mrpine's Revelife

What Race is Your Jesus?

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:05:31 GMT

A few weeks ago I was visiting my parents and attended their church. While I was waiting for them to finish talking with someone I noticed an interesting painting on the wall in the administrative offices there. In it was what looked to be a Korean man dressed in traditional Korean clothing from the 18th century, kneeling on a rock and praying while looking at the heavens.

"What a nice picture," I thought, thinking it was just a picture of a devout Korean Christian.

Then I looked closer. In the background of the picture was what looked to be like a crowd of people coming with torches for the praying man... That's when I realized that this was actually a painting of the Garden of Gethsemane when the soldiers come to take away Jesus... That Korean guy in the 18th Century Korean clothing was supposed to be JESUS.

Interesting... I didn't really know what to think, so I took a quick snapshot of it with my phone and told myself that I'd ponder it later.

I think I get what the artist was trying to do. Perhaps he wanted to make Christ more accessible to Koreans who would maybe not care about a Jew from 2000 years ago. Or maybe he was using symbolism to show that Christ suffered for even Koreans. I don't know. I'm not an art critic. But with things like this, I think it bothers me more than most people because of the unintended consequences.

Whether in artistic depictions or genuine debate about Jesus being any range of races from European, Arabian, or African, I think it's all nonsense. Jesus was no more Korean or African or Arabian than that he would have looked like Jim Caviezel. Jesus was a Galilean Jew, at least his incarnated body was.

And here's why it's important... because it was a part of God's promise to Abraham and Isaac...

Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham.I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed. (Gen 26: 3, 4)

In this statement, God is actually promising Jesus Christ. Even back in Genesis, God had the salvation of the world in mind. It was all a part of His redemptive plan. The blessing that God was giving the Jews was that the plan of salvation will come through them in Jesus Christ. What an honor.

So when we look at the fact that Jesus was a Jew, we actually see the fulfilment of God's promises. We see that God is always faithful to His word and that He had a plan for redemption all along.

Yes, perhaps if people thought of Jesus being Chinese or Indian or Swedish, it might make Christianity more accessible to people who might just think of it as a European religion, but what you lose is the providential nature of God. We shouldn't try to fit God into our comfortable little worlds. We have to be able to see Him as the impeller of a grand plan for the salvation of the world.

By saying that Christ was African or East-Asian or Caucasian, we call God a liar. I'm not prepared to do that.

Teaching Sunday School Teens: The Disruptive One

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:51:06 GMT

It seems every class has at least one. The kid whose life mission, it seems, is to keep you from even getting halfway through your lesson plan. Be it by talking to or teasing the nearest person next to them, by asking completely irrelevant questions just to get a rise out of you, or just by being a distraction in general.

I think dealing with disruptive students in Sunday School is unique in that usually attendance is not mandatory and when there are behavior issues, there's little recourse. There's generally no PTA or parent-teacher conferences where things can be addressed. There's no real threat of detention or suspension or the mysterious "permanent record" demerit. So, in general, your options are limited, but there still things you can try.

General Guidelines:

Really, they need (and actually want) rules:
Be Consistent - If you let the class get out of hand on a regular basis, you can't expect everyone to be on their best behavior at the drop of a hat. This is why the first few weeks with any new class is vital. It's where you set the tone of how your class will be run. If you are unprepared or don't spell out your expectations, the kids will just set their own tone... and it's usually not the most productive. After this, make sure you follow through. If you say there will be a punishment for bad behavior, enforce it. Everyone must understand that there are consequences for certain behaviors.
Just because they like you it doesn't mean they respect you:
Don't be your class' "buddy" at the cost of their respect. We all like to be liked - that's natural. But you're there, first and foremost, to teach. If you're not doing that, nothing else means anything. Making and enforcing rules doesn't make you a mean person. It means you care about their spiritual nourishment more than how you're viewed.
They don't hate you:
Don't take anything personally. Teenagers have problems self-censoring generally. They say and do things that are impulsive and not always very nice. Also, the fact that they may be misbehaving isn't usually an attack on you personally, and even if it is, it's usually without any real knowledge of who you are as a person. Chances are if they knew you outside of the context of the classroom, they would have no issues with you.

