Good Friday or Black Friday?

Pause for a moment and ponder this fact: the one event in the year which inspires millions of Americans to wake up early, bundle up and face the cold, and weather huge crowds is... shopping. Yesterday many of my friends, Christians and non-Christians both, wakened in the dark to go and participate in an annual frenzy of consumerism. $79 digital cameras, $799 50 inch HDTVs, and $100 GPS systems motivated our nation to emerge from their warm, sleepy blankets and stand in massive lines before our modern temples -- the Wal-marts and Targets and JCPennys.

The Seattle Times reported the following this morning: "In a sign of consumer desperation amid a bleak economy, the annual rite of retailing known as Black Friday turned chaotic and deadly, as shoppers scrambled for holiday bargains.

A Wal-Mart worker on Long Island, N.Y., died after being trampled by customers who broke through the doors early Friday, and other workers were trampled as they tried to rescue the man. At least four other people, including a woman who was eight months pregnant, were taken to hospitals." This god has literally turned us into cannibals.

I am a pastor. And I know for a fact that if I asked my congregation to come to church at 4 am on Good Friday in order to memorialize the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, I could count on about 4 people showing up.

Is there any doubt in anyone's mind who the God of our country is? Pause for a moment and reflect on the contrast between Good Friday and Black Friday. Which garners more enthusiasm? Which loosens our wallets? Which motivates a massive turnout? Which excites people to the extent that they will wait in lines for hours?

Jesus is starving. Jesus is cold, naked, and homeless. Jesus is being ravaged by AIDS and we, his children, prefer to pledge our allegiance to Black Friday instead of participating in Good Friday.

God, have mercy.

A Friendly Game of Monopoly

This evening at our monthly all-church game night, I played a game of Monopoly with three teens and an adult from the neighborhood. I stuck out like a sore thumb. Unlike my competition, I was able to do basic math in my head and, when it came to wheeling and dealing, my fellow players often lacked some common sense. For example, they were always more interested in CASH. Cold, hard cash here and now -- something to buy a cheeseburger with. It didn't occur to some of them that property ultimately held more value than cash because it could generate more wealth in the long run. I watched with amusement as one of the teens yelled "Aww, snap!" in jubilation as he sold a set of three properties valued around $600 for about $650. As you might guess, I gradually began to accumulate masses of wealth and one by one eliminated my competition.

It started as just a game of Monopoly with some of my poor, uneducated friends from a few blocks down. It ended with me in deep thought about systemic economic injustice.

I was born in Lexington, KY to two parents with college degrees, one of whom was working on a Masters. They read to me at night, fed me three square meals a day, put me to bed at a decent hour, and took me to the doctor when I got sick. My father loved my mother and treated her with dignity. I enjoyed green grass and found ample room to run and play in the great outdoors. Furthermore, my parents instilled in me a system of values about hard work, responsibility, and discipline all undergirded by a robust ethical system from the Judeo-Christian heritage. I did not choose this life; it chose me. I could just as well have been a Buddhist in Guangzhou, a nomad in Somalia, or a gypsy.

As I looked around the table, I thought about the lives of my "competition." The other white player at the table was the son of an alcoholic. His mother left him when he was a few years old and he's only seen her once ever since -- she apparently married some rich guy, but never sends a check or birthday card. I've been to his house; the holes in the walls are clearly the results of punches thrown by an angry man. And the stench of the living room is what you might expect to find in the home of an unemployed, overweight, wifeless alcoholic who watches 16 hours of TV each day and lives off of his kid's SSI. The other three of my competitors were part of the same family: a young mother perhaps a year older than myself who has a 14 year old son and 12 year old daughter. This household is once again led by a single parent. The 14 year old son is clearly mentally retarded and the girl is incredibly intelligent, but embarrassed to show it in front of her peers for fear of being excluded from their community. Whereas I was tucked in at night and kissed on the forehead, it is not uncommon for my 14 year old friend to tell me that he once again had to sleep on the porch even though it was raining and in the upper 30s. He had pissed of his mom again.

The game of monopoly wasn't really much of a challenge. Sure, we all started from "Go" with $1500 cash, but it was over before it began. They watched in amazement as I built up my empire to squash them and shouted, "Daaaang... you smart!"

You see, some people in this world seem to think that every human being starts at "Go" with $1500 in their pocket. The rest is up to hard work and intelligence. The rich will get rich because they deserve it... they worked hard and made the sacrifices. The poor likewise deserve their fate since they are lazy and make stupid choices. But more than ever I am convinced that this is The Great American Lie.

