Questions And Answers And More Questions

I can’t get into too many details, but I had one of the most rad experiences of my life recently.

I got to be a consultant for a new TV show coming out next year on Amazon Prime, “Hand Of God”. This show stars the incredible Ron Pearlman as a morally corrupt judge who goes through a mental breakdown after his sons (PJ) suicide attempt. We find PJ on life support.

The twist: The judge, (Pernell) found God in the midst of losing his mind, and now he feels compelled by visions of God to seek out the mystery killer of his son. The show includes a shady pastor (Julian Morris) and others who have questionable motives. This show delves into the deep waters of faith, morality, ethics, hearing God’s voice, and much more. With the judge as the main character, they will look at how we like to find ways around the rules.

I am stoked for my cousin, Ben Watkins, writer and creator of the show. Formerly, he wrote and produced the fast-paced drama, Burn Notice. About a year ago, I was at dinner with my cousin and asked what was next for him as Burn Notice wrapped up. He was excited to share some of the projects on the horizon, but unsure about saying something about all of them. The controversy of Hand of God caused him to feel the nerves of telling his cousin, the pastor/missionary about this one, which was his brainchild. But he went for it, unpacking the plot and drama of the show.  Immediately, his pitch grabbed my attention. I loved the fact that this show would deal with issues, ask questions that don’t often get asked in pop-culture. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up with anticipation and hope that this show might get off the ground. You never know.

As my insides spilled with excitement for his idea, I said something to Ben that stuck with him as he went to work on the show and pitching it to the studios. What I loved about this idea is that it asks questions when most shows that deal with religion give answers, simplistic answers, this concept begs us to think and ask questions. This story will give compelling drama, while drawing us into the narrative and cause us to ask questions we don’t often feel comfortable asking. This show will walk a razor thin line of entertaining and disturbing us.

Oh, and I am a big fan of Ron Pearlman.

As Ben told me about his show, and we talked about the God issue in the show, he suggested I might be able to help down the line as things unfold. And things did unfold, slowly as they do in LA. The show got pitched, green-lighted for a pilot, and eventually picked up by the studio.

Fast forward a little more than a year. Now, they are working on writing nine episodes for the first season. This is where I received an invitation to help them in the creative process. The writer’s had questions about Theology, ethics, and the practical nature of building a church. Ben asked me to come talk with the writers about upcoming storylines, those lines that dealt with the issues of God, the Bible and the young preacher.

I had the privilege of dialoguing with some bright, energetic and super creative folks developing a story. I got to see behind the curtain of how something gets brought to life from that place in the ether, the void of our mind’s eye to the TV. I was like a kid in a candy store wanting to ask so many questions. But I was there to give answers.

My job: Talk to the writer’s room about this show. I felt like this was “ask the blind pastor” on steroids. I had no idea what I was getting into or who I was going to talk too much like when I first started this thing that spawned the name of this blog on a community college campus. Apparently, I have not told that story here. Note to self: Write a story or two about the origins of this blog title.

I came to find a few minutes before going into the writer’s room that of the seven writers including my cousin, only Ben was a Christian. The others were primarily Jewish in background with one being a former Christian and now a Buddhist. This gave for a beautiful pallet of diverse views when it comes to the God topic.

Since,  I did not know them, and they did not know me, we needed a common place to begin. And with the backdrop of this show dealing with religion, why not start there. I decided to get these guys and gals looking at the Bible with questions about what the Bible says about violence, marriage, divorce and more. I hoped for more, but the first two questions sparked plenty of conversation points including curiosity, the provocative, and the sublime. I loved one guy who said he had read the Old Testament, the Jewish Bible , but it had been a long time. He is reading the Bible again for the show. He quipped, don’t tell me how it ends. And that made me smile.

At one point he brought up a section he had been reading in Genesis 34 when Jacob’s daughter Dinah was defiled. In response, her brothers, the patriarchs of Israel tricked the people of the city into all getting circumcised. While recovering in pain, the brothers of Dinah took out the people. This writer asked about violence. What do we do with a story like that? On the one hand, it is brutal, devious, conniving, and so wrong.  But those people did rape Dinah, the sister of Jacob’s 12 sons, so they got what they deserved, he thought. We were talking about the Bible, the ethic of God, and really digging in. It was fantastic as we dove into our session of sticky topics that often get treated as black and white while we live in a grey world.