If there is just one or a small group of students who are the source of the disruption, there's usually a reason why. These reasons can range from rebelion to short attention span to just simple boredom. If you only want to control behavior, there are practical steps you can take such as separating them or calling them out or making your class more "fun", but these solutions don't get to the root of the problem and it will be a battle every Sunday.

I used to have classes where I'd make the disruptive student sit right next to me in the front of the class... this worked for a while, until he found out that's where he had the bored class' undivided attention and used it as an opportunity to try to make the rest of the guys laugh behind my back.

To make lasting change, you have to change their attitude. Again, this is why it is so important to start out your interaction with your class on the right foot from the very beginning, because shaping an attitude is easier than changing it.

The Bored One:
Sometimes you just can't help it. Whether it's because of the materials you've been given... the subject matter... or just a consequence of the youtube/twitter instant-gratification mindset... you're going to have some bored students. I'm sure this has been a problem since the days of Socrates. While there's no way to completely avoid this, there are ways to minimize its impact on your class and for that student who will act out due to boredom.

First, take away anything that he has that he will use to occupy himself that might distract others. This includes cell phones, hand-held gaming systems, iPods, lasers, toenail clippings, flux capacitors... It's amazing what some students will do out of boredom. I had a student who literally tried to see how tight he could wrap a mini-blind cord around his neck before it cut off his breath (see how it's good to not take anything personally?)

Next, try to engage him. Find out what his interests are and see if you can't work that into your lesson plan. I once had a class that consisted of a lot of students who liked to play lacrosse. One day I made an analogy of the church to a lacrosse team and I had their undivided attention.

Whatever you do, don't try to make the class more "fun" just to keep them from being bored if it means you have to water down the lesson. It's not worth it. Sure you can play waste paper basket basketball with them, but are they the better for it?

Last resort: Sometimes there is nothing you can do. The kid will be bored even falling from the sky without a parachute. You may just have to minimize how his ways to self-medicate his boredom affects others. Keep things (like drum sets, mini-blind cords, and other easily annoyed kids) out of arm's reach. Let him nod off in the back of the class as long as it doesn't encourage others to follow suit. Give him a book to read or let him just stare at the clock until it's time to go. Don't bring down the rest of your class to entertain them.

The Distracted One:
Sometimes a student is a distraction because he himself is distracted or has a short attention-span. I know, I know... a teen? with a short attention span? say it isn't so... Usually the reason they have a hard time paying attention is two-fold. One, they're not engaged. Two, you're not engaging.

Don't just lecture. There is no quicker way to totally disengage with your class. A mind doesn't wander if there is something it needs to process. Challenge them. Don't just ask simple one-word-answer questions. Ask questions that make them think. Good questions for this usually begin with the word "Why". If your kids have been in Sunday School a while, they've already heard plenty of "what, when, and where" questions, and if they've ever heard a "why" question, the answer is almost always "because Jesus loves us." I will write another entry someday about how to prepare good, discussion-generating questions later. (I started writing it here, but realized I had enough text for an entirely new entry)

Don't be afraid to ask individual students (especially the distracted one) questions. Sometimes they actually have an opinion on something but don't think anyone wants to hear it. This does two things. It forces them to think about what you asked and it keeps them on their toes in case you ask something else later.

The white board is your friend. Sometimes students will look at the board just because you're writing something on it. This way you're using the "distraction" of writing appearing on the board to your favor. It sounds almost too simple, but it works. In fact, every now and then spell something incorrectly because sometimes a kid will just latch onto checking your spelling.

The Rebellious One:
He's sometimes the one who's being forced to be there. Or maybe he's the one who just has issues with Christianity in general. Sometimes he has had bad experiences in Sunday School before and carries that feeling over to you. And sometimes it's just that you just rub him the wrong way for whatever reason.