Some people are born into this world like myself -- with Park Place and Boardwalk already in their stash. They got it from their parents who got it from their parents who exploited the "niggers" to climb to the top of the heap. I entered the game with hotels on all the dark blue and dark green rectangles; they entered it owing me money.

I know some people find the idea of redistribution of wealth to be morally repugnant. Personally, I'm not too bothered by it. I see it as one way that we can right the wrongs of our past, even the playing field, and make sure the game isn't fixed before it even gets started.

How Do I Get There?

I have heard the call, Lord. You've asked me to empty myself and take on the very nature of a slave, to consider others to be better than myself, and to become nothing. You have called me to die so that I might live and to become the least so that I might be the greatest. You have told me to take up my cross and sometimes I can do this... for a few minutes or even a few hours, but then I drop it and run back like a pathetic addict to the comforts with which I can medicate my pain.

Computer games, food, soda, movies, laziness, time on Facebook, medications, bursts of anger over insignificant things... I turn to them instead of you. Sloth, lust, gluttony, avarice, wrath, despair, pride. Lord (if I may be so bold as to call you that), I am a slave to them all. I help the poor at my door, but only so much. I give him my shoes, but I don't invite him into my house for a meal. Or at least not everytime.

I've heard the call; I know your will. I just can't do it. The power isn't there. The words of your servant John ring in my head: "Anyone who is a child of God does not sin." But I sin. I do it all the time. I do it willingly and defiantly. I make a habit of it, of choosing to please Greg Coates instead of others and instead of you. And I feel terrible about it; I'm overwhelmed with guilt.

Surely this isn't the life you want me to live. Surely you want to take me to new places and see new wonders. You want to make a saint out of this broken, stubborn man, but I just don't know how to get there. I've tried the Bible reading, the fasting, the prayer, the serving the poor, the taking the sacraments, the accountability, the small group and one-on-one discipleship groups, the revival meetings, the voracious reading of Christian mystics, the regular attendance to church, the going on the mission field and leaving everyone behind, the preaching and teaching and scrubbing dirty floors and hugging the drug addicts. All rubbish. It's not doing it. I'm not there and I want to be. How do I get there?

Send me an e-mail if you don't mind. I check it quite often.

Consistently Pro-Life

Good ol' Chuck Colson recently lamented the election of Obama with the following words: "The President-elect, along with his newly strengthened allies in Congress, opposes almost every pro-life and pro-family position conservative Evangelicals and conservative Catholics have fought for so hard."

I am so sick of conservatives claiming to have the edge on "pro-life" and "pro-family" positions!

It's true that the right tends to be pro-life and the left pro-choice, or, as I like to say, "anti-life" when it comes to abortion. But is this all it means to have a consistent ethic of life? Hardly. It is equally pro-life to be opposed to all of the machinations of war which destroy human life on massive scales and consider the death of innocent women and children to be "collateral damage." Take a long look at the pictures coming out of Iraq and Afghanistan and tell me that the Republican party is "pro-life."

Being "pro-life" ought to include refusing to play God with someone's soul by choosing when they should live and when they should be put to death. The United States, along with China and several radical Islamic countries, leads the world in executions. This is spearheaded by many "pro-life" Republicans.

And why is it that the religious right will fight tooth and nail for a child to be born into this world, but as soon as that child is born, they are on their own -- without health care and without structures that prevent the child from being malnourished or sucked into systems of poverty? I only wish evangelicals were as loudly advocating for our toddlers as they are advocating for our unborn. But that great pro-lifer George Bush vetoed a bill that would have provided basic health care to kids under five years old -- in the richest country in the world, no less. Is the right consistently pro-life? I don't think so.

For 20 of the past 28 years, a Republican has been in the White House. During that entire time, promises were made to us that Roe v Wade would be overturned. It's beginning to look to me like the right has been using this issue to form a coalition for the purposes of perpetuating their own power. I honestly doubt the sincerity of many so-called pro-life Republicans who claim to be pro-life, but when pressed on the issue cannot even promise to nominate a pro-life supreme court justice if the opportunity came along (as McCain recently admitted).

Let's expand our definition of "pro-life" to mean opposition to the following things which bring death:

abortion,

the poverty that leads young women to chose abortion,

euthanasia,

war and war-mongering,

the global weapons trade,

extreme poverty,

environmental degradation which poisons the water our kids drink,

capital punishment, and

genocide taking place in countries that are irrelevant to our own "national interest."

That's a pro-life agenda worth advancing -- and it's not one owned by either the Republicans or Democrats.

Ode to Eve

My long slumber is ended,
awake at last I find myself,
alive and eager to live anew,
this child has resurrected me.

