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The curious case of the praying valedictorian

June 5, 2013 — Leave a comment

My Facebook feed has recently started to light up with editorial responses to the young man in South Carolina who, as valedictorian of his graduating class, set his prepared remarks aside and elected to recite the Lord’s Prayer in violation of the school district’s prohibition of religious observance.

Here’s the video.

Your response to this act of defiance will likely differ based on your religious convictions, your political persuasion, and where you live in the country. Clearly those in the audience at the commencement exercise appreciated the gesture. From the video, it’s hard to tell what the faculty are thinking. Plausibly, “oh crap” is one possibility.

The decision to do this raises many questions…

  • About the student: is he brave or stupid? Heroic or reckless?
  • About the audience: how would they have responded to a muslim student doing something similar? Is applause a sign of belligerence rather than the appropriate reaction to the worship of God?
  • About us: how is our response conditioned by our prejudice? Against Southerners? Against Christians? Against fundamentalists?
  • About the act itself: is it really an exercise more of devotion to our Constitution and our conception of freedom in a liberal democracy than it is one of devotion to God? How does this relate to the biblical admonition to honor the civil magistrate?

This young man, I’m sure, intended that his act be one of positive witness to our Lord. I hope that in the lives of many it will be received as just that and that perhaps some will incline themselves to God in a new way. However, many will see this as something akin to an act of defiance by a dwindling majority.

It may be both.

What do you think?

In Academic Freedom, Biography, Campus Ministry, Culture, Discipleship, Evangelicalism, First Amendment, gospel & culture, Higher Education, Jesus, Justice, Law, Life of the Mind, Ministry, reformed spirituality, Society , , , ,
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What is a pastor (cont’d)?

April 12, 2013 — 2 Comments

I’m on something of an intellectual journey to understand the essence of ordained ministry (the presbyterate and deaconate). I’m doing this for a couple of reasons. The first is that, by nature, I’m an inquisitive person and the challenge of exploring this sort of topic is really exciting to me. Second, there seem to be as many models or understandings of ordained ministry out there as there are ministries and individuals in ministry. Was there ever consensus about the pastoral office? Third, I have a suspicion that we evangelicals are missing something in the way we understand and communicate about ordained ministry. I wonder, frankly, whether we’re losing something of the soul of our leadership. In short, are we putting the cart before the horse by talking about leadership in isolation from discipleship. Leaders who aren’t disciples are, at least in spiritual leadership terms, not effective leaders.

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Let me state my concerns about the evangelical theology of ministry that marks so many churches today in four theses. I hope I’m wrong about this or that, at least, I’m going too far:

Thesis 1: In our desire to affirm the gifts of non-ordained Christians, we have unnecessarily degraded our understanding of the ordained offices of the church.

Thesis 2: We evangelicals–as a people inclined to value experience in the first instance–have unwittingly accepted the claim that religious knowledge is not a legitimate form of knowledge that has bearing beyond first person experience. As a result we are increasingly incredulous of any claim by clergy or the church to interpret religious experiences.

Thesis 3: Since the interpretation and understanding of religious knowledge/experience has become privatized, clergy are increasingly understood as professionals who facilitate religious experiences.

Thesis 4: We typically understand religious experience being precipitated by events. As a result, clergy are increasingly understood to be people who facilitate, arrange, and provide religious events that serve as conduits for religious experiences to take place.

Thesis 5: Since clergy have a greater degree of control and can plausibly reach a greater proficiency in event planning, clergy are drawn to this elements of ministry. Events are concrete, demonstrable evidence of religious accomplishment. They validate the leadership of a minister.

Am I going too far? Do you worry about this too?

In Biography, Campus Ministry, Discipleship, Evangelicalism, Fellowship of Presbyterians, gospel & culture, missional theology, PCUSA, Practical Theology, reformed spirituality, Theology and Philosophy, Worship , , ,
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Which books changed your life?

September 6, 2012 — 2 Comments

What was your Hortensius? What one (or more) books had a significant influence on you early in your life?

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In Confessions Augustine recounts a significant juncture in his spiritual journey. He writes,

“…I came to a book by Cicero, whose eloquence, if not his thoughts, is admired by all. But this book of his contains an exhortation to philosophy: it is called the Hortensius. It was this book that changed my outlook, that changed my prayers and turned them to you, O Lord, and made my aspirations and desires other than they had been…..” (3.4.7)

For Augustine, Hortensius kindled within him a desire for “the immortality conferred by philosophy.” It was a turning point because he desired to read that book for it’s own value rather than as a means to increase his rhetorical ability. This shift was, according to Augustine, the beginning of his return to God.

