I have to admit I am more and more annoyed with the media coverage that the “Jesus Papers,” “Holy Blood, Holy Grail,” the “Da Vinci Code” and the “Gospel According to Judas” are getting these days. Anytime we, as a culture, begin to take our ideas and frame of reference from a fictional novel like the “Da Vinci Code” or a book like “Holy Blood, Holy Grail” (which has no real scholarly support and is based on innuendo and radical theories) we are in treacherous waters.

That being said…I think we have to be careful as the evangelical church about throwing the proverbial stones from our proverbial glass houses because I would argue that we have done it for years inside our own walls. There are those that read Frank Peretti novels (and still do) not in the genre it was intended (fiction) but instead as theology/demonology. Or people who read the “Left Behind” series as a Biblical commentary on Revelation when it is also is fiction. But I would also argue that we do it with Scripture as well when we take a book like Revelation, which is written in the genre of Jewish Apocalyptic literature, and instead of reading and interpreting it in its genre we read and interpret it as a fortune telling newspaper. I would also argue that this can, and has taken place, in the interpretations of other genres like poetry, parables, narratives, etc. in Scripture. I guess that is the challenge and I think as the Church we need to be careful as we critique the media for doing things with the “Da Vinci Code” today that we have done in the evangelical church for years.

I came across this eBay ad in which an atheist is auctioning himself off to go to church. For every $10.00 bid he will attend church with an open mind for one hour a week (the auction ended and he sold for $504.00 US). So I did the calculations to see how this would play out on a mass scale. You could have yourself a church of 500 people per week at $260,000.00US per year.

Could you imagine? Imagine being the pastor of a church full of people YOU are paying to be there?

I am not sure what to think but this guy is creative.

Link to the eBay auction.
Link to the guy’s blog.

In the process of doing research for school, I have been surprised by the number of times I have come across the diverse history of biblical interpretation and theology that boggles my mind. It isn’t so much the content of the discoveries, but it is that I have not heard of them before. I wonder what kind of service we think we do in church by only feeding the information and selective history that meets our own theological and cultural agenda (the concept of indoctrination rather than education).

Whether it is our interpretation of the book of Revelation or the historical struggle in theology between the transcendence and immanence of God, I wonder why I haven’t heard of the fuller picture before. It isn’t that I want to be a scholar, but it almost seems as if we have edited the historicity of theology and biblical interpretation to meet our own ends and, dare I say, agenda. Maybe that is the tendency of every culture (whether church or national). I don’t think it is someone’s fault, rather I think it is more a result of the overall church culture of our time.

My research for school has been a good exploration of this new territory that I had not expected to find or even knew existed.

With our recent election in Canada I have been in several situations in which I have had to avoid talking politics. Not that I feel it isn’t an important topic, and to some degree I am more than willing to talk about my opinions on public policy, but politics I avoid.

I avoid it for several reasons:
1) As a pastor I want people to make up their own minds about who to vote for. I have my personal opinions but they are just my opinions. There is no such thing as a Christian political party and all are an important voice in the political arena of Canada where we value free speech and democracy. As well, in my opinion, we shouldn’t just be “one issue voters.” Each party has their particular views on centralization of government, taxation methods, priorities for spending, etc, which make up the greater landscape of Canadian politics. By this I mean there are so many issues facing Canada and often people zero in on one or two issues. Tunnel vision sets in and they can forget there are a lot of other issues out there that are important as well.

2) I know enough to know what I don’t know. In other words, I have had enough experience with government (sitting on a government committee and attending a national policy conference) that these issues are much bigger and more complex than most people realize. Thus for me, in a position of influence, I need to be careful that I know the issues before I make my opinion known or if I want an opinion known (the later is what I normally opt for).

3) I love my country and at the same time I want to express a positive attitude towards it. Let’s face it, we have enough negativity towards authorities and government. As a pastor, I want to be an example of a positive outlook and so I embrace the diversity of opinions, encouraging people to be informed and involved, and most of all to vote for who or what they think is best.

4) I believe strongly in the separation of Church and State for the mutual benefit of both. I don’t want the State telling me what to do, nor is it the place, in any democracy, for the Church to tell the state what to do. I believe and strongly encourage people (whether Christian or not) to be involved with politics and community action groups, to run for office and most of all to vote. But I don’t believe it is the Church’s place to endorse, support, campaign, or lobby the government.

So please don’t ask who I voted for, and please understand my silence on matters of politics, just know that I voted in my great country as a citizen, with both the right and responsibility to do so.

Can you hear it in the distance? Like the sound of a distant drum.

There is something about the melodic rhythm of music that envelopes us, inspired us, attracts us and draws us in. As a musician I am very aware of the beauty of being in rhythm and the violence (I use that word deliberately) of being out of rhythm.

In speaking of the Kingdom of God, I wonder if a good analogy is looking at it as the rhythm of God. Inspired by Water Brueggemann’s book, Cadences of Home: Preaching among Exiles (I book I would recommend for anyone, especially preachers), I think we need to hear and be reminded of the rhythm of the Kingdom.

I think in essence, reading scripture is like that, as we move in that same rhythm, following the music, we being to move in the rhythm of the Kingdom – the rhythm of Jesus. But the opposite is also true, when we move out of sync with the rhythm and at times against the rhythm, it begins to destroy the beauty of the kingdom.

The rhythm of the Kingdom is beating in the distance…it is a beautiful sound…a counter-cultural sound…can you hear it…is it making you move?