The Birth of an Idea!

Today I attended the memorial service of the Rev. Dr. Hebert Meza. Most of us who knew this kind and gentle man knew him simply as “Herb.” I first met Herb in 1988 when I first inquired as to how I might become a member of the Presbyterian USA denomination. 

Herb served as the chair of the committee charged with examining me and approving my ordination credentials. He made the process of making that transition so much easier with his acceptance of me as a colleague of equal standing. In fact, he told me more than once that everything would be fine and for me not to worry. 

He had such a way of putting me at ease. I have never forgotten the way Herb Meza encouraged me and gave me the confidence of knowing I was making the right decision to become a Presbyterian minister.

But there was something else about Herb Meza I did not know until just recently and it serves as the inspiration for this article. 

You see, even in death Herb was able to affirm me and give me confidence in knowing that I am tracking well with my understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Keep reading and it will become clear what that track is.

Herb served as a teenage Marine in World War II. He experienced an event during his tour in the Pacific that resulted in the birth of a magnificent idea for him; an idea that he never gave up on for the rest of his life.

One night during combat Herb and a Japanese soldier engaged in hand-to-hand combat, the result of which led to the death of the Japanese soldier. In that fox hole in the middle of the night Herb Meza discovered the idea of becoming a peacemaker.

He claimed that killing that Japanese soldier altered the direction of his life and led him to go beyond lip service to peacemaking, but rather to dedicate his life to that endeavor. 

He also carried a picture of a Japanese woman that he found in that dead soldier’s wallet for many years afterwards in hopes of somehow meeting her and having the opportunity to apologize to her and ask for her forgiveness. 

What many would describe as an act of bravery was for Herb the birth of a magnificent life-changing idea: 

The idea that peace is incredibly important to sustain life on this earth. 

Some today would call Herb Meza a “hero” but I am certain he would not welcome that moniker upon himself. If he was a hero he would be a “hero for peace.”

I never experienced combat in the ways Herb Meza did but I too captured a huge idea that was bigger than any idea I had previously  entertained: 

That peace is a worthwhile endeavor and there is no limit to what we should do in its pursuit.

At Herb’s memorial service a portion of his own reflection of faith was read. I have included it below and hope it will speak to you as it did to me. 

I have committed as much of myself as I could to as much of God as I have discovered along the way. But the thing that has sustained me has been a lesson I learned from the Spanish mystic, Miguel Unamuno, “Most men,” he once wrote, “are Don Juans about ideas. What we should do is find a large idea, marry her, and set up housekeeping with her.” That is what happened to me. And I have come to the conclusion that, for those of us who love humanity, we must not be satisfied to serve the power of any one race or nation. 

We must insist on a larger idea, particularly in this nuclear age. For those of us who have seen that idea in Jesus Christ, we must remember that in the complexity of this modern world only a tough-minded and resolute determination to think all things in the light of the revelation of God’s purposes, and in the style and love of Jesus Christ will see us through. For the world is too small for anything but love, and too dangerous for anything but truth. 

It is my prayer that in this time of bitter division that we Americans will marry an idea much larger than ourselves, or our politics, or our country—an idea inspired by the image of Jesus Christ as the Prince of Peace. 

An idea that Jesus Christ expressed so succinctly yet so passionately: 

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

An idea such as this is worth a lifetime of investment from us all. 

Can a Muslim Follow Jesus?

Does a person have to be a Christian to be a Jesus follower?

Can a person be a Muslim and be a Jesus follower at the same time? 

Can a person be a Hindu, such as Gandhi, and be a Jesus follower?

Can a person declare no religious affiliation whatsoever and still be a Jesus follower?

There was a time in my life when such an idea was unthinkable. I would have answered with an unequivocal “No!” I would have replied that if a person wanted to follow Jesus then that person had to become a Christian first. 

Period!

Next question?

The idea of a Muslim or a Hindu or one with no religious affiliation being a Jesus follower made no sense to me and I am sure that for many of my Evangelical friends today (as well as some Progressive ones) the idea is simply off the charts.

But is it?

WWJS?

That’s right, what would Jesus say?

Well we may not be absolutely sure how Jesus would answer such a question since I don’t believe Jesus would have asked such a question in the first place. It would not have been a first century question anyone would have thought to ask. But he’s not completely silent on the issue.

First, Jesus never once invited folks to become Christian. 

Well maybe his silence on this point speaks volumes. Not once in the Gospels do we read Jesus saying: 

“Follow me and become a Christian!” 

