the only thing that will save us is the power in the grace of Jesus Christ who abolished the law. For me pro-choice doesnt mean I choose abortion or not, it just means I will not play God in peoples lives. God allows me to choose Him daily.
My family has worked in government ordain organizations of full time ministry for generations. Our sacrifice is not better than our obedience. God has greater things for the Western church and the truth is our framework will continue to sacrifice, yet His foundation will never move. If we want to help the poor, marginalized, prisoners of war, widows, or any other of the "least of these", our broken confessions and Jesus redemptive hope must lead the march toward unconditional love. Whether it be through humility, martyrdom, or sacrifice, our obedience to God's revelation is our only judgement.
To sum up my random candid thoughts I will defend me from myself in that after rereading this blog I draw from a well of deep passion and emotion, while dragging along loose jargon, bad grammer, and babbling rhetoric. My words are falliable, like the razzle dazzle.
So to the church of razzle dazzle, keep it up! Just know that when the dazzle turns to drizzle God's grace is for rizzle my nizzle. Peace ( I couldn't resist).