The ears, the cries, the simple sighs,
the sleep, the calm, the peacefulness --
reminders of the fabric of life;
Love is center, eternal, abiding love.

Eve, you make this hard man cry
my numbness now has gone;
I dream again of happy days
of trees to climb and melting ice cream.

L'chaim -- to life -- which begins again
To hugs and kisses and snuggles
To coffee and books and stories with friends
I thank you, Eve, for this reminder:

... life is worth living.

What the USA and Zimbabwe Have In Common

You might not think that the US and Mugabe's oppressive regime in Zimbabwe have much in common, but yesterday they agreed on one thing. 147 nations belonging to the United Nations voted in favor of a treaty to limit and regulate the global arms trade. This trade contributes to the death of 1,000 people every day according to some human rights groups. However, the United States, by far the world's largest weapons exporter, and the government of Zimbabwe cast the two dissenting votes.

President Dwight Eisenhower warned many years ago of the growing military-industrial complex. His warnings have gone unheeded. The USA now gives the finger to the world's attempts to reduce violence. Limiting the arms trade, you see, would hurt our precious economy. And who cares if we indirectly contribute to the deaths of thousands of people around the world? At least it is making us money.

Ironman, the Modernist

Courtney and I watched Ironman last night. Fun action movie. It also got me thinking about our own sense of identity as Americans and how this is constantly reflected in our comic heros.

Americans have always perceived themselves as that lone vigilante for justice. The myth of the cowboy or Batman or Mr. Smith in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington pervades our psyche. We are suspicious of totalitarian power and the injustice perpetuated on masses of people by the "evil" ones of the world. Interestingly, in the movie Ironman the protagonist realizes that his weapon-making business has been falling into the wrong hands and as he witnesses his own weapons being used against innocent civilians, he undergoes a sort of conversion. He decides to stop producing weapons, much to the dismay of the Powers.

But then the movie takes an interesting (and expected) turn. Our protagonist decides that he can no longer trust justice to be done by anyone... except for himself. So he creates a flying, missile-shooting, invincible metal suit for himself and, in good American fashion, goes out and kicks some arse.

This is the modernist illusion. We are the good guys; they are the bad guys. It's our moral duty to kill the bad guys so that they don't do bad things anymore. We do not trust others with power so we reluctantly take up power upon ourselves so that the "evil" ones won't rule over the "good." Such dualism, says postmodernism, is an illusion and I happen to agree. None of us are the good guys and none of us are the bad guys. And we are certainly not trustworthy with our Iron Suit. Soon we, the powerful ones, become corrupted and before we know it, we're the ones killing the women and children and calling it "collateral damage."

It wouldn't make a very good movie, but if the Ironman had been a postmodernist instead of a modernist and had allowed himself to be suspicious of all controlling metanarratives, including his own, then he wouldn't have made an Iron Suit. He would have, as Jesus said, "Put down his sword."

Ironman, a fun movie I must admit, perpetuates the myth of our own self-righteousness. When will we stop seeing everyone else as infected by power's corrupting influence except ourselves? When will we stop playing the executioner? When will we learn to trust the One who knows everyone's story perfectly and who is able to mete out justice flawlessly? When will we set aside our one-man, iron-suited vigilante ways and instead start bearing the cross?

The Lazy Missionary

I have now been classified as a "missionary" twice in my lifetime. The first was during my year in China as my wife and I taught English to college sophomores in Tianjin. The second is my current appointment in inner city Indianapolis where I am considered by many to be an "urban missionary." Before ever taking either of these positions, I thought of missionaries as those lone, brave souls who are out in uncomfortable places working tirelessly for the spread of the gospel. Now, having been a so-called missionary, I have a different, more complex view.

It is entirely possible for a missionary, like any Christian, to be completely lazy. In fact, I would have to admit that my year in China was in some ways the least stressful year of my life. I think Courtney and I watched more movies that year than we ever had before or since. It was incredibly tempting for us in the midst of all of the culture stress to isolate ourselves in our little apartment, spending time playing games, reading, watching movies, or surfing the web. Meanwhile, our friends back home were just sure that Greg and Courtney were always out hugging and kissing Chinese orphan babies. And although we did in fact hug and kiss Chinese orphan babies, we only did so for two hours every other Friday afternoon.

My point is this... although locating ourselves among the needy is an important piece of the puzzle in mission, it is not the whole picture. I know of one nameless individual who is currently situated in Rwanda and spends huge amounts of his/her time playing a Nintendo Wii. I do not pass judgment on this individual because I know how incredibly tempting it can be for a missionary to medicate his or her pain with entertainment and the comforts of the American lifestyle.

