Righteous Intransigence, or Yellowstone and Politics, or Yellowstone and the Church

After a long absence, I am returning to a series of musings that will include war, evil, hell, inspiration, and other fun things (maybe). For tonight, a thought from National Geographic.

The May 2016 edition of the National Geographic magazine was about Yellowstone Park. One author wrote the entire issue, covering the history of Yellowstone National Park, the pre-history (i.e., why it looks like it does), the wildlife, and the controversies--which are many. It was in the context of the controversies that the author used the phrase "righteous intransigence." Before diving into my point, here is some background on the issues at hand. Most of the issues revolve around the wildlife of Yellowstone, and particularly the large mammals that reside in (and around) the park. In fact, this last parenthetical statement is part of the problem. Almost one hundred years ago, scientists realized that, if the goal was to preserve the wild nature of the west, Yellowstone was entirely too small. Hence the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem came into being. The elk, bear, bison, and wolves travel outside the park regularly, with many making annual migrations out of the park. This brings them into contact with ranchers, cattle, sheep, hunters, and neighborhoods. Who should decide what to do with bison on the ranch? Who should decide if the grizzly bear should be removed from the endangered species list? Are we sure that bringing wolves back was a good idea? Should we be killing off lake trout just to save cutthroat trout? Should private landowners be forced to keep migration routes open for thousands of elk? Many people are very passionate about all of these issues. You can read the magazine if you are interested in the topic. I was interested in this statement, near the end of the magazine. The author argued that passionate people need to realize that "righteous intransigence is not a strategy, it is just a satisfying attitude." Amen to that!

As the 2016 presidential race winds down to the two primary candidates, I think that we can see this quote fully at work. As President Obama has said, democracy can only work if people compromise, even if they are 100% right. Many of us have lost the ability to compromise. We have made everything that we believe into a hill on which to die. We have few strategies, but we have a lot of intransigence. We believe it, so we won't compromise on it. Ted Cruz's actions in the Senate are one example of this. Whether his position was right or wrong is not the issue. The issue is that he had no strategy, only intransigence and the ability to make sure that nothing happened. Now there are hills on which to die, but if you run a government there are compromises to be made so that the nation can move forward. (Honestly, I am not sure that either of our candidates can move us forward, but I guess we shall see!)

I also fear that "righteous intransigence" is alive and well in the Christian church. I have experienced those of liberal theological traditions belittling their congregants and other leaders who are less "enlightened" than they are, when the real issue is that they read their sacred text in a different way. I also see evangelicals who are running scared of any new idea. Richard Foster tries to connect the evangelical church with long-established traditions of spiritual formation, and he is vilified for bringing non-Christian traditions into the church (without considering that the traditions he is re-introducing were in the church long before Christians and Buddhists had any conversations). Lesslie Newbigin and those after him call the church to missional living, believing that we are all called to be on mission for God. The kingdom of God is alive in us as we live incarnationally for Jesus through the power and leading of the Holy Spirit. The gospel is certainly about personal salvation, but it is also about reconciling the world to God, and we have a role to play in that reconciliation. And the missional movement is accused of being too psychological or being too works-oriented. "Righteous intransigence" at work! When will we be willing to hear the "other," whoever that might be? When will we love our neighbor, even if that neighbor is a Muslim (I mean a Samaritan!)? When will be driven by faith in God, love of neighbor, care for widows, orphans, and aliens (immigrants?), repaying evil with good instead of evil with evil, and listening before we speak instead of being driven by "righteous intransigence"? Hmmm, I personally think that is a good question.

A Funny Thing Happened at the Jonny Lang Concert

Tonight was an unexpected experience. Perhaps it should not have been unexpected. After all, I find many concerts to be spiritually uplifting experiences. But tonight was different. I went with some friends to see Jonny Lang at the House of Blues. At the House of Blues, I always buy general admission tickets so that I can get up close. I was about eight feet from Jonny tonight. Standing on the floor with hundreds of other people crammed in front of stage is always interesting. You make friends with a lot of interesting people when they have had a little too much to drink. And it's amazing what they will do and say. And there I was with my new friends at the Jonny Lang concert. 

