on the polarizing need to be "right"

Here’s a thought about the difference between faith and religion: Faith tends to make us secure in our relationship with God, opening wide our hearts and our minds; whereas religion tends to build on fear and insecurity, is easily threatened, and progressively narrows both mind and spirit.

sharing some thoughts…

One of the better by-products of having an “observer” frame of mind is the ability to see both sides – and more – of a story.

I’ve been this way all my life. Listening; asking questions; standing outside of what’s going on; trying to walk around with my eyes and ears open before saying anything; asking more questions.

I’ve always been legitimately astounded by polarization; it’s simply never made any sense.

CHURCH POLITICS: When I was a teen I remember watching people getting bent out of shape about church stuff, staking out opposing positions. It was as if the Universe would come to a crashing halt if someone who didn’t agree with some narrow viewpoint wasn’t corrected, censured, forced to recant or publicly exposed as a heretical sinner.

I remember wondering why people couldn’t just enjoy their relationship with God, and why it was so important to be right, and why it was so important that “those other people” knew that they were wrong, or why somebody had to be labelled as wrong in the first place?

Such arrogance; such obvious insecurity; such a desperate need to be “right;” such narrow, unimaginative poverty of spirit; such paralyzing lack of faith….

NEXT VERSE, SAME AS THE FIRST: It’s something I’ve seen repeated again and again over the years and in many venues, but most disturbingly in politics and religion. This sad, insecure need to be right all the time, and the equally absurd requirement that those people who disagree with us need to be wrong.

The sad phenomenon is front and center in many churches, and there are even Presbyterian ministers who have led or are leading entire congregations out of the denomination because it’s more important to be “right” (and for the other guy to be wrong) than it is to be a faithful witness to the Gospel of Love.

…it’s more important to be “right” (and for the other guy to be wrong) than it is to be a faithful witness to the Gospel of Love. Really?

RELIGION & POLITICS: This inability to live and to worship with people who disagree with us (folk who are guided by the same Bible, who love the same God, and who follow the same Jesus) is another version of the same kind of arrogance and narrow-spiritedness that is currently gripping the government of the United States.

Fact is, there are probably a dozen potentially effective approaches to any given challenge that our nation faces. It’s a great thing to talk about the differences, to promote the various merits and drawbacks, to argue the logic, to discuss the social implications and more. Some plans are going to be more effective, some less. Compromise, small victories, and a whole lot of give and take come with the process. But, at some point, something has to be done.  But not if it’s more important to be “right” than to be a faithful steward of the responsibility to govern. 

But not if it’s more important to be “right” than to be a faithful steward of the responsibility to govern.

• Show me the person who has all the answers when it comes to faith and I’ll show you someone who is dangerously arrogant and sadly insecure. God already sent Jesus, and you’re not him.
• Show me the person who holds the nation hostage over his/her need to be right and I’ll show you a politician who told a bald-faced lie when she/he swore to serve the people of the United States.

How many ways can I say this?

• All human knowledge is partial;
• all statements of faith fall short of the mark;
• all political theories are simply a small piece of a complex puzzle;
• consensus is a moving target;
• hard questions are more helpful than easy answers;
• I don’t know all that much myself, and I need the wisdom and encouragement of other people;
• “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child;”
• “When I became a man, I (should) put the ways of childhood behind me;”  
• “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; it’s only then that we’re going to be able to see face to face;”
• “Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:11-13)

In love, and because of love – DEREK

one for the foodies

Lynn Marx and Rebekah

Okay, foodie peeps, this post is for you!

Yesterday, Rebekah and I went out to lunch with Lynn Oakley Marx, one of her great friends from growing up. Lynn and her husband, Randy, live in Richmond, but Lynn periodically heads this way to visit her mom in Sun City.

Lynn’s brother Keith has lived in the Tampa area for years; recently he opened his own eatery on Bruce B. Downs in New Tampa. Believe me when I say that Oakley’s Grille is a name you’re going to want to remember.