Missionaries, like any other Christian, are vulnerable to laziness and the temptations of comfort. When I pictured myself entering into the inner city, I had in mind walking the streets at night with bullets whizzing over my head as I traveled bravely to visit the drug addict down the street and save him from suicide. But right now I am instead sitting in my bathrobe at my computer in my warm, quiet home. So for those of you out there who might think of missionaries as martyrs, I'll just say this... not all missionaries are equal. Teachers in China are a far cry from Teresa of Calcutta.

Now I'm going to go make myself a cup of coffee.

Top 6 Books from Seminary

I just thought I would share with you the best six books that I read in my years at seminary and why I liked them so much. Hopefully, one of them will intrigue you and you'll decide to pick it up.

6) Colossians Remixed by Brian Walsh and Sylvia Keesmaat. This is a brilliant and creative commentary on the book of Colossians. Walsh and Keesmaat argue that Paul intended for Christians to subvert the empires of this world and stand radically apart from governments as a challenge to the "powers" which rule our planet. They furthermore interpret Christianity in light of postmodernity's discomfort with metanarratives and offer a hopeful version of the faith which will be not only palatable, but appealing to our diverse culture.

5) The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis. One of my all time favorites! I have read it four or five times. Fictional account of a journey from hell to heaven offering brilliant insights on the nature of salvation, hell, heaven, and the justice of God. The story articulates for me better than any other why God is love and yet hell exists.

4) Surprised by Hope by N. T. Wright. Read anything and everything by N. T. Wright, but this is him at his best. Wright argues against the hyper-spiritualized 'pie-in-the-sky' picture of heaven which dominates evangelical theology and replaces it with the biblical picture of the resurrection of the body. The implications of belief in resurrection are far-reaching and impact how we go about mission today as the church. Finally we can leave behind the weak, diluted gospel of just "saving souls" and embrace the full, robust gospel of saving people.

3) The Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux. Not nearly as intellectually challenging as the rest of these books, this simple autobiography is filled with profound spirituality. I cried my way through the end as God showed me how to be irrelevant for him. A powerful vision of the Christian life which stands in sharp contrast to all of the self-improvement devotional tripe available in Family Christian Bookstores.

2) The Politics of Jesus by John Howard Yoder. I believe this book literally changed how I will read the Bible forever. Yoder hits the nail on the head when he accuses evangelicals of "hyper-spiritualizing" the message of the Sermon on the Mount. I expected a philosophical work and found a brilliant biblical commentary instead. I believe anyone who reads and fully understands this work will seriously consider becoming a pacifist.

1) Exclusion and Embrace by Miroslav Volf. The best book I read in all of my time in seminary. Born among the conflict in the Balkans, Volf reflects on how to live out Jesus' message of reconciliation in the midst of deep hurt. His message extends beyond the political realm and invades our lives as it challenges us to make peace with our enemies and live in harmony as God has intended. (It also is a far better resource on how to have a happy marriage than anything you could get from Focus on the Family).

Should I Vote for Obama?

I'm really wrestling with my vote this year. Not that I'm even considering casting a vote for McCain. But I am wrestling with if I should vote for Obama or not vote at all. The problem is that Obama is pro-choice and I believe that abortion is perhaps one of the greatest evils in our world today. But I agree with Obama on so many other issues. Below are the issues that concern me most in order of importance and how they are weighing in on my decision to vote:

1. The illegalization of abortion. I am convinced that abortion is murder pure and simple. Obama supports the right for women to kill their children even in the final trimester of pregnancy. I think this is criminal. -10 points for Obama

2. A Peace-making foreign policy. McCain is a war-maker in the tradition of our current administration. Obama would be a breath of fresh air not only to our country, but to the rest of the world since he believes in using war as a last resort rather than war mongering as the Republicans would have us do. + 5 points for Obama

3. The elimination of poverty. McCain represents more government apathy in the war on poverty and, I believe, is a pawn of the rich and powerful. Obama, as a community organizer on the south side of Chicago, certainly has more of a passion for addressing issues of systemic poverty and oppression as I do. + 5 points for Obama

4. A compassionate approach to our immigrants. Actually, McCain and Obama will both be a step in the right direction for our nation as we overcome the xenophobic of the Bush administration. I could support McCain on this issue. +3 points for both candidates.

5. Care for the environment. Again, both candidates are better than Bush. But I find Obama's proposals for investment in alternative energy sources to be the right direction for the country as opposed to McCain's insistence that we find more sources of oil. + 2 points for Obama.

6. Obama is black and we need a black president in this country. + 1 for Obama.

So there you have it. Should I vote for Obama or not vote at all? What would God have me do? I look forward to all of your responses.