A fair amount of time the one that's rebeling is actually one of the brightest kids in the class. Maybe they feel like they're wasting their time there or they don't respect the teacher's level of knowledge. If you get into a battle of wills with someone like this, it's almost always a losing situation because they can always stalemate and win, because you also have only an hour to teach the rest of the class. In fact, he is usually trying to draw you into some sort of conflict. Don't fall for it. Rise above it.

There's little you can do in class to stave off this type of behavior. If you're quick on your feet, you can try to parry some of the darts he throws, but most of the time it's best to ignore them completely. Sometimes if he knows he can't get a rise out of you, he will stop trying.

Your best hope in making any headway is outside of class. Take a moment to speak to him one-on-one and see what issues he's having. If he sees that you respect him, there's a chance he might start to respect you. If you have the time, take him out to lunch or have coffee with him. If you see leadership potential in him, see if you can't give him some official role in class to give him a stake in the success of the class.

But if your attempts are in vain, you may just have to ask him to leave the class... or at least give your blessing to excuse him from class. This is a last resort because chances are the rest of the class is suffering during your in-class battle of wills. Make an effort to continue to reach out to him, but in the end, he has to come back on his own terms. Always leave the door open for reconciliation.

General Tips:

If someone is being a distraction while you are speaking, try just walking over to where they are sitting while you're still talking. Sometimes this is enough to stop the behavior because they are aware that you notice.
Irrelevant Questions: Whether it's the class clown trying to get a laugh or the smart alec with the "could God make a rock so heavy even He can't lift it" question, either way, it has more to do with subtly taking control over the class than anything else. Don't let them. A good way to stop this behavior is to take a "joke" question seriously and turn it around to make a point about the lesson (class clowns HATE this). Or if they ask a question to which you know they don't really want to know the answer but want to get a rise out of you, take the question seriously and offer to talk to them more about it after class... in fact, make it an assignment for them to research the question and report back to you the next week.
Getting texts/calls in class: If a student is habitually getting calls in class, don't just take away their phone (nothing will start a fight faster than trying to take a teen's phone away). Give them a choice (that way, they think they have at least some control). Either give you their phone at the beginning of class or turn it completely off (not silent) for the duration of the class. If they use the excuse of "my mom is going to call me," considering the parent is probably at the church, call their bluff and say that they can tell them that the parent can come by and talk to them whenever they want. Usually parents will not do this during class time. If it's truly a parent that is calling, offer to speak to the parent directly on the phone and explain to them about what time class ends and if they'd like for their child to get out earlier, they can pick them up. This also prevents the student from lying saying that all his calls are from a parent.
Food: Do not allow food in class unless everyone is participating. It's not that the food itself is a distraction, but it sends a message that the class time is not a priority. Whenever my students try to bring food into class, I tell them to finish it outside and then they can enter. The class time is only for having class.
Talking to a neighbor in class is not the problem. It's just a symptom of the behaviors listed above. If you deal with the attitude, the talking will stop. Sometimes if a student is talking, if you stop talking until the student's voice is the only one the class hears, he will stop... but usually this doesn't last very long.

You should also know what behaviors you should just let go. If your class comes to a screeching halt because someone isn't paying attention, you're never going to get very far. Don't let the occasional disruption completely throw a monkey wrench in your lesson plan. A little bit of patience and a lot of perseverance will win out in the end.

Again, as a last resort, you might just have to ask the student to leave. I've had students where nothing worked and the class was going down the tubes as a result. This is not fair to the other students. It may sound harsh, but if the rest of the class thrives without him, it's a price you may have to pay.

Good luck and let me know how it goes. I'm also always available by email for advice or just to have someone to commiserate with.

Next time: The Unmotivated Class (or How to Engage Your Students)

Teaching Sunday School Teens: An Introduction

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 07:36:57 GMT

I've taught Sunday School for the better part of twenty years (has it really been that long?), and for a majority of that time it has been for students from 8th grade through college age. Over the years I've learned (from trial-and-error, mostly) about the unique challenges of teaching Sunday School for them and think that I can offer some not-so-terrible advice about the subject. And considering how wordy I am (at least according to my wife), I think I have to make this a series of entries.

