Silly Pastors, Tricks Are for Kids

Faith and politics often collide, but this time massive legal fallout seems imminent. Tomorrow, a group of 30 uber-conservative pastors backed by the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal organization, will endorse Republican Presidential Nominee John McCain from their church pulpits. Jerry Falwell is smiling from the grave.

What is their goal? Is it to drum up support for one candidate in a tight race? Is it to guide their congregants to a more educated decision come November? No. Their stated goal is to incite a court fight with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulation which forbids tax-exempt entities like churches from doing such things. (See "Pastors Buck Ban on Pulpit Politics" for the full story.)

Perhaps the IRS regulation is unfair or unconstitutional. Perhaps not. Regardless, this surely isn't the best way to engage the issue. As a Church-loving follower of Christ, I am disturbed for a couple of reasons. 

First, this stunt is stupid. I wish I could think of a more eloquent way to say it, but I think "stupid" works well. The actions of these pastors put their churches in jeopardy of losing their tax-exempt status. If that happens, they will rob their congregants of the tax break that they would have earned from their contributions.

Even beyond the stupidity, this stunt runs contrary to the ministry calling. The call to ministry is a call to unite, not divide. And it is a call to engage all who need the Gospel. Don't we want to minister to Democrats or only Republicans? By endorsing Senator McCain from their pulpits, these podunk pastors slam the church door in the face of all the Democrats in their community. 

This self-serving, self-glorifying stunt is a not-so-subtle reminder that there is still a cohort within the church that aligns itself with a particular political party and alienates those who don't fall in line. These people act with utter disregard to the message of the Gospel, the ministry of Jesus Christ, and the consequences of their actions within the community. Sad.

What do you think?

Huge Backlash From LifeWay Decision to Pull Magazine

Higher-ups at the world's largest Christian publisher and retailer, LifeWay Christian Resources, decided to pull a magazine from the shelves of over 100 stores and all hell broke loose. It all started when GospelToday Magazine decided to profile 5 women pastors in this months cover story. LifeWay, whose parent entity, The Southern Baptist Convention, has a standing, non-binding resolution against women pastors, reacted by pulling all the magazines off their shelves. Then, a fierce backlash ensued typified in Roland Martin's CNN.com article entitled "Christian Bookstore's Shameful Actions." 

In response, I posted "Behind the Counters" on Neue Quarterly's website, which highlighted both sides of this issue.

Check it out and answer the following questions:

Should women be in ministry in your opinion?

What do you think of LifeWay's decision?

The Bible Goes Green?

In a publishing first, Harper-Collins is set to release The Green Bible in only a few short days. The press release reads, "New bible shows how God was the original environmentalist--and how the world's most influential book urges us to sustain our planet." I received an advance copy for review in the mail today, and I must say that it is well put together and beautifully bound.

The Bible has several intriguing if not revolutionary features. It features essays from Desmond Tutu, Pope John Paul II, NT Wright, Matthew Sleeth and others. And it is eco-friendly. The Bible is printed on recycled paper with soy-based inks and is held by a 100% cotton/linen cover. Finally, it is a "green-letter edition" so every reference to the creation is marked with brightly-colored ink.

I have only two small qualms with this project. 1) I have never been a fan of special editions of the Bible. I think the Bible probably transcends these uses by its very nature. 2) This Bible is in one of my least favorite translations, the NRSV. Even in light of these things, I would urge everyone to at least go echeck one out in person. Just holding it in your hands is an interesting experience.

What do you think about The Green Bible?

Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with PGA golfer Stewart Cink. He is an incredible athlete who recently won the Traveler's Championship and has earned $25 million as a tour golfer. But, Stewart is also a man of deep principles and Christian faith. In this exclusive interview for STV Magazine, I ask the top-25 golfer and father of two about the demands of the tour, how to achieve a healthy work-life balance and how he lives out his faith when on the course. 

In what I think will be a refreshing departure from my typical subject matter, check out "In Cink: PGA Golfer Stewart Cink Keeps His Priorities in Line."

Will Sarah Palin Tip the Young Evangelical Vote?

Eric Gorski of the Associated Press just released an article entitled "Younger Evangelicals Split Over Palin" in which I was quoted. As always, Gorski put together a pretty solid article with a great range of sources including leaders from the Emergent Church and authors like Gabe Lyons. (One correction: He said that I contacted the McCain campaign, but they actually contacted me.)

Perhaps the most brilliant quote in the whole article came from Gabe Lyons, author of UnChristian who said young evangelicals "aren't identifying as much with Palin's evangelicalism as with her emblematic role as everyday American--one of us, a normal, down to earth mom, parent, school volunteer," he said. "This isn't a faith response, it's a human response."

I think Gabe has made a good point. The reason so many of us are drawn to Palin is because we see her as the PTA mom who lives down the street. And that translates into trust, a critical factor in selecting to whom our votes will go. In that sense, McCain couldn't have chosen a better running mate.

What do you think of Palin? If you are drawn to her, what about her attracts you?

**Update: The McCain campaign has come back to schedule the conference call in an effort to reach out to the young evangelical vote.**

Women's Roles Debated

An interesting pairing today in the CNN Newsroom. Margaret Feinberg, speaker and author of books such as The Sacred Echo, and Voddie Baucham, Pastor of Grace Family Baptist Church, went head-to-head on the issue of women in leadership. The debate was inspired by the recent nomination of Sarah Palin, and the segment can be found here.

Personally, I don't know much about Voddie Baucham except that he is an Oxford-educated, well-spoken pastor and I certainly wouldn't want to take him on in a live, television forum. That is why I was so impressed that Margaret handled herself with grace while standing her ground. And that is also why I was so stunned to hear his comments representing beliefs about women that I thought only existed in the distant recesses of Quaker country.