For those who do not know, Jonny Lang is a blues guitar player who has been playing professionally for almost 20 years, and he is only 32 years old! He is a phenomenal player with a unique singing voice and music that blends rock, blues, and gospel. In 2006, he wrote and recorded  a song called, "On That Great Day." This brings me to the point of this blog. He started singing "On That Great Day" and a strange thing happened at the Jonny Lang concert. The B-3 was playing. The singers were singing harmonies. And then the audience starting singing along. I closed my eyes in praise of God. I found myself raising my hands to worship. Yes, we had church! I did not expect to have church at a Jonny Lang concert, but we did. My eyes teared up as I, and a couple of thousand new friends, sang the last chorus to the song. Here are the lyrics to "On That Great Day":

"That Great Day"

We'll meet at the river

We'll be delivered of every chain

Down into the water, children

Mothers and fathers in His sweet name

To drown all our sins

And come up again forever changed

Never to return to the people we were

Before that great day

We'll patiently wait 'til we see His face

And when He appears to wipe all our tears forever away

Then we'll be together in Heaven forever

On that great day, on that great day

We'll patiently wait 'til we see His face

And when He appears to wipe all our tears forever away

Then we'll be together in Heaven forever

On that great day, on that great day

We sang that last chorus together several times until it faded to almost acapella. There Jonny was, leading the church--uh, I mean audience--in worship of his Savior Jesus. True, Jesus is not named in the song. But  who else will we see face-to-face? Who else will wipe all our tears forever away? What amazing to me was that most likely none of these people came to the concert to worship God, or to express faith in God for their futures. 

What really struck me as I worshiped God tonight was that here was a truly missional moment. At Houston Graduate School of Theology and Cypress Oaks Church, two places that I love and at which I spend a good deal of waking hours, we talk about being missional, about being incarnational in the unsuspecting world. Here was a group of people--many drunk, boisterous, and vulgar just moments before--singing praise to God. Jesus was there in our midst. I could feel God's presence. (OK, I can't prove that, but I did experience it.) Jesus was there in that unsuspecting crowd. How often to we have services of worship and struggle to find God's presence. Yet, here it was at the Jonny Lang concert. 

I felt like I was being reminded that almost everyone knows that it is a good thing for sins to be forgiven, binding chains to be removed, and lives to be turned around for better. I think that's why everyone joined it and sang. They were expressing their faith that God will wipe away tears forever. There is a great day awaiting. And all these people are waiting for us to say, "Jesus loves you." People are waiting for us to care for them as much as Jesus does. People are looking for hope, for faith, and for peace. There was a little piece of it tonight at the Jonny Lang concert. 

We'll be together in Heaven forever on that great day. Yes, we will! 

Finally, check out this video of the song. I think you'll like it! 

"All Things for Good"

Today, I preached on Romans 8:28, tentatively in a series of studies on the most misused texts in the Bible. I started last year with these studies of Jeremiah 29:11 and Psalm 8. Here is the application portion of my sermon today. I thought that I would post these thoughts here.

What do I think Romans 8:28 means for us?

I think that the verse means that every follower of Christ has a role to play in the redemption of the world—of people and of creation itself. When Jesus lived incarnationally—pouring himself out for the world that he loved, thinking of others and not himself, and loving and serving those who he encountered in his life—he met opposition. We meet most of our opposition in the faith because we are trying to push our agendas on people who don’t want them—especially in the world in which we now live. We face opposition because we want to put nativity scenes in front of city hall like we once did. We face opposition because we fight Planned Parenthood and gay marriage. We do not face opposition because we love those in need, serve other sacrificially, fight for the cause of the oppressed in society, or even witness to our neighbors about the love of Jesus. (This is not a political statement or a statement about my opinions on these issues.) If Jesus faced opposition, we will, too. In fact, in John 17, Jesus said that we would. 

