CARICATURES OF CHRISTIANITY

What is a caricature? It can be defined as a distorted representation of something, based on one’s observation or perception of it.

Well-meaning & sincere disciples of Christ have at various times provided a perception of Christianity that agrees with some of the caricatures. But before we throw Christianity out, we must realize that this is why the Scriptures & the personal working of the Spirit are so vital. They keep believers true to God’s intended way of living.

Human nature & the reality of spiritual opposition to God & His plan insure that there are many ways to justify a rejection of Christ.

Here are a few caricatures that are out there:

• Christians hate those who disagree with them in matters of religion, morality, etc.
• Christians are to keep their beliefs to themselves because religion is a private matter.
• Christians are closed-minded & uncreative.

There is a clear distinction between hating things that according to Scripture destroy people’s lives, & hating the people whose lives are being destroyed by those things. This distinction is sometimes hard for people to see. Hence the stereotype that Christians hate others. Christians are to hate sin & unbelief (or wrong belief) – our love for God, truth, & people motivate us to do that.

A “Christianity” that is secularized, anemic, complacent should be kept to one’s self. But the kind of faith that Scripture describes & that the Spirit of the Living God creates in a person’s life is meant to be lived out & communicated. It is to be carried into the market place, the educational setting, & every area of public & private life.

As to creativity, who created the sunset? Who delights in the wonderful diversity that is found in the human race or in the animal kingdom? I’m convinced that creativity is a gift from God. I also believe that when it is used selfishly or for negative purposes it is just a perversion of the creativity that our Creator put in us.

Christians love; they desire others to have fullness of life; they enjoy being creative & discovering the vastness of God’s creation. Don’t fall for cheap caricatures! 

WHAT’S SO SPECIAL ABOUT THAT OFFERING PLATE?

I read Deuteronomy 26: 1-15 today & was impressed by the significance that it puts on tithing. Whether or not you believe in giving 10% of your increase to the Lord, this passage shows how significant an act it can be if disciples of Christ will do it for the proper biblical reasons.

First, it is a recognition that God is the one who determines the way in which worship is to be conducted. He mandates what is to be offered, along with where, & how it is to be done. Verse 2 says “You shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground which you bring in from your land that the Lord your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish His name.^”

Second, it is a recognition of how God places spiritual leaders over His people & uses this practice to affirm His placement of them. We see in verses 3-4 that the offering is to be given to the priest who represents God to the people.

Third, in verses 5-8 the Israelite is to repeat the story of how God had redeemed them from Egyptian slavery & made them a nation for His own possession. Tithing is a testimony & tangible expression, even a joyful proclamation, that we the disciple belongs to the Lord.

Fourth, as the Israelite presents his offering, he is to acknowledge (verse 9) that God has guided him & his nation to the abundance of the Promised Land.

Fifth, verses 10-11 show that he is to consider the act of giving as an act of worship.

Sixth, in verses 12-14 the Israelite acknowledges that what he gives as the tithe is essentially different from his other increase. It is holy or set aside for the Lord; it is to be used for maintaining the Lord’s work & to provide the needs of the poor.

Finally, in verse 15 he is encouraged to invoke God’s blessing. “Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel, and the ground which You have given us, a land flowing with milk and honey, as You swore to our fathers.”

Tithing, & all giving to the Lord is much more than putting a check in the offering plate or clicking the “Giving” link on a church website. It is an act of worship. It acknowledges that we are redeemed by the Living God. It is an expression of confidence in His goodness & sovereignty.

INSTITUTIONALIZED POVERTY

A number of years ago an Asian Indian theologian named Jayakumar Christian wrote an excellent book about poverty & the church’s response to it.

He identifies one of the causes of poverty as fallen institutions & cultures. A related term is “systemic causes” of poverty.

In every setting where poverty exists, there are systemic reasons. In some places the caste system is a major factor. In other places political corruption or the concentration of wealth & other resources are symptoms of systemic contributors to poverty. Often, religious or philosophical beliefs affirm the idea that the poor are rightly in a condition of poverty.

Because poverty is increasing in the US, it is appropriate to look at systemic causes & contributors that perpetuate & deepen it.

It is my conviction that poverty in the US has deepened & been perpetuated in large part because it has been institutionalized. The identification radicalization of various “classes” in the culture & the attempt to radicalize them tends to pit one class against another (such as the “disenfranchised” 99% versus the “wealthy: 1%).

There is an entire bureaucracy that has evolved since LBJ’s Great Society of the 1960s which thrives because of the existence of poverty. (After all, what would happen to all those faceless, nameless people sitting in cubicles if poverty were eliminated?)

If we want to think seriously about systemic factors that cause or perpetuate poverty, we must be willing to anticipate a day when the ideologies & values that undergird the institutions of poverty will end or become irrelevant.

Class identification & warfare must be cast aside. Making a lifetime of working with so-called poverty alleviating programs that always seem to grow rather than diminish must not be the career path of aspiring young people. Rejecting the myth that Big Government has the answers to our social problems will also bring us along the path of healing & the empowerment of the poor.

THINKING ABOUT MY TESTIMONY

My wife asked me to write down how the Lord has worked in my life. She believes that the Lord can use such things to give hope to others about His ability to change lives & make His grace real to them. I have to admit that it is something I’ve often thought about doing, but somehow have never quite gotten around to doing.

This idea is not true about just me. In fact, God’s Word says something about this. Paul alludes to this concept when he says,

“To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 3:8-10).

The reality that God has chosen to use the church to reveal His wisdom to the principalities & powers in the spiritual realm is hard to grasp & maybe even harder to believe. As we proclaim of the Gospel in word & deed, we know that God also works thru His people to make His salvation known to our fellow human beings.

One thing is for sure. If Jesus had not come into my life on that fateful day in 1972 & changed my whole direction, I don’t even want to think about where I would be today.

One other thing is certain. By His incredible grace, God is somehow using my life & the lives of countless others to reveal who He is & what He can do. 

SOCIAL CAPITAL

One of the aspects of livelihood ministry (which involves empowering individuals, families, & communities to experience economic uplift) is social capital. This is good will & trust that are shared equitably and evenly among members of a community. Social capital is a civic virtue, and functions best when experienced in the context of reciprocal relationships and community. It consists of shared norms and values that are lived out in social relationships.

When genuine social capital has been produced in a community, it produces incredible synergistic results as the members work together toward transformation.

The development of social capital is the difference between relief and development. Relief is concerned with urgent, & sometimes even emergency situations that involve basic physical needs, so it doesn’t work toward developing people on a social, emotional, or spiritual level.

When on-going relief is no longer needed, it cripples the development of social capital. It can create negative feelings of resentment and jealousy, and lowers the resolve of those being served to work toward the transformation of their lives.

This is true whether it is related to welfare in the US or as a response to poverty in the Philippines.