Bauchum believes that a woman's place is as "keeper of the home" (Titus 2:5), which he interprets as Joan Cleaver or Donna Reed or something. When faced with the Biblical figure, Deborah, a woman and wife that God hand-picked to lead the nation of Israel--a nation full of capable warriors, I might add--Baucham replied, "She certainly was, and the fact that something happened doesn't mean that it's normative for the church. In Isaiah Chapter 3, for example, one of the signs that a culture is under judgment is that women are in leadership in their nations. So Deborah was actually a sign that things were very bad in Israel. Not a norm for the church."

So, according to Mr. Baucham women in leadership illustrates divine judgment. Luckily, Margaret responded to this looney-toon comment with her trademark kindness refusing to call Voddie a "sexist" even when CNN Anchor Kyra Phillips pressed her.

When Voddie stated that a woman should be "keeper of the home," Margaret aptly replied, "But Voddie, being a keeper of the home can be translated in so many different ways. And that means that if a woman happens to be the breadwinner, shouldn't they have the opportunity to step out and take care of their family in that way?"

Baucham was left speechless.

Voddie holds a view of women that is surprising for a man with his pristine educational background. (Not to mention that he keeps referring to things as "the gospel" that are clearly NOT part of the gospel.) I certainly believe that God has uniquely equipped women for motherhood. I don't think anyone is denying that. But, when Baucham claims that women lack the occupational credibility and Biblical license to work in the 21st Century, he twists the scriptures and places an unfair constraint on many working Christian women.

Take a look, and you be the judge.

Recently, I wrote a piece for the new creation care power-site, Deep Green Conversation, entitled, "It's All Greek to Me." In it, I detail my recent trip to Greece and how out of place I--a creation care advocate--felt in "a country that truly does its part to protect the planet." This trip reminded me that Americans, including myself, have to move past en vogue, light-green trends to simply make us feel better and start making the big decisions that will push us along in the race to sustainability.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

Post-Convention Pastoring

This year's political conventions were the most memorable of any in my recent memory. The first black Presidential nominee, potentially the first female Vice-President, the gulf storms completely altering the first day of the Republican convention and an unprecedented amount of tech-heavy fanfare across the board.

Normally, political hoopla of this magnitude will be paralleled by public, political posturing by some of America's most prominent Christian leaders. But this year may be different. In the last year or two, many Christians have reacted against "the over-politicization of the American Church." (I could cite many articles and books like the recent bestseller Unchristian and We the Purple.) This year, I think many people hope that Church leaders will take the opportunity to react differently than in the past.

This is the thrust of my article for the newly-launched ministry quarterly, Neue, entitled, Post-Convention Pastoring. In it, I encourage those of us in ministry to "lead like Jesus" by avoiding partisan posturing and, instead, sticking to the issues and values that Jesus promoted.

Take a minute to read the article and let me know your thoughts and opinions.

Arabic Time

(Guest Writer - Katie Corbett, VA) recently spent the weekend with a friend’s family at a Christian Arabic Conference in Pennsylvania. Since this is a blog, you are probably picturing me in your mind, wondering what Middle Eastern country I am descendent from. Well, to set the record straight, I am very blonde (at least for now), very blue-eyed, white girl with my ancestors hailing from Slovakia. Needless to say, I stuck out a just bit.

In addition to the obvious differences in physical appearance, the cultural difference was huge. I like to think I am your typical, all-American girl. I love hotdogs and Cleveland and the American flag. And like most Americans, I love to be busy and I love to be on a schedule. I have to stick closely to my pristine day planner to complete all of my daily activities.

On the 2nd day of the conference, after the morning session, it was finally time for lunch. I did not have breakfast that day, so by noon my head was screaming for Starbucks. On my “schedule,” lunch runs daily from 12:00 to 1:30. It was already 12:30. My stomach was starting to grumble a bit when I politely suggested to my friend that maybe we should go eat.

My friend Chris agreed with me, so I left to gather my things. When I returned, Chris had moved farther from the door then when I had left him! So I waited and then I waited some more, listening to the symphony that my stomach was composing. Moments seemed like eternities. Each time we took a step towards the door, something would happen and we would backtrack. Persistently looking down at my phone, I watched minutes and my chance at a hot, caffeinated beverage slipping further and further away. Finally, sensing my distress and growing agitation Chris looks at me and said, “You need to relax…you are on ‘Arabic time.’ This is how we do it.”

Later on that day after I had been caffeinated, I had some time to reflect on how my desire for a well kept schedule reflects my desire for a well kept schedule with God. When I present a problem to God, I expect an immediate answer? God knows exactly how to help me and has all the answers I am looking for, so what is the hold up? Why does God make me continue to pray and pray before he sends back the answer?

I think God is much like my beloved Arabic friends. For both of them, arriving at a final destination is equally important as the process it took to get there. It is not that God is holding out on me, it is more that he is asking to me to sit back, relax and enjoy the process. When God does not supply the answers on my schedule, it forces me to seek harder and trust more openly.

Isn’t that what God desires out of us all? He wants us to diligently seek Him and to come to trust his heart. Although it would be nice to get immediate answers and instant gratification, the immediacy that I crave may, in the end, not be as sweet or draw me closer to the heart of God.

I am not sure I was able to achieve full Arabic status in one weekend, but once I was able to relax and take it all in I realized that my friend probably had it right all along. I am going to get where I need to be, so now I need to sit back, kick up my feet, and enjoy the ride. I am living on Arabic time.