Now I have to caveat all this by saying that I have no formal seminary training nor any sort of degree in education whatsoever. The only guidance I have is the Holy Spirit, a lot of books, and the occassional weekend Sunday School teacher workshop offered by my church. I only have the utmost respect for those who go to school to study Christian Education or those who consider teaching the Bible to our youth as their life's work, and in no way do I think that I can speak better on the subject than they can. But I think I fall into the category of a majority of Sunday School teachers out there... who were dragged kicking and screaming through manipulation and guilt into futilely trying to hold whiny teenagers' attentions for an hour every Sunday until one day they ask for a "sabbatical" that they never actually return from... haha, kidding... sorta. And I think I can offer advice to people who may feel like they're in way over their heads and not have the training to fall back on.

I know at times you may feel inadequate or ill-equiped. There are some Sundays when you get home and you wonder if anyone is getting anything out of the lesson plan you spent hours (or perhaps several desperate minutes right before class) preparing. Maybe you only "volunteered" because no one else would do it if you didn't. Or maybe you had a different vision of what it would be like and became discouraged after that kid you had so much hope for just stopped showing up.

I hear you. I've been there.

I want to tell you that it's not in vain. God knows and sees. You have a great responsibility but also a great helper in the Holy Spirit, and God's Word "will not return to [Him] empty" (Is. 55:11).

For the next several weeks I will write about what I know on certain aspects of teaching teens in Sunday School like how to engage a quiet or withdrawn class... or dealing with dry material... or the dangers of being your students' "buddy"... or what to do if your students find your revelife site and they know you're talking about them...

I've never done anything like this before, so please be patient with me. I'd also like to use this as a forum for other teachers to voice their opinions, ask questions, or give advice to each other.

Next time: "The Disruptive One"

Cathedrals vs. Megachurches

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:31:20 GMT

I just returned from my honeymoon to Europe and saw a lot of things... priceless works of art, historic monuments, ancient ruins... but the things that left the greatest impression on me were some of the cathedrals. We saw many of them... St. Paul's, St Mark's, Notre Dame, St. Peter's to name a few. As awe-inspiring as these huge cathedrals were, I was even struck by the smaller ones we'd see in other smaller towns as well.

Now, I'm not Catholic. I was mystified about when to cross myself, or when to kneel, or to stand during the few masses we attended (I bet that when I try to follow along, the parishioners are all watching me and thinking, "silly Protestant, that's not a foot rest..."). So I have to caveat everything I'm about to say with that.

And though there are a lot of theological points on which I have disagreements with the Catholic church, I think with what they were going for with cathedrals was spot on (look at me, we were in London for three days and I'm already using phrases like "spot on").

As my sore neck can attest to, whenever we went into one of these places, my eyes would always turn upward because that's where it was most beautiful and awe-inspiring, especially because near the ground it was typically dark or there would be crypts everywhere. One of the tour guides said that this was done on purpose to show how dreary and hopeless things on the earth were, but to see the beauty and hope in this life, you have to look heavenward to God.

Standing in those grand cathedrals, I couldn't help but feel small and insignificant but also that God was big and mighty. I think that in the Protestant church, we've lost a little of that, and I think that the Megachurch is, in part, the product of this.

I've attended a few megachurch services, and more times than not, I've felt more like a spectator or concertgoer than anything else... and instead of my eyes turning up to look to God in awe-inspired wonder, my eyes were turned to the stage to look at very talented musicians and dramatists and be rather entertained. Sometimes I'd be very moved by the music or the drama and feel closer to God, but I would lose that sense of God being BIG.

In the megachurches I'd visit the setup would be that all the focus was on the stage. The "house" lights would be turned down, the music was pumped up, and the spotlight would shine on the featured act or speaker. If I were to ever look up, I'd just see catwalks or spotlights or other things to support what was going on around the stage. The seats were like those in a movie theater... one church even had snacks and beverages available in the lobby. Any "smallness" I'd feel would be because of the fact that I was anonymous in the darkness among the thousands in the stadium seating.

