Unfundamentalist

Above All, Love

What the H*!! Does "Biblical" Mean?

by Chuck Queen in Christian Issues

In a recent interview, Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church, Dallas, argued that his support for Donald Trump was “biblical.” He said,
I was debating an evangelical professor on NPR and this professor said, “Pastor, don’t you want a candidate who embodies the teaching of Jesus and would govern this country according to the principles found in the Sermon on the Mount?” I said, “Heck no. I would run from that candidate as far as possible, because the Sermon on the Mount was not given as a governing principle for this nation. Nowhere is government told to forgive those who wrong it, nowhere is government told to turn the other cheek. Government is to be a strongman to protect its citizens against evildoers. When I’m looking for somebody who’s going to deal with ISIS and exterminate ISIS, I don’t care about that candidate’s tone or vocabulary, I want the meanest, toughest, son of a you-know-what I can find, and I believe that’s biblical.”
The logic above is so inherently and obviously twisted a critique hardly seems necessary. What does “biblical” mean in this context?

Just the other day, I heard from a woman who was a member of a church I previously pastored. She was a deacon when I was there and she taught Bible studies for women in the church (some men attended as well). I hadn’t heard from her for a long time, so I was a bit surprised when she exploded onto my Facebook page. Recently, I have been posting quotes from my sermons along with links to access them on my… [Read more…] about What the H*!! Does "Biblical" Mean?

The Judging Epidemic: Please Drop Your Rocks

by Belinda Croft in Christian Issues

In a still moment, on the second floor of this building, I look out the window to the world around me. Life is happening. I feel a very tangible presence of God. It’s a gloriously tipsy feeling that hugs my body and my heart. It makes me smile. I am reminded of God’s desire and love for me. Always for me. Always kind. Always loving. It is the love that my heart has been longing for.

I am totally smitten with the creator of the universe. Not because I can bring much to the relationship, but because He loves me so perfectly. I can put the world on hold and it feels like it is only me and Him.

The weight of the rock

But amid this beauty I sense a heaviness within me–it is the weight of judgement rocks. The rocks we throw every day at others. Our perception. Our opinion. Our judgement. Watching the responses to the Orlando massacre, to the debate on transgender bathroom use, to the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, and to the shootings of police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge–my heart sinks as I process the pain our judgment often causes.

Maybe you’ve expressed your opinions in the form of little (or big), private (or very public) comments that you feel rising up within you. Maybe you’ve felt that you are in the best position to make a judgement call, to have a moment of “truth,” to speak out without knowing all the facts.

You collect a rock off the ground …

“There was a woman raped on the street. She was probably wearing a short skirt… [Read more…] about The Judging Epidemic: Please Drop Your Rocks

History Will Judge Today's Christians According to These 4 Questions

by Stephen Mattson in Christian History

You can look back in history and criticize Christians for failing to follow Jesus during some of the world’s darkest moments, but today’s Christians will also be judged according to their actions, and here are four moral questions facing today’s Christians:

1. In the midst of a historically horrible refugee crisis, why didn’t you actively pursue helping the poor, the destitute, and those in desperate need?

Matthew 25:34-40: “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ 

Jeremiah 22:3-5: Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the… [Read more…] about History Will Judge Today's Christians According to These 4 Questions

Interlude: A Poem

by Brettany Renee Blatchley in Poetry

It is dark…

The waning moments of dusk flee the day’s weariness.

I turn the key and gently push into THERE.

Padding silently and gently,
Every fibre taut in growing
Holiness Their.

And like Moses who was, and is,
I step before God’s expansive
Presence.

Where in bare feet alone, my sin already atoned,

Lit only by the flames of my heart,
I sit in deafening silence before a throne.

And where it is low, I rest below,
Down where feet in their work-play, they go.

HERE for moments, maybe ages;
God is THERE and THERE is NEAR…

And my heart is hushed…

What is worship?