As things progressed, we moved from the open dialogue which helped me get a sense of their background to talking about the storylines. We had great questions and interchange of discussion. The 90-minutes flew by in the blink of an eye. It felt like we ended as soon as we started. So much ground had been covered, and yet so many more questions were hanging out there waiting to be handled. Would there be more time, another opportunity?

Questions led to answers which led to more questions. I love the mystery and the open space the Bible gives us. I also loved the opportunity to share God’s heart behind the designs he has on us, the grace he has and love for all peoples. In every way, I took the opportunity to paint God as one who loves the world and wants us to know him deeply.

But the end was only the beginning as we sat down and talked more over lunch. Here, I really got to answer questions about my faith. Whatever went on in the writer’s room must have opened their hearts to more questions. I sat with one of the writers and a writer’s assistant at lunch as they dialogued openly and vigorously for another hour plus. I loved when  this writer said to me that he had never met a pastor before. What a privilege for me to be the first pastor this witty, smart writer could meet.

As we sat talking over lunch, one of this writer’s first questions to me was do many people in my field have a similar interest in the arts like I do. Sadly, I thought, no. In between taking bites, I told him that most in my field either uncritically consume the arts of movies and television or condemn it as filthy or unfruitful. Pastors often talk about the stuff of TV as unedifying and ask their people to stick with things that build them up. In fact, until the last 10-15 years, the arena of the arts was often completely overlooked by the evangelical church. We did not dialogue over the stories of the movies, the meanings, the messages, the questions raised in this medium. We did not talk about ways in which we could engage the culture around us through conversations about film and TV. We did not talk about the shows that brought us flawed characters like House, Batman in the latest installment of Christopher Nolen’s version, Clint Eastwood’s cranky character in “Grand Torino”, and many more. We have not often found ways to use the arts as a platform to talk about faith.

In fact, as I grew up in the church, I often felt an aversion to the arts, to the discussions of metaphor and symbolism. I felt uncomfortable in the ambiguity of questions and possibilities. However, over time, I have enjoyed getting into conversations about story. I have enjoyed how story can capture our imagination and open space for discussions about so many more things. I felt thrilled that I could now be on the inside talking about story and how story can shape how we see the world. I had the chance to help shape a small part of this series and the story undergirding what will come of this show. I sure enjoyed the time I had with these writer’s and wish them the best with their new venture. I look forward to more opportunities to contribute as more scripts are being written.

I would love to come back here and there to this experience as a fertile ground to dialogue further about their questions–What is a pastor? Why do we try to get around the rules, what does the Bible say about slavery, violence and so much more.

What are your thoughts about the arts and faith?

From Radical to Conventional

Contextualization, let me say happy birthday to you on this your 40^th birthday.

I feel like we have been together so long. They way your name gets bandied about makes me feel like you are as tried and true as the gospel itself. It is hard for me to believe you have only been around since 1972.

Contextualization, you came from such former terms as enculturation, adaptation, accommodation and most recently indigenous. We now use you to defend our style of worship, or how we want to shape the church in a given context. We know you are important as you help us make Christianity connect at a heart level to the people who speak thousands of languages around the world. You bring together the church in fascinating ways, so that one day we will see the actualization of Revelation 7:9-11.

After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

Contextualization, you work so hard to insure that the gospel, planted in the soil of each culture, never has to feel foreign. Sometimes you succeed, and other times it just cannot be helped.

How far you have come in such a short time…in the scheme of ideas, you jumped ahead from radical to conventional in a rather short amount of time.

I am amazed how just a short 40-60 years ago, the idea of the indigenous church, and local leaders taking the reins seemed like such a radical idea, but today, you, along with the indigenous church, have become such conventional wisdom that no one even questions its validity. Give the airlines another few years, and people will never ask, why don’t we get meals on our flights from Chicago to LA? They will expect to pay for their luggage. These things will work their way into our mainstream thinking, just like you did.

Contextualization, the move by many to move into sociological and anthropological thinking to embrace you has been helpful. The move to creating an indigenous church came as a right reaction to the paternalistic and colonial methods of previous generations. Missionary thought needed to recognize the same Holy Spirit works in the lives of the local people. As one essay, I recently read put, we moved from one extreme to another after WWII to giving complete independence to local churches. The past generation has seen a partnering and working together with the indigenous churches.

Finally, Contextualization, I stand back and observe the historic trends and wonder what is next…will there be a reaction to modern methods…or have we found the most complete way now after 2,000 years of missionary efforts?