Let me know if you find that verse in the Gospels.

For starters the idea of a so-called “Christian religion” was  foreign to Jesus. The idea of being a so-called “Christian” had yet to be developed during Jesus’ lifetime. It would take many years for that idea to develop. 

Second, Jesus never said that he had come to start a new religion separate from his own Jewish faith; a religion that would later become Christianity.

Because those of us living in the Western world have too often forgotten that Jesus was born and died a Jew we have perhaps unintentionally helped plant the seeds of anti-semitism by completely separating Christianity from its Judaeo roots. 

Jesus did not cease being a Jew and he was not a Christian.

I can’t be sure but I suspect the idea of starting a new religion whose adherents would be the only ones going to heaven never crossed Jesus’ mind. But this is the way we humans think, isn’t it?

We have this inexplicable need to separate and divide ourselves into the good guys and the bad guys (or the good gals and the bad gals). For whatever reason it makes us feel good about ourselves to believe that we Christians are right and are going to heaven and everyone else is going elsewhere in the afterlife (we think this way politically too—it’s a human thing).

Third, Jesus big invitation was simply “Follow me!”

I believe it goes without saying that Jesus never invited folks to become Christian, or join a new religion he was starting, or sign up for heaven by joining this new religion.

I know this may be a difficult pill for many Christians to swallow. But if we can get past this “religion” thing long enough to hear what Jesus really invited us to do then perhaps the light will come on for usl:

 “Follow me!”

Are you a follower of Jesus in this life or are you a member of an exclusive club (Christianity) created to get you into heaven in the next life?

What we need in our world today is not more Christians but rather more Jesus followers. 

Can you imagine the impact on our world if the number of Jesus followers multiplied among all religious adherents? 

The Wall that Divides--The Bridge that Connects!

There has been a lot in the news these days about building a wall between the United States and Mexico. 

Believe it or not this is not a new idea.

It was a huge issue during the time of the Apostle Paul in the first century of the Christian era. It may not have been about building walls of bricks and mortar along national borders, but building walls of separation was nonetheless a hot issue for the first century Jewish Christians.

Allow me to explain.

Saint Paul is known as the Apostle to the Gentiles. In other words he understood his calling from God to take the Gospel message to the non-Jewish people of his world.

Most of the first generation Christians were Jews. Jesus was a Jew in fact. Christianity sprouted out of the Jewish tradition. This is why it is often referred to as the “Judeo-Christian” tradition, and rightfully so.

In Paul’s world humanity was divided between two major people groups: Jews and non-Jews. These non-Jews were known as “Gentiles” (that's us folks). Any Jew living during the time of Jesus or Paul viewed the world as being divided between these two groups of people.

Over time the Jews began to think of themselves as God’s special chosen people, separate from the rest of the world or the Gentile world. Certain barriers  (walls) were put into place within the Jewish Law that ensured that this perceived divinely ordained division not be compromised.

Paul mentions this in his letter to the Ephesians when he states clearly the intended effect of Jesus’ death:

“For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us” (2:14).

Then Paul goes on to say that Jesus’ death intended to “reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it” (2:16).

This in fact was the Apostle Paul’s major insight into the meaning of Jesus’ death on the Cross. The Cross became an instrument of global reconciliation in Paul's mind.

A good way to describe reconciliation is to see it as building bridges between diverse groups of people. Why?

Because unlike walls, that divide people from one another and create hostility between diverse people, bridges connect people. 

Many will remember the Berlin Wall that was erected at the outset of the Cold War. The wall became a dividing wall of hostility between the East and the West. Germany thus became a divided nation separated by a wall erected for the most part out of fear and paranoia (see image above).

Yet building such dividing walls is how the world operates when it feels threatened or when it senses immanent danger.

The Berlin Wall was finally torn down when the Cold War ended and Germany was reunited as one nation. Families were reunited. Old acquaintances were resumed. New friends were made. New relationships were created. A new identity was created. Reconciliation between East and West Germany became a new reality.

When the Berlin Wall came down the world did not end. All the fears and paranoia that motivated the building of the wall in the first place turned out to be more perception than reality.

The world is going to build its walls. There isn’t a whole lot we can do about it. Building walls, either metaphorically or literally, is the result of imagined fear and paranoia.

But Christians have a much better model for maintaining and sustaining human relationships:

We build bridges that connect rather than walls that divide.

For Paul Christ became our peace once the dividing wall that divides is taken down. Peace will never become a reality as long as we continue to erect barriers and walls that divide us rather than bridges that connect us as human beings.