There is a piano in the dark;
My ears guide me to its place.

Cold pedals kiss my feet hello,
And on her keys, my fingers find their place.

It matters no,
Where my hands they go, as they begin to sing,

For I do not play piano – she plays with me!

And in the darkness our chords ring.

Gentle notes caressed, fill in THERE,
Ephemeral, Infinite, Instant, Eternal there.

Tears and nameless melody flow…and God KNOWS…

What is worship?

More ages pass, bright darkness fills;

Warm grow the pedals, and tremble, her wood thrills.

Deep chords vibrate, high notes ring;
Turn, turn intertwined,

And still they sing!

And they are themselves, alone for Thee,

For I do not play piano – she plays with me!

We dance before God:
Wood-steel, feet-fingers: in blessed lowliness revealed!

But no light to see, that God is near,
As my heart is bared: but not in fear.

And Love is… [Read more…] about Interlude: A Poem

Seeing Christ in the Abyss

by Jill Crainshaw in Christian Issues

This guest post is by Jill Crainshaw.

Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.  Luke 24:35 (NRSV)

What about their lives compels them to take the risk? Whatever it is, they do it. They climb onto unseaworthy vessels and head out into rough waters. Perhaps the persecution or poverty on their home shores makes the perils of rickety, overburdened boats seem small by comparison. Seeking sanctuary, they go.

The realities of migrating people today are harsh and deadly, and I have found myself thinking: Christ must not have been asleep in those vessels that have capsized in the Mediterranean in earlier this year, for he seems not to have awakened to rebuke the wind and sea. But another courageous voice did speak out: German Cardinal Ranier Maria Woelki broke Eucharistic bread from a refugee boat as he celebrated the Corpus Christi Mass last May.

The Washington Post featured these words from Woelki: “Someone who lets people drown in the Mediterranean also drowns God.” I don’t think Woelki was referring to the Christ of the Abyss, the famous statue of Jesus that was placed in the Mediterranean Sea in the 1950s, though the connection is striking. Since January, more than 1400 migrants have died in that same sea where the sculpted Jesus, arms lifted up from the deeps, offers a watery benediction. Woelki sought through his unconventional Eucharistic blessing at that boat-altar to lament refugee deaths and call for Christian actions… [Read more…] about Seeing Christ in the Abyss

You Have Permission to Walk Out

by Caroline Garnet McGraw in Christian Spirituality

I’m not proud of this, but here’s the truth: I waste a lot of time gripped by false guilt.

This past winter, for example, I felt guilty that my husband Jonathan and I spent $11 on ornaments for our Christmas tree. I felt bad in part because I am naturally frugal, and in part because I was taught by my childhood church that Christmas trees were “pagan” and off-limits to true believers.

As Jonathan and I stood in the check-out line, I said, “Um … should we really buy these? Maybe it’s too much. I feel guilty. I could put them back … ?”

Jonathan paused. We’d agreed to shop for ornaments, so he had every right to be annoyed. Instead, he thoughtfully replied, “It seems like you feel guilty about a lot of things unnecessarily. So maybe guilt isn’t a reliable indicator of whether or not you should do something.”

BAM. He was right. My guilt gauge is overly responsive. It goes off at the slightest “infraction,” so I can’t look to it for a true reading. Instead, I can acknowledge false guilt, then make a deliberate choice about what I want to do.

This takes a lot of practice, but it’s worth it. One recent Sunday, I arrived late to church and felt–you’ll never guess!–guilty. But I coached myself:

You are allowed to be imperfectly punctual–even your pastor says so! (This is one of the many reasons why you love her.) Remember, it was hard for you to come here today, since you’re feeling vulnerable. So instead of being hard on yourself, maybe you can give… [Read more…] about You Have Permission to Walk Out

The Great Masquerade: Who Is Christian in the Age of Trump?

by Jean Pouliot in Christian Issues

This guest post is by Jean Pouliot.