Contextualization: Some More Thoughts

Okay, okay…I am getting back to this polarizing discussion on contextualization. It took a little longer than I hoped. I decided to wait until my class with Dr. Scott Moreau came, so I could get a little grounding into my musings.

When we contextualize our faith, we want to make sure we do not end up with something altogether different in the end. The key to this effort begins with scripture. All contextualization must stand firmly rooted in scripture.

So let me dive into a phrase that often says more than people intend in contextualization. Far too often I hear people say, we need to contextualize the gospel.

Some use this saying innocuously, while others clearly come with an agenda behind that saying. They say things like, we need to ask what is good news to these people. In beginning this way, they inadvertently say the good news can be changed to capture the imaginations of an audience.

If you cannot tell yet, I get uneasy with the term contextualize the gospel. Are they saying that the gospel can be bent, pulled, squeezed, or even twisted to fit into another shape? Does the gospel morph or have an opportunity to be reinterpreted? I dare say, no. The gospel that Jesus preached, the teachings that Paul passed on to Timothy that he implored Timothy to pass on to good men who could in turn pass it along, II Timothy 2:2 remained static yet found dynamic expression within each local context. The unchanging gospel of the unshakeable King Jesus gets lived out in our faith and worship in varying forms and customs. This is what we contextualize. I loved how Dr. Moreau framed contextualization. He put it as contextualizing our entire faith.

In his upcoming book on the contextualization as seen in the evangelical landscape, Dr. Moreau brilliantly describes the gospel as an anchor for contextualization. When we attend to contextualization, we must be anchored in the gospel. When we keep our anchor in scripture, we can begin on firm footing.

What do you think of when people say they are contextualizing the gospel?

Culture and the Biblical World

When we first moved to Thailand, multiple people in Thailand told us that Thai culture is closer to Biblical culture than American culture is. It was preached that way and widely spread in the church we serve. Multiple reasons were given: first, Thailand is an agricultural society, even if Bangkok is not, most people come from small towns/ villages or have family there. Second, the Thai people are highly aware of the spiritual world and how spirits interact with this physical world. From these basic tenets, it was then assumed that Thai people would have an inherently easier time understanding the Bible and what Jesus taught.

While I love the heart of what these people said, I have to respectfully disagree with them. After living in Thailand for over 4 years, I believe that American culture, foundationally, not superficially, is closer to Biblical culture. Yes, we don’t understand farming very well, if at all. Most Americans try to ignore, or deny, the existence of spirits.

We have many problems with our culture that are not Biblical, and we need Jesus to transform. But the foundation of our culture is built from the same foundation that made up the world Jesus lived in. Today we call it a Judeo-Christian worldview. On the other hand, Thai culture is built on a Buddhist worldview and it effects all parts of life and how people interact with each other.

Let me example this for you with a story. In America we have an axiom, do to others what you would want them to do to you. It is a Biblical principle, but it is a pervasive idea. People think of others and how they might feel or think when they interact with them. I know it’s not every time, but Americans tend to think about other people’s feelings and reactions. In Thailand, that is not so. I recently rode the bus to visit some friends up north with Ellie. On the way back, the lady in front of me decided she wanted to take a nap so she laid her chair as far back as it would go. She never turned around to see if someone was behind her or how much space I had. Well, I was so squished that I couldn’t even move my legs or get out of the chair. People will regularly come up to Ellie and get in her face or grab her, even if she’s trying to say no or stop. They’re not thinking of her feelings, but what they want.

Ultimately, we God to transform us from whatever culture we are in to be Biblical in the way we live.

Just that One Thing

Let me muse a bit in this post on my recent devotions.

I have been spending some time in the Kings and looking at the life of the people who led Israel and Judah. I love the section from Samuel to Chronicles as I love history and story. These books are rife with incredible stories of intrigue, drama, romance, betrayal and action. If these books were turned into films by Peter Jackson, we would see epic battle scenes like in Lord of the Rings.

First a bit of overview. After the people of God demanded a king, God gave them Saul, ripped the kingdom away from him and gave it to David whose lineage led to Jesus. David’s grandson, Rehoboam incited a revolt by putting heavy burdens on the people and ruling with none of the tact and wisdom his father Solomon had. From that point forward, the kingdom split with Jeroboam ruling the 10 tribes to the north, Judah serving the descendants of David. In the North, Jeroboam set up idols to keep his people from traveling south to worship at the temple and thereby falling back in love with the idea of a united kingdom. Jeroboam led the people away from worshipping God and into sin. Every king who followed him led the northern tribes into sin with Ahab and Jezebel reaching a peak of wickedness.