We all share in a common humanity. Our differences are only magnified by the walls that divide us. 

Let us pray for more bridge-building in our world. As Christians we certainly can model this method in spite of all the walls that go up around us (metaphorically and literally).

Be a bridge builder!

Is it time to stop calling ourselves “Christians?”

Is it time to stop calling ourselves “Christians?” 

We are told in the Book of Acts that the disciples of Jesus were first called “Christian” in the Syrian city of Antioch (Acts 11:26). Now it is important to know that “Christ” is not Jesus’ last name. It would be more correct to refer to him as “Jesus the Christ” rather than simply “Jesus Christ.”

The term Christ in it’s Hebrew form means “Messiah” or “Anointed One.” Perhaps had Christians gotten their name from those in Jerusalem we would now be referred to as “Messianics.” Can you imagine? 

Yet it was those pagans living in Antioch who first started calling us Christian because we wouldn’t participate in their pagan worship practices.

In other words the term “Christian” was first used as a derogatory moniker for the followers of Jesus. It is found only three times in the Bible, twice in Acts and once in I Peter. But never used by the early Christians to describe themselves.

It would be similar to calling those who belong to the Tea Party  “Tea Potters.” Not a flattering term to say the least.

Well over the years the term “Christian” came into vogue, even among disciples of Christ. By the 2nd century we were referring to ourselves with this unflattering and derogatory descriptor. 

It’s funny how words seem to have a life of their own. They evolve or devolve as the case may be. But one thing is for certain: Words change both in their meaning and how they are perceived by the general public.

There was a time when I would have never written an article such as this. But over the years I have come to realize that the name "Christian" itself has accumulated so much negative baggage that perhaps we would do well to put it to rest for a while.

Ask yourself: What do non-Christians think go when they hear the word “Christian” today? What mental images pop up in their minds? 

Recent polls have suggested that Christians are perceived (right or wrong) by non-Christians as being: Homophobic, judgmental, out of touch with reality, legalistic, greedy, self-righteous, too political, anti-Science, and hypocritical; not to mention the many sex scandals of well know celeb clergy, financial shenanigans of celebrity type pastors and their associates, and of course the proponents of the so-called “Prosperity Gospel” that runs counter to the Biblical teachings on economics. 

While these polls clearly represent attitudes of non-Christians towards Christians in general, it would be inadvisable for us to ignore these unflattering perceptions. Some of these perceptions may very well be accurate although branding all Christians as such would be unfair in my opinion. But I’m a Christian so my view is somewhat biased. But:

I am embarrassed to be associated with those who sport the Christian name yet whose lives do not come close to reflecting the life of Jesus. 

I am embarrassed when so-called Christian celebs flaunt their wealth and flamboyant lifestyles that are antithetical to the lifestyle of the Jewish peasant from Galilee. 

I am embarrassed to be put in the same basket as those who have sold their birthright for a bowl of political stew and have compromised the enduring values of the very Gospel they claim to love.

I am embarrassed to be considered in the same league as those Christians who carry the name but who prefer the sword over the cross.

I am embarrassed by those Christians who ignore the Biblical mandate to offer radical hospitality to the aliens and strangers among us. 

I am embarrassed to be considered a colleague of those who allow their politics to shape their reading of the Gospels rather than allowing the Gospels to shape their politics. 

I am embarrassed by those who have turned the Way of the Cross into some prosperity scheme to get rich and call it the Gospel.

So if this is what being a “Christian” means then count me out. I don't want to be referred to by such a name. Call me a follower of Jesus if you will, or a Messianic if you prefer, or simply a religious person.

Until we can unload some of the negative cultural baggage that has stuck to our name perhaps it would be best to stop using the moniker “Christian.” 

Realistically though this is not likely to happen but at least it should give us reason to reflect on the One we truly follow.

Carrying the Cross of Peace

“If only you knew on this of all days the things that lead to peace. But now they are hidden from your eyes. The time will come when your enemies will build fortifications around you, encircle you, and attack you from all sides. They will crush you completely, you and the people within you. They won’t leave one stone on top of another within you, because you didn’t recognize the time of your gracious visit from God” (Luke 19:42-44).

Upon entering the city of Jerusalem for the last time Jesus predicts its destruction which came to past in the year C.E. 70. The year that the Roman general Titus led his troops into Jerusalem, ended the siege, and razed the city to the ground.

The Second Temple was also destroyed (Jesus also predicted its destruction earlier) except for a portion of what is known today as the Western Wall. 