A GOOD REVIEW? My writing slant tends to lean toward the positive, so if our meal had been anything less than outstanding then I’d wouldn’t mention Keith’s restaurant at all. Fact is, outside lunch being been better-than-good then I’d be blogging about something else today (There’s more than enough going on in the world right now to capture my attention without wasting posting space on food if I’m not going to recommend it).

• However, while there may be more than enough stories to share, the same can’t be said for great casual dinning venues. So this is definitely news you can use; I’m letting you in on a noteworthy secret by pointing out the yum at Oakley’s Grille.

I ordered a Philadelphia Cheese Steak Sandwich; Rebekah had the French Dip; Lynn enjoyed the Fajitas. Other people who have been to Oakley’s say the Black Angus burgers are the best they’ve had anywhere. We also shared a generous order of Sweet Potatoes Fries that was most certainly state of the art.

GOURMET CRED: Most of you know how much I enjoy cooking at home in our amazing kitchen. Once in a while I’ll post a blog about a recipe, or how much fun it is to entertain a few friends and to share a great meal together. I have no interest at all in cooking professionally, but I can confidently say that I’ve developed a modicum of gourmet cred over the last few years.

My gourmet radar tells me the following: Don’t let the lack of white table-clothes, china, crystal and stainless fool you; the food is all fresh, made-from-scratch with top-quality ingredients, and prepared by actual cooks. What you’re getting when you eat at Oakley’s is a sit-down South-Tampa bistro dining experience for the price you’d pay at a homogeneous, processed, fast-food chain.

Keith Oakley serves Rebekah and his sister, Lynn

LIVE FORWARD: My final word is this. Keith Oakley may be 61, but he’s reinvented himself one more time and he’s doing something creative and new and to the best of his ability. Personally, I find a lot of inspiration and hope in that quality of a story.

Which leaves me to wonder: what are we (any one of us) doing to “live forward” at this stage of our life?

- DEREK

MLK-Day

Today, for me, “MLK-Day” stands for “Micah & Liam Kid-Day.” I know, that’s a real stretch, but I was invited over to the Black household fairly early this morning for some quality kid-time and the experience blew the “blog-post-already-in-my-head” completely out of my consciousness.

Essentially, It was a case of last-minute kid-coverage for my friends Tim and Kelly, and it wouldn’t have come up if today wasn’t a holiday; so thanks, MLK, for closing the schools so I had the chance to play with my little buddies.

COMMUNITY: The experience also served to remind me of a value that is central to the message Martin Luther King devoted the work of his life to communicate; and that’s the idea that we were designed to live in community, and that progress for humanity must involve advancing the concept of community between people (and peoples).

We are a part of a faith community (First Presbyterian Church of Brandon) where dropping everything to take care of the people we love is simply what we do. In the vision that MLK offered for the future of this nation, those circles of care and love would know no boundaries.

working together

HEALING: There are a lot of ideas circulating about how to heal this world. But MLK’s message is still among the best, because it recognizes that we are all brothers and sisters, and that there is nothing in all of creation that has the power to overcome the work of authentic, self-giving love.

There’s not a political idea in circulation that will ever come close to the healing power of a love that is inclusive and generous and anchored in the heart of God.

So thanks, MLK-Day (that’s Micah & Liam Kid-Day) for reminding me about how important it is that we live in community. And thanks MLK (that’s Martin Luther King) for articulating a vision that is still straight from the heart of God.

In love, and because of love – DEREK

invitation

ast week I shared a little about this journey through the New Testament I’m taking with my Sunday morning study group. We’re reading the books in the order they were written (according to the best judgment of many scholars).

Consequently we studied 1 Thessalonians the first week of January, then Galatians (awesome book) last week. This morning we plan to talk about 1 Corinthians.

1 Corinthians is an amazing read. Paul uses the letter to address some particular issues and questions in the early church, and the epistle is full with memorable passages. But many of us still only hang around long enough to visit the beautiful words that make up “The Love Chapter” (13), and we fail to introduce our minds and spirits to the rich nuances and astounding insights that populate the balance of the text.