However in the South, some kings followed God while others worshipped idols and led the people into sinfulness. I am struck by the epilogues given to each of the kings as the author gives a brief window into their character at the end of their life. There he shows how long they lived and how they led their people.

The righteous kings are said to have served the Lord, but… I am struck by the ‘but’. They were great kings except for this one thing. This reminds me of my Italian friend Lenny from Seattle. He was one of the rad parents of some kids in a youth group where I interned during my college years. He always said to me, “Andy, I love you. I really love you, except for that one thing.” Shocked, I replied, what one thing? To that he just said, you know, that one thing. He really played it up too, making me think I should know what one thing he meant as if everyone knew what character flaw he was talking about. After several go arounds like this, I realized Lenny was just giving me the what for and throwing me off of my game. As far as I know now, there was never that one thing. Or was there?

Back to the kings, character models for us as godly or ungodly leaders. Many of them were great, like Jehoshaphat and Asa, but they all had that ‘but’ in their eulogy. Even Asa, one of the great righteous kings, never removed the high places. These high places that tripped up Solomon as an area of weakness in his life from the very beginning led to him following the gods of his numerous wives and concubines. I have been reading biography after biography of these mighty kings and all their exploits, even how they turned the hearts of the people back to God, yet there is always a ‘but’. There is always that ‘one thing’.

As I read these stories, I am struck by the ‘one thing’ that hangs around in my life. There is always that one thing in our life that we are slow or negligent to give over to God. There is just one thing we cannot shake as we try to live fully sold out to God. Should I be encouraged that I am not alone, or discouraged that even great heroes of the faith couldn’t get it 100% right? I am not sure, but I know I want to work on getting all parts of my life handed over to God for him to work on.

Now, as I am writing about eulogies and life stories, what would you like your one sentence eulogy to say?

Here is mine…

He served God with a reckless abandon and lived life passionately as a loving husband and father all the years of his life.

Bible v. Koran in the Eyes of a 3 Year Old

Let me give the perspective of a three-year-old on the Bible and the Koran, and Jesus and Mohammed. This story comes second hand from my dad.

 

The question has been dissected time and again by intellectuals, religious leaders and academics for hundreds of years. Who can we believe? How credible is the story of Jesus…

 

Many of us know the history between the two faiths is far from cordial. I don’t want to get into the validity of any argument or the reasons for the fighting. I want to share a profound understanding by an innocent child. I challenge us to take back our preconceptions and think with clarity on the issues at hand. Think like a child.

 

Backing up, let’s begin at the beginning. My dad has been working with a Muslim man from the Middle East for several years at his Motorola office in Schaumburg, IL. For a couple of years now, his co-worker has been investigating the story of Jesus by attending the Bible study my dad facilitates.

 

Now moving forward in the journey to faith, my father’s co-worker’s wife attempted suicide. He asked for prayer and didn’t know what to do. My dad kept caring for him and helping shine the light of Jesus onto a dark situation.

 

When the wife recovered, she began investigating the story of Jesus as well. She couldn’t reconcile within her that Jesus was a lie and Mohammed was the truth. She began reading the Persian Bible that she had been given. In fact, she would read to her daughter, both the Bible and the Koran. After a while, she wanted to know her daughter’s thoughts.

 

She asked the three-year-old girl, which one she liked more, the Bible or the Koran. The girl answered, I like the Bible more. The mother asked for an explanation, and the little girl replied, “The Bible makes me feel good, and the Koran makes me feel afraid.”

 

The mother enquired further, who do you like more, Jesus or Mohammed? The three-year-old answered, Jesus. She expounded saying, Jesus makes me feel love, and Mohammed makes me feel fear.

 

The mother continued to be shaken to the core. All that she had known and grown up on seemed to be a lie. She didn’t know what to do. Fast forward the story to a few weeks ago. My dad’s co-worker needed a ride home, so my dad offered to take him on his way home. When he pulled up to the drive way, the wife came running out. My dad didn’t know what to think, was she in a panic, what was wrong. She ran up to his door as he stepped out of the car. As he wondered what she wanted, she began to ask him questions. She wanted to know is Jesus the truth or is Mohammed? He explained the reality of Jesus in clear understanding, and she shared the story of her daughter’s perspective. After a few more words, the couple knew they needed Jesus in their life. They accepted him at that moment in their driveway.