Donald Trump has won the admiration and loyalty of millions of Americans, including large blocks of churchgoing Christians. He has openly courted the evangelical vote and has repeatedly touted his Christian faith. But, given his statements and behavior, it might be wise to reflect on what being a Christian actually means. For many in my own Catholic faith, being Christian boils down to your position on abortion–be agin’ it and you’re in; be fer it and you’re out.

But what does being Christian mean if not following the way of Christ? Remember him? The guy that started the whole shebang?

To get to the core of Christ’s teaching, you can do worse than to start at Matthew 5: the Sermon on the Mount. In his sermon, Jesus listed a number of aggrieved groups that were in for some blessing: the poor in spirit, mourners, the meek, the hungry and thirsty, the clean of heart, peacemakers, those insulted for being his own followers. Jesus identifies these as people who are in distress now, but who will be comforted in the age to come. They are God’s special people, who, though oppressed by the world, will find relief in God’s reign.

If I am to follow Christ’s lead, then should I not also bless those whom God blesses? Should I not take the part of those in spiritual poverty and fill them with hope? Shouldn’t I comfort those who mourn the death of those lost to addiction, militarism, gun violence, terrorism, and sexual… [Read more…] about The Great Masquerade: Who Is Christian in the Age of Trump?

A Prayer of Lament (Alton Sterling, Philando Castile) 

by Ian Simkins in Current Events

This guest post is by Ian Simkins.

For the times we have been too distracted to feel deeply and respond fully to injustice.
O LORD, FORGIVE US

For the times our own hearts fill with hatred and malice for those who inflict pain.
O LORD, FORGIVE US

For the times we have failed to feel fully the breaking of your own heart.
O LORD, FORGIVE US

For the ways we have not invited you into our own suffering.
O LORD, FORGIVE US

For the ways we have caused you and others pain.
O LORD, FORGIVE US

God of comfort, grant us peace: Our hearts are broken, our souls heavy. Our sorrow is a weight around our necks–sinking our feet deep into the mire of despair. Deliver those buried this moment under a burden of misery.

God of justice, grant us hope: We proclaim that Jesus is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, yet we confess that the sin and brokenness we see around us is a bitter reminder of a Kingdom not yet fully come. May we be agents of your justice in every crack and crevice of our lives.

God of power, grant us strength: We know that the same force that spoke the universe into existence is alive in each of us, yet our spirits are so very weary. How long, oh Lord, must communities be torn and fractured by senseless violence? How we are desperate for your vitality and courage. 

God… [Read more…] about A Prayer of Lament (Alton Sterling, Philando Castile) 

How a Bumper Sticker Changed Everything

by Melissa Mead in LGBT

This guest post is by Melissa Mead.

I had no idea that as I walked from my vehicle into my church on that April day in 2009, that I would later be asked to resign from my position under suspicion that I was gay.

I had no idea that the staff pastors were having secret meetings for weeks, discussing this suspicion that was based off of the fact that the iconic equality bumper sticker from the Human Rights Campaign was visible on my vehicle.

I had no idea that when one of the staff pastors sat down with me to ask my opinion on what the Bible actually says about homosexuality, he wasn’t looking for my educated exegesis. He was looking for a way to twist my words to provide incriminating evidence for those secret meetings.

I had no idea that the pastor and his wife, who had become family to me over the years, would say that I could keep my job, if only I agreed to go to reparative therapy (which I promptly declined).

As I sat in the pastor’s office that day, I thought about how the pastor and his wife had become another set of parents to me. I had attended the small private school at the church since I was 3, and had known the pastor and his family since I was 12 years old. I was close with their daughter, as we grew up together in youth group and started attending the same Christian college the same year. Every time they came to visit their daughter, they made time to visit with me, too. They watched me develop my skills in Biblical study and homiletics and always… [Read more…] about How a Bumper Sticker Changed Everything