All this to say that I'd like to see us bring some of that awe and wonder back into the church... maybe not with huge domes or stained glass or beautiful sculptures because, in the end, that's all created by human hands as well... but somehow to remember that God is BIG... and that things of earth are fleeting... and that worship is for Him and not for us.

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 14:32:57 GMT

More from the talented young man I know...

http://samuelock.xanga.com/698238756/never-change/

Screening Sunday School Teachers

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:47:42 GMT

I don't know if it's just my church, but we have a hard time trying to find committed Sunday School teachers for our youth group. Most of the time, they do it for a year or so and quit. I think it's because most don't realize how challenging it can be.

And I think that in our desperation to find teachers, sometimes we took just about anyone who volunteered, without really knowing anything about them, or what they were really teaching. Lately my church has gotten better at this because we have weekly meetings where we actually talk about what happened in class that day, but before this I was a bit troubled by some of the things I saw.

I remember when I was in youth group, I took whatever the teacher said as "gospel" and never questioned what he said because he was a "grown-up." I never realized that he probably never had any formal Bible training or theological background.

Looking back, it explained a lot. I remember one teacher who would just buy us plastic airplane models that we would assemble each week in class. I didn't question it because it was fun, but now I realize that he was probably doing that because he had no clue on actually teaching anything biblical. Another one of my teachers wasn't even a member of our church...he was the janitor, who we found out later wasn't even a Christian. Another one just made us read these Christian comic books every week for the whole hour.

Previously, in my current church, I saw similar things. A lot of the teachers really had no desire to actually teach from the materials. Each week they would say, "Yeah, I 'departed' from the book this week and just asked how my guys were doing and we talked about their problems." First of all, you actually have to have used the materials to say that you "departed" from it. Second, you can ask about your students' problems any other time. The hour you have with them is reserved for teaching from God's word.

One time, we discovered that one of the teachers was teaching his class that he believes in earthly reincarnation... meaning that when you die, you come back to Earth as someone or something else. I think he had a buddhist background. I couldn't believe that this happened.

I realize that finding a dozen or so people in any given church who are dedicated to teaching and have sound doctrine is difficult, but I think that teaching our kids the truth about God's word is of paramount importance. They are very impressionable, and that means we have to be extra vigilant in finding good teachers to teach them about the most important things in Christian life.

The word "screening" has a very negative connotation when it comes to volunteer work, but I think it's necessary. If we claim that teaching our youth is important, we have to back it up by caring about what we teach (or don't teach) them. Could this mean that this scares away some potential teachers from volunteering? For some teachers, yeah, I actually hope so.

Does your church have problems finding good Sunday School teachers? Do you think they should be "screened"?

Freedom of Non-Speech

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 22:27:33 GMT

Would you ever name your child Adolf Hitler? How about accepting advertising from a website that promotes extramarital affairs? Probably not, but would you deny the right for someone else to do so? Ah, there's the rub.

If you haven't heard the stories, I'll summarize.

In New Jersey, the Division of Youth and Family Services took custody of three children named Adolf Hitler, JoyceLynn Aryan Nation, and Honszlynn Hinler (Himmler?) from their home. The family made headlines a month ago when a local supermarket refused to put young Adolf's name on a birthday cake. The DYFS claims that they did not remove the children because of their names. But there has since been a tidal wave of uproar over the parents' choice of names.

The other story is about how the NFL refused to run an ad in their stadium program for a website (purposely left out site address) that is a resource for married people who want to have affairs to meet up. Their tagline is "life is short, have an affair." The site has since gotten plenty of free airtime on various talk shows and news organizations.

In this country one of the most sacred of rights is the right to free speech... no matter whom it offends. I'm sure there are things that offend a whole lot of people like the things above, but they are protected by the Bill of Rights.

There are many times when Christians are offended by how some people choose to exercise this right. For example, I remember quite a few years back there was someone who made a piece of "art" that he entitled "Piss Christ" that was a photograph depicting a crucifix in a cup of his urine.

Yes, it angered me that someone took an image of the God I love in the very act that gave me salvation and defiled it in the name of art. But what angered me more was how he likely knew how inflammatory it would be and used it to advance his name. And we helped him do it.