I think that this verse tells us that when we face opposition to our faith, when the struggles of this life slap in the face, or when we fall to the ground and can step no further, our lives in Christ and our service for Jesus and world are not in vain. They serve to move this world a step closer to God’s ultimate goal—the redemption of souls and the renewal of all creation (which we see at the end of the Bible). We have a role to play, and nothing can stop God’s purposes, no matter what appears in front of us. We will overcome, even if I do not! Did you hear me? I said, “We will overcome, even if I do not!” This may sound silly, but let me make a conclusion on this thought.

We have in our culture a “cult of self.” Everything is about the individual. While human tendency has always been to care about the self first, this cult of self is not always the driving force. For example, reading about those living in Israel in 1948, you can see a sense of purpose that transcended the individual. Everyone had a role to play, even if they could not see it. And even if people died, their role did not end, and “the good” for them would come when victory was won at the end of the war. We have missed that sense of community today, because we read this verse as speaking about me. We think it means that if I love God enough and follow his plan for my life, then I am guaranteed of God giving me “the good” (which we typically translate into happiness and prosperity—we can hardly do anything else in our culture!), even if it may take a while to get here. This is sometimes true. But this vision is much too small! We are part of a huge story—a story that began in a garden in Genesis, ran through Abraham and Moses and David, and then culminated with the work and teachings of Jesus, then moved on through Paul, James, and Peter, through Clement, Jerome, Aquinas, Wyclif, Luther, Calvin, and Wesley. What a grand mission we have, in God’s kingdom. Can you see it? Our work is important, if only you and I can move beyond the pettiness of self! The pettiness of self keeps our vision far too small, when God wants us to be a part of this amazing, enormous, grand narrative of history! We must be counter-cultural to the cult of self and serve God's kingdom! 

Can we today pray with Jesus that his Kingdom would come and that we could live that kingdom? Yes, we can, if we will open our eyes to the work that God is already doing and the work that we have been called to do. Will you make that your prayer today—to be a part of God’s huge vision for his Kingdom? 

Undivided Heart

One of my favorite albums of all time was Twila Paris's "Cry for the Desert," released in 1990. It included "How Beautiful," which we sing in church from time to time--a beautiful Communion song about Jesus and the kingdom of God. It also included "I Will Wait" and "Fix Your Eyes." And "Cry for the Desert" is a longing for a place of close meeting with God. The song that always touched and challenged me was "Undivided Heart." This was true when I listened to on my road trip on Saturday. Here are the lyrics (the notations are mine!). 



          There have been days when I would die for You
          And days when I would not die to me (I can feel that one!)
          There have been nights when I would cry with You
          For the sins of the world and the pain in the city
          But some nights I cried only tears of self-pity (That one hurts!)
          I need a love that will always endure
          Give me a love that is simple and pure


          CHORUS
          Give me an undivided heart, Place a new spirit in me (Ezekiel 11:19)
          Give me an undivided heart, That I may fear Your name (Psalm 86:11)
          Undivided, undivided heart, Undivided, undivided heart


          Lord, You have seen me giving all that I'm worth
          But only to find me taking more (Why am I so self-centered?)
          There are those times when I embrace the earth
          When I rise to the need and I welcome the labor
          And then I must fight to forgive my own neighbor (Struggling to forgive my neighbor, forget loving my enemy, right?)
          I need a love that will always endure
         Give me a love that is simple and pure


I find my own struggles in this song. This song speaks to my own wishy-washy nature--up and down. However, the song also gives me hope. It gives me hope because the struggle has been a human problem for millennia. The quotes from Ezekiel and the psalm show this to be the case. Interestingly, both of the verses were quoted in the sermon this morning. Is that a coincidence? Maybe, or maybe not. 


We are on a journey. We will not win every battle, and not every day will be marked by self-sacrifice, submission to God, and service to others. However, God will hear our prayers as he did the psalmist's prayer. We can pray fervently and work hard. We can ask God for guidance and follow as humbly as our human self will go. It is a journey--the missional journey of the Kingdom of God. It is great to be on it with so many others--past and present.