For all practical purposes Biblical Israel (distinct from the modern State of Israel) ceased to exist. The Jews became known as the diaspora or the dispersed ones from that time forward. Their lives became disordered for centuries to come. 

They were the victims of national disorder and disintegration as the result of brutal violence.

We are also living in a time of great disorder and incredible instability. 

The accelerated pace of change that is occurring in our world is creating tremendous amounts of disorder and instability. Technology is advancing at a pace that is beyond our natural ability to keep up; Mother Nature is screaming warnings of impending doom to the degree the world has yet to experience. Economic disparity is becoming a major disrupter of what is left of global stability.

Nation States can no longer be depended upon to restore order to our world of disorder, or if they could they certainly are not demonstrating a committed willingness to stop the insanity that is causing so much of the instability in our world today. 

New paradigms for governing and politics are necessary to match the acceleration of our changing world. New and innovative solutions to age old problems are needed to help restore order in our world.

A new way of seeing is so necessary if we hope to survive the impending doom that sits on our doorstep. We must listen and we must see or I am afraid we will spiral into a dark and disordered world that will swallow us whole.

Yes this is a dark picture of our world. But there is light of course. Light that we must follow to brighter and more hopeful places. 

Jesus made it very clear to his contemporaries that their own impending disorder and destruction was the result of their not recognizing the “things that lead to peace.”

The things that lead to peace! What an indictment of his own people. What an indictment of anyone. What an indictment on us.

Peace is not an option for our survival. 

Peace is not obtained by the use of violence or by military force. All the armies of the world have yet to bring lasting peace to our world. All the tough talking politicians and compliant Evangelicals have not restored order to our world of disorder.

Peace is not an option. It is rather a necessity if we are going to survive the insanity that is closing its grip on our once proud nation. Yes insanity!

The things that make for peace are clearly articulated by Jesus in the Gospels. Yet we have converted the Prince of Peace into an Advocate for War in our search for elusive peace. 

We have become fans of Jesus rather than followers. 

We too fail to see the things that lead to peace. 

What is necessary is for so-called American Christians to reread the Gospels with fresh eyes; eyes that are actually seeking the things that make for peace.

We need to reread the Gospels in ways that do not attempt to shape the Prince of Peace into an American Patriot whose goal is to defeat any and all enemies.

This is not an option; but rather a necessity if we are make it deep into this century. 

Pray for peace. Work for peace. Reject all government policies that do not make for peace. 

Remember the words of our Lord:

 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

To be a child of God is to be a peacemaker.

To be a child of God is to advocate for peace in the tradition of Jesus’ example and teachings of nonviolence. 

To be a child of God is to carry the cross of Jesus rather than wielding the sword of Caesar.

It really is the only real hope our world has today.

Resistance on Behalf of Reconciliation!

It is no secret that we are living in a very fractured, fragmented, and dangerous world, the instability of which has only increased since the end of the Cold War and increasing even more during a post 9/11 world.

According to an old African proverb It “takes a village to raise a child.” Yet according to Tom Burke, a British environmentalist, “it takes a planet to raise a child.” 

But this doesn’t seem quite possible on a planet that is so dangerously fractured and unstable as our world is today.

Hold these thoughts for a moment.

Many Christians are surprised to learn that the Apostle Paul’s biggest contribution to the emerging 1st century Christian movement was not the idea of a personal salvation but rather something far more relevant to our planet today. 

Paul’s main focus was on reconciling two very different communities (Jewish and Gentile) into one body. This was in fact his major contribution to the early Jesus movement.

In other words, Paul’s focus was on the ministry of reconciliation.

Unfortunately this focused has given way to an overly individualized version of salvation.

Paul believed that God intended for the world to be reconciled into one new humanity—a global humanity for that matter (see Genesis 12:1-3); a humanity God wants to bless.

The following words are from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians:

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

According to Paul Jesus came to break down all walls that divide us; the walls erected because of hostility between people and nations. The cross thus became the reconciling bridge between God and a fractured humanity. 

Unfortunately, as the history of the emerging Christian movement unfolded, we witness numerous divisions and fractures between the different Christian assemblies or groups, which over time had worldwide implications. 

Yet Paul makes it clear that the main purpose of Jesus’ coming was to create “one new humanity” without abolishing human diversity.

Jesus came primarily to reconcile all humanity. He came to break down all those visible and invisible barriers (walls) that we have historically erected to divide ourselves from another (cultural customs and politics, color of our skin, our ethnic identities, our sexuality, our economic status, the neighborhoods in which we live, etc.).

