Occasio

Why young adults need a liberal arts college education (and why it's critical for ministry students)

A recent study of 225 employers reveals some interesting data about what is desired in college graduates entering the work force. Not surprisingly -- to some of us -- a liberal arts education will accomplish most of what employers want.

• Internships. Employers are looking for applicants who have had internships. Over 90% want their potential workers to have one or two of them.
• Getting Hired. Things that carry the most weight in hiring an applicant: relevant courses, referrals from bosses or professors (I spend a lot of time writing these and take them very seriously), and internship experience.
• Skills. The top four skills that employers want AND have difficulty finding in applicants: communication skills, positive attitude, adaptability to change and teamwork.
• College Majors. Thirty percent of employers are recruiting liberal arts majors. That rate is topped only by companies recruiting engineering and computer majors at 34%. The really bad news: only 18% are recruiting finance and accounting majors.

One of the common misconceptions about a liberal arts college or university is that it is a liberal (as opposed to conservative) political environment. This is a faulty correlation. In fact, the liberal arts should be understood as the liberating arts and can include literature, language, philosophy, history, math, psychology, science and religion/theology. The goal of a liberal arts education is to develop a well-rounded person who is capable of thinking critically and able to adapt to multiple work contexts.

This will be absolutely essential in the coming decades, as new industries -- many that we can't yet even imagine -- will require workers who can learn new skills, concepts and frameworks. The inability to acclimate to the changing culture will greatly hinder job prospects and professional development.

But what about ministry? That's what I teach at Fresno Pacific University. Why would a liberal arts education be critical for those wanting to serve the church? Answer: because as the culture changes around us, so does the role and nature of leadership in the church. What the church needs is leaders who can navigate the shifting currents of the world around us. What the church needs is leaders who have experience in ground-level grassroots ministries, a broad education, the ability to communicate well, positive and hopeful attitudes, and the capacity to foster teams of people committed to the work of the gospel.

Did you notice what is missing from the list above? The study suggests that employers are not valuing applicants who are strong, decisive, aggressive, confident, arrogant, etc. There doesn't seem to be an interest in narrow expertise or rugged individualism. The day of the cheif-executive-anything is nearly over, especially in the church.

Interested in ministry? A liberal arts education is a must for the next generation of church leaders.

Source: The Millennial Branding Student Employment Gap Study

Twenty years after Rodney King and that other guy

On April 29, 1992, Los Angeles exploded with violence, and the police department all but abandoned the riotous city. I was in inner-city LA just two weeks before the riots. I was leading a group of teens from my church on an urban immersion. This wasn’t a “mission trip.” We were there to learn about the city and to talk with ministry leaders. The result of that trip was the same as every other Los Angeles immersion I’ve led in the past twenty years: my students are amazed to find that God is already in the city, that they don’t have to bring him there and that he is actively moving in the lives of city dwellers.

But the trip we took over the Easter break in 1992 was different. I remember thinking that the air was volatile, filled with hostility. While walking through the Pico Union district, near MacArthur Park, our group (including me and six white teens) was stopped by the LAPD in the heart of the infamous Rampart Division. “Do you know where you are? What are you doing here?” we were asked through the open window of a police cruiser. I told the officer we were doing church work and we knew exactly where we were. Stopping short of telling us that white people didn’t belong in that neighborhood, he warned us to be careful and sped away.

A short time after we left LA, the verdict of the Rodney King trial was announced. King, an African American man, was the victim of a brutal police beating that was filmed by a bystander and then played on news shows around the world. I remember watching that horrible beating on television again and again. The four officers, three white and one Hispanic, were acquitted. Shortly after the verdict was read, members of the African American community began marching through the streets of Los Angeles, many armed, all angry, thus beginning five days of rioting.

But there was another man that many of us have forgotten about. Reginald Denny, a white truck driver, was also a victim of the riots. I remember seeing it live on TV. Denny was stopped by the rioters at the intersection of Florence and Normandie, and was pulled out of his truck. He was beaten badly by the African American crowd and left convulsing on the street. Denny was rescued by Bobby Green, an African American man who saw the attack unfolding as a news helicopter broadcast it live. Denny never fully recovered from the beating.

My close friend, Tim Peters, was living in a dilapidated SRO hotel in the heart of the rioting. He was the only white man in a building full