 So this morning, before I head into church to play some guitar and sing with the Praise Band, I first of all want to draw our attention to the following remarkable paragraph from First Corinthians, Chapter One. If you haven’t read these words before, then do yourself a favor and allow your heart and soul a couple of minutes to feast on the remarkable poetry, heart-level insight and compelling wisdom that Paul shares with the church leaders and his friends in the city of Corinth.

Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. (1 Corinthians 1:20-25)

HUMBLED BY GRACE AND MERCY: I may know my way around philosophy; I may be intelligent according to the standards of this world; I may have won awards for my writing; I may be familiar with God’s law; I may be a leader in the church; I may be respected as a teacher and a speaker; and I’m sure I could boast that I’m no stranger to signs and wonders…

… But, God is pleased – through the simple foolishness of my honest belief and the obvious weakness of my struggling faith – to accomplish far more than I could ever hope or imagine when I rely on the reach of my abilities or the power of my arguments.

This gracious God – this God who is always willing to work with me, and through me, as I learn to humble myself and put all that I am and hope to be in his hands – this is the God who I’m heading to church to worship this morning.

How about you? - DEREK 

 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. (1 Corinthians 1:27-30)

when the sacred sanctifies the everyday

Today, I’d like to talk about the important relationship between the every-day and the sacred.

This photograph, taken with my iPhone pressed up against the massive windows in the cafeteria at the Tampa Ikea store, does a great job of illustrating my thinking. Then, first thing this morning at church, the men’s breakfast I attended accomplished pretty-much the same thing.

PHOTOGRAPH: But I’ll start with the photo. Rebekah and I had been furniture shopping, running all over the Tampa metro area in search of a sofa. We didn’t purchase anything at Ikea, but we did pause for coffee and that was when I noticed the sky.

What struck me was the way that the great dome of the sky gave definition and even beauty to the concrete, the steel, and even the sprawl of a parking lot. Rather than show up the mess we humans so often make of things, creation often invites our bumbling efforts into a synergistic hybrid celebration, the sacred nurturing the mundane.

MEN: Then this morning, at church, Dave Teeples spoke about the way our passion often translates into our work, and then how we can use that same passion to serve God and one-another in the context of church.

Much of our conversation around the tables focused on what we love to do, and how what floats our boat gets fine-tuned and re-packaged through the course of our lives. In other words, we simply talked with one-another about everyday life.

We weren’t “spiritualizing” the conversation, and we weren’t trying to make every sentence involve the words “God” or “Jesus.” Rather, everything we were talking about was framed by faith in the same way that – in the photograph above – the beautiful sky framed the Tampa crosstown and the Ikea parking lot.

SANCTIFY: But, and also in the same way, our context, the scripture, and then our eventual sharing of prayer-requests around the table, not only framed but interpreted the conversation. In fact, what the context of faith achieved was to sanctify our conversations as men sharing our lives.

The cross and the conversation

In a sense, the beauty of the western sky sanctified the concrete jungle the afternoon I took that photograph at Ikea. In the same way, the simple discipline of inviting God to be both present and participant in the manner that we live our lives as Christian men, sanctifies every moment of what we experience.

This is the beauty of being a Follower of the Way of Jesus – DEREK

Lance Armstrong and our culture of lying

Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)

So I’m a little confused by the world, right now.

I mean, here we are in the so-called “Information Age” and it’s pretty-much impossible anymore to know if the information we’re getting is true, or how much of it is an outright lie.

The mainstream media hasn’t been that much help along the way, what with its obsessive need to feed the ravenous 24-hour news cycle, and its tragic addiction to posting something “breaking” or having something “new” to report. Fact is, the difference between “true” and “not-so-much-true” seems to have become less important than getting the story up first.

LANCE ARMSTRONG: As for Lance Armstrong; thanks for nothing. I wanted to believe you all these years, and I stubbornly refused to accept the jealous accusations thrown at you by the French press. And how do you repay loyal fans? With a huge, steaming, rotting, smelly pack of bald-faced lies, stacked upon lies of convenience, piled up on top of the lies made up to cover the other lies.

And what’s with this story surrounding this Heisman Trophy runner-up football player from Notre Dame? Did any of the reporters who kept repeating the story about his (fictional) “girlfriend’s” death even think about checking even one of the facts? No, of course not; it was too good a story to pass up, so they didn’t even “Google” her name.

And don’t even get me started on the politicians….

IT’S CALLED “REPORTING.” When we go to the library to look for a book, everything’s nicely organized in the racks. We can browse through “fiction,” or “non-fiction;” it’s pretty clear-cut what we’re looking at.

But when it comes to the news, there’s a whole other array of options. There’s “sensationalism,” “propaganda,” “gossip,” “hyperbole,” “spin,” “liberal agenda,” “conservative bias,” “party-line,” “entertainment,” “polling data (funded by who?)” “PR,” and more.

What happened to simple, thorough, “this is what we learned and here are our sources” reporting?

TRUST: There’s a lot that we can do as individuals to improve the world that we live in. We can be salt and light in our communities, we can work to encourage and build up people, we can give our all to promote “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy. (Philippians 4:8).

But when it comes to trust we’re going to need one-another’s help:

• I can’t single-handedly restore credibility to government; that’s something we have to work for together (and irrespective of party affiliation).
• You can’t change the predilection of our culture to exaggerate, to lie, and to bear false witness; that’s going to take a consistent demonstration (and celebration) of the beauty of truth by the majority of the rest of us.
• No single individual has the power to turn off the relentless stream of trash and gossip that defines so much of television; that’s going to take a deliberate commitment to decency by every single one of us who says we value what is right (and that number should count in the tens of millions).

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to get the ball rolling; are you on board?

Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)

- DEREK 

"thrive" - first letter to my new grand-daughter

Today is my first “Grandaddy Letter” to our second grandchild. “Rebekah Mae Campbell” – David’s little sister – is expected to make her debut into this world around the second half of June.

Rebekah Mae, 18 weeks

Dear Rebekah Mae (“Peanut”). As of today you’re 18 weeks into your journey. You’ve come far enough that we all know you’re a girl, so I guess this means it’s about time we begin to communicate. Let’s get a few items on the table while you have time to mull things over; because you’re going to be out and about before your parents have time to catch their breath.

WHAT KIND OF A WORLD? First I want to address the “Why would anyone want to bring a child into a world like this?” question. Well I’m going to tell you, Rebekah Mae:

1. This world needs you.
2. This world needs the strong witness of another good family.
3. This world will be brightened by the light that you bring.
4. You already have a purpose (and I recommend you get to know the God who created you, and who intends to help you with that).
5. The victory has already been won, your opportunity (and your responsibility) is to live into it.

LOVE IS YOUR FOUNDATION: Rebekah Mae, please know that you are already loved beyond reason; your home is going to be saturated with it.

You are going to be held, rocked, snuggled, kissed, sung to, prayed over, and variously soaked in genuine affection, to such an extent that the truth about love will penetrate to the core of your being; and you will know at the heart of your experience that you are valued and embraced and worthy; and the definition of committed, unconditional love will be engrafted into your consciousness so that you will never, ever doubt who you are, whose you are, and the infinite extent of your inestimable value.

David!

GET READY FOR A WILD RIDE: That said, Rebekah Mae, you need to understand that you are going to be in for one wild ride!

You already have a brother. David is only going to be 20-months when you come home, so you’re going to have to make some allowances. Your parents are going to have their hands full; your home is going to be very noisy at times; there’s going to be a lot going on. The atmosphere, to say the least, is going to be extremely stimulating!

But stimulating is what you want. I know children who have given up crying because no-one ever responds, who have stopped trying to play because there’s never any attention or encouragement, who have withdrawn into themselves because nobody cares to know who they might become, and whose bright light gradually dims until somebody finally notices and calls it “failure to thrive.”

18 weeks

But you, Rebekah Mae, are going to thrive your socks off, because your bright light is welcome, your contribution to this world is needed, and the wild ride you’re climbing onto is wild with anticipation, with excitement, and with love.

In love, and because of love - GRANDADDY DEREK

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. (1 John 3:1-2)