The most important thing the Church can do in today’s fractured world is to model the work of reconciliation; to offer a witness to the power of God's reconciling love for all of humanity. 

One way we Christians can do this is to offer resistance to any and all attempts to separate people from one another, policies that prevent people from entering our country based on their religion or background, and worse of all pass legislature that marginalizes people simply because of the color of their skin or ethnic identity (unfair voting laws for example).

We have a responsibility as Christians and as the church to publicly resist any and all forms of social or government policy intended to separate and marginalize any one group of people from the mainstream. 

As followers of Jesus we are called to follow him in the work of reconciliation. If we fail in this mission we then become nothing more than a state controlled religion bending to the will of a secular government; or even worse we demonstrate a serious misunderstanding of what it means to engage the world on behalf of the Gospel.

We are called to do the work of reconciliation as followers of Christ. 

Anything less is to miss the whole point of Jesus’ coming.

Is God In Cyberspace?

Is God in Cyberspace?

Cyberspace may be defined as that space that is occupied by the World Wide Web, the Internet, and the Social media. Cyberspace is the new Supernova.

This was the question asked of author Thomas Friedman on one of his book tours a few years ago. Friedman confessed that he did not know but he would find the answer. He later entitled a chapter in he latest book by the same question (Thank You For Being Late, Chapter Eleven).

So he consulted with and asked his mentor Rabbi Tzvi Marx. He asked the Rabbi the same question: 

“Is God in Cyberspace?” 

Marx replied: 

“It depends on your view go God.”  

The Rabbi went on to explain and I am paraphrasing his response:

If you believe God controls everything, including all human actions and behaviors then I would have to say that God is not in Cyberspace. However, if God gives us humans the freedom to behave in such ways that reveal his presence to the world then yes, quite possibly God is in Cyberspace.

So Friedman now answers the question this way: 

“He sure wants to be.”

Now if one actually believes that God has created us with the freedom to make ethical and moral choices and to live in such ways that reveal God’s presence then the answer is “yes” God may very well be in Cyberspace—if we invite him.

Back in the 1990s I heard a medical ethicist make the astonishing claim that advances in medical technology was seriously outpacing our capacity to keep up with appropriate ethical decisions.

Perhaps we are now witnessing the same phenomenon with regards to Cyberspace in general and the Social Media in particular.

God just might show up on Facebook if we behave in ways that honor his presence. The same may be said for other Social Media networks (e.g., Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, etc.). 

Yet from what I am witnessing today God seems unwilling to join us in this new cyber-arena of our lives. I have never witnessed so much vitriol, so much hate, so much toxic language, and so much character assassinations in my life—so much childish behavior in fact. Over what? A matter of disagreement?

Ironically many of those who use their Social Media networks as a platform to vent their anger towards those who disagree with them, are probably pretty decent people for the most part—at least in person. Some are downright likable if you were to meet them in person. 

But they are also just one click away from being a really nasty person in Cyberspace.

With just one mouse click or smartphone prompt all ethics and morals go flying out the window. It seems that not only is medical technology outpacing our ethics so is Cyberspace technology. 

Our nastiness may be excluding God from Cyberspace.

We had better get a handle on all this sooner than later. We live in a very dangerous and fragmented world to begin with and our personal support of a Social Media network devoid of ethics, rules, and moral values may lead to some serious consequences in the not too distant future.

So what can I do personally to help clean up some of this cyber-mess some of us have helped create? 

Think twice about what you are posting. How will it affect others? How will it diminish the quality of our lives? What does it really say about you? Cyberspace is real life; even in the cyber-arena we have created. Cyberspace is not make believe folks even though we sometimes treat it as an alt-reality. On its own Cyberspace is valueless and amoral. We add values and morals by our cyber-behaviors.


We each play a significant role as to whether God is in Cyberspace or not.

Just because we have all this advanced technology does not mean that we can toss all our social and religious values aside for the sake of defending an opinion, or being right. I’m all for healthy debate but it seems we have thus far demonstrated our lack of ability for any healthy cyber-debate.

Perhaps an cyber-ethical and cyber-moral revolution is needed to help us keep pace with advances in cyber-technology. Perhaps we just need to learn some good old fashion manners and social decorum. I mean, calling one another names is really childish, don't you think?

Think twice before you make the next mouse click or prompt the next smartphone or iPad when you jump into Cyberspace. 

Are you inviting God to jump online with you?