It's not that I think that Christians don't have a right to be offended. We should be deeply repulsed by the state of the world and should act to right real wrongs. But there are times when by being offended and expressing how offended we are just because we are, we become pawns for the offenders.

I'm sure the parents who named their child "Hitler" did it to make a point. Now that it's national news, they did. The website that was refused by the NFL is now getting priceless free advertising in the media (and I suppose this entry to an extent).

My point is, not only are there much greater things wrong in this world than what some wahoo names their kid, what depraved websites are out there, or what someone considers art to evoke action from Christians, but also that we have to be careful not to actually help their cause by elevating it unnecessarily because our sensibilities were violated. In the same way that they have freedom to express themselves, we have the freedom to ignore them and in that way silence them.

None of Your Business

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 04:01:03 GMT

Over the Christmas holiday, I was back in Georgia visiting my folks for a few days, and one thing that I notice every time I go back is how much more open people and businesses are about their faith in God than here in Maryland. It encourages me quite a bit. Granted, the ratio of practicing Christians to non-Christians in the South is probably considerably higher, but it is one of the things I appreciate about my old home.

I think most Christians know of the fast food chain Chick-fil-A and that the CEO, S. Truett Cathy, is a devout Christian. In fact, the Corporate Purpose Statement reads:

"to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us and to have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A."

I've known that this was the corporate purpose statement since my sister worked for them many years ago. At the restaurant where she worked they would have morning prayer meetings before they opened and almost everyone who worked there attended church and appreciated the fact that they were closed on Sundays. But the "Christian-ness" of the restaurant was pretty much kept under wraps.

But in one of the restaurants I visited over Christmas, I saw the Corporate Statement above on a huge display, not near the bathrooms, not in a discreet corner, or behind a plant, but rather right next to the main menu board above the cashiers' heads. It was hard to miss. You almost felt like you had to order a #1 combo with a side of "glorifying God by being a faithful steward..." minus pickles.

Later that week, I saw the above commercial from Interstate Batteries. At first I thought, "Oh, great, another cheesy ad from a Foundation for a Better Life," but then the song came on saying, "We need more of God's love..." so then I thought... "Is FfaBL coming out of the closet?" But then on the last few seconds, I saw the weblink to interstate batteries. (http://www.interstatebatteries.com/godslove/)

I investigated further and found out that the Chairman of Interstate Batteries, Norm Miller, is also a devout believer, and even has a sample believer's prayer in his testimony on the website. I also found their Mission Statement:

To glorify God as we supply our customers worldwide with top quality, value-priced batteries, related electrical power-source products, and distribution services. Further, our mission is to provide our partners and team members with opportunities which are profitable, rewarding and growth-oriented.

All this got me thinking. Though both of these companies are billion dollar entities, neither of these companies are publicly traded. If they ever went with an IPO, I'm sure the owners would make many millions of dollars by doing so. But I'm sure one of the fears is that if they ever became public companies, the shareholders might force some changes. For Chick-fil-A, at least, a change might be to open on Sundays (fast food restaurants are known to make 20% of revenues from Sunday sales).

In a world where the buck is generally the bottom line, it's nice to see Christian business owners "wasting" money on cheesy TV commercials and not opening on Sundays to try to live out their faith... that it even extends to the business that they do.

I think if I ever open up a small business or something I will make a mission statement like the ones above... I can see it now...

Nate's Plumbing's Mission Statement:

To glorify God as we plunge your toilets with vigor, unclog your drains of nasty wet hair, and fix your leaky pipes until they drip no more... forever and ever, Amen.

What do you think about corporations meshing in faith with their business? What would you think if these companies ever went public and the shareholders made them change that?

Faithful with Little

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 21:27:53 GMT

It's easy to feel insignificant. For example, in my state, according to the polls, I voted this morning for every item on the ballot that will lose - by a lot. But I still voted.

I have a friend who I think is a very talented musician. When he was graduating from high school, he had to make a choice to pursue a career in music or go for something safer like a business degree (like his parents urged him to do). I advised him to go into the music field even though I knew that it was very competitive. I had to because I could tell that music was in his soul and that to squelch it, it would be denying who God made him to be.