Is there a book like that in your own life? A book whose influence changed the course of your life and made you different than you otherwise might have been?

In Biography, Culture, Discipleship, Life of the Mind, Spiritual Formation, Theology and Philosophy, Vocation, Writing
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The charity conundrum

December 22, 2011

co·nun·drum/kəˈnəndrəm/

Noun:
  1. A confusing and difficult problem or question.
  2. A question asked for amusement, typically one with a pun in its answer; a riddle.
It was dark, not particularly cold, but drizzling with rain as the four of us walked across the   parking lot last night headed for the relative comfort of a fast-food restaurant. Then it happened: “Sir, can you spare some money for gas?” I responded, in truth, that I did not have any cash in my wallet or change in my pocket. I rarely do. Like most middle class Americans I rarely use cash for my regular purchases.
My new friend responded, “could you charge me some gas?” at the gas station across the street. What to do? Frankly, I wanted to say: “Forget it pal. I don’t have any cash and I’m not about to leave my wife with the kids to cross the street in the rain to get you some gas.”
For some reason I relented and walked across the street while he drove. I prepaid for some gas and rejoined my family.
I had just ordered my food when another gentleman (who looked homeless) approached me inquiring what the former gentleman had asked me about. I told him. He responded: “Just so you know, he has an apartment and is a meth addict.”
Okay–something of a conundrum here. I was beginning to have my doubts about my first friend when he pushed me to throw in a couple of extra bucks for “me and my lady.” Uh, I was thinking, this gas *is* for you and your lady!
So what do you do when confronted with an opportunity to give to someone who claims to be in need? I don’t have any great answers to this because it is something of a riddle–you’re rarely in a position to have enough information to make a wise decision about the merits of the person’s claim.
In the end the issue may not really be the merits of the person’s claim. The issue may just be the disposition of our hearts.
  • Am I willing to acknowledge the humanity and the dignity (yes, the dignity even present in asking for help) of another?
  • Am I willing to help?
  • Am I willing to give an honest answer about why I won’t or can’t help?
  • Am I willing to help in ways other than that requested by the asker?
I have to believe that God’s providence is at work in encounters like this. God may be using experiences like the one above to bring me into contact with places in my own heart that I don’t often explore. He may be using my gift to an undeserving person as an illustration of His own supreme generosity to me in Christ.
It’s a conundrum, right? And conundrums often have to be approached by faith.
In Biography, Culture, Discipleship, Economics, Jesus, Justice, Poverty, Spiritual Formation
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Requiescat in pace John R W Stott

July 27, 2011

Not too long ago I wrote a brief list of pastors whom I admire. I learned today that one of them, John R W Stott, has entered into the church triumphant.

Stott (1921-2011) was an amazing man who was a gift to the universal church. As David Brooks noted, “If evangelicals could elect a pope Stott is the person they would likely choose.” His influence was significant.

Learning of his death was a moving moment for me because there is so much about Stott that I admire and wish to emulate in my own life.

Here’s a brief list:

  • He was a gifted writer who made Scripture and theology sing. Two of his books exerted a special influence on my: Christian Counter-Culture (1978) and Between Two Worlds (1982). I also appreciated Basic Christianity as a primer on the Christian faith.
  • He was committed to the church in the majority world. Stott was a global Christian who cared deeply that pastors and churches in the majority world were able to flourish.
  • He lived simply. I am told that Stott lived simply and never took a second helping at a meal. He was keenly aware of the privileges he enjoyed and remained connected to his sisters and brothers in Christ throughout the world.
  • He was irenic. There was a gentleness of spirit that marked him. He had firm convictions but unlike so many he never allowed vitriol to discolor the content of his case.
  • He was bookish. He is one of the handful of pastors who I look to as a role model of being a pastor without being a corporate CEO type, or a salesman, or a politician. I work in a study not an office. I aspire to be a working theologian.

O God, whose mercies cannot be numbered: Accept our prayers on behalf of thy servant John, and grant him an entrance into the land of light and joy, in the fellowship of thy saints; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 

Psalm 46 Deus noster refugium

God is our hope and strength, *

a very present help in trouble.

Therefore will we not fear, though the earth be moved, * and though the hills be carried into the midst of the sea;

Though the waters thereof rage and swell, * and though the mountains shake at the tempest of the same.

There is a river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God, * the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most Highest.

God is in the midst of her, therefore shall she not be removed; *

God shall help her, and that right early.

Be still then, and know that I am God; * I will be exalted among the nations, and I will be exalted in the earth.

The Lord of hosts is with us; * the God of Jacob is our refuge.

In Biography
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