He writes in his blog about how he struggles with the fact that he knows that his chances of "making it" in the music business is small because there will always be "bigger fish" who are more talented than him or have better connections than he does.

I think we all feel this way at some point... that there is always someone out there who is better at what we do or that the little things we do don't amount to much in the end. But for the Christian, I think this is missing the point.

I think if you're faithful to God with your gift, whatever it is, He's going to use it as He sees fit. If this means that you're known around the world or you just bless the local community, if it's what God has in store for you, it will be the best that it can be.

Think of the boy who offered his lunch of 5 loaves and 2 fish to Jesus. Was he known for having the best tasting fish and bread? Was he praised for gathering a mountain of food for everyone to eat? No, he was just faithful with whatever little he had. And God used him as an example of what it means to give what you have in faith. And here we are talking about him 2000 years later.

Big fish, little fish... in the end it doesn't matter. The most important fish to those hungry 5000 that day were the two the boy offered. Because it was small, it showed God's power even greater. So in that sense, pray to be smaller so that God can be shown greater.

What are your 5 loaves and 2 fish?

Pushing My Agenda (a.k.a. Voting)

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:47:11 GMT

In an entry I wrote recently about how I'm going to vote about legalizing slot machines in my state, I clearly state that one reason I was voting against it was because I didn't want to potentially stumble Christians who might struggle with what I consider idolatry in gambling.

Soon the entry started receiving comments about how I shouldn't push my Christian agenda on non-Christians by how I vote. That, basically, I should leave God and the Bible out of the voting booth.

I've never been one to think that this country owes something to Christians because of some misguided idea that the country is mostly Christian. In fact, I believe that true-believing Christians (and not just those by name) are truly a minority in this country, and that to assume that everyone thinks like me because I'm a Christian is a very bad assumption.

But what gets me is that people think that Christians are pushing some sort of agenda by voicing their beliefs while others are just "fighting for a voice." They think that because Christians seemingly have so much "power" in this country, that we just want to force everyone to think like us (as if even all those who call themselves Christians think the same way about all the issues).

I think what these people don't understand is that what I believe as a Christian not only just "colors" my world view, it is the very stuff it is made from. It has to because I believe it to the core. It's not just something I believe for myself. I think this is the main problem. In this world where anything you do is okay as long as you're not affecting anyone else, believing in something as right and wrong universally is seen as intolerant. But everyone believes that certain things are just right and certain things are just wrong.

What is the difference between a Christian voting for what he or she believes is universally right or wrong versus an environmentalist, an animal rights activist, or even a neo-Nazi doing so? Is it because those others are a minority? Is it just that there are things that these groups believe in that jibe better with what they do?

I don't think anyone would say anything if an environmentalist voted for a measure that would save a spotted owl for the sake of a housing development. He or she would be seen as crusading a cause, whether they agree with it or not. I would even venture that few would blame the neo-Nazi for voting for a racist candidate because that's just what they believe. But once a Christian votes for something that they believe, they're all of a sudden "pushing an agenda" and should leave their religion out of it.

I think it's like what an African American friend of mine once said (which I disagree with wholeheartedly). He stated that black people can't be racist because they're in the minority. That because they don't hold the power, they can't be racist. Therefore, only those who are in the majority can ever be racist.

So maybe what people believe is that because (nominal) Christians seem to be the majority in America, only they can be intolerant or push any sort of agenda... that because they get their way, they should just get out of the way and stop being such bullies.

I say, whoever you are, bring all your beliefs into the voting booth. If you're a tree-hugging environmentalist, bring all your tree-hugging environmentalist views to the ballot box. If you're an African American who only votes for African American politicians for no other reason than race, go right ahead. If you're a gay person longing to legally be married to another gay person, bring up legislation to do so and vote for it. But don't tell me to check my Christian values at the door as if it's some sort of tool for oppression. Being in the "presumed majority" doesn't make my beliefs any less valid in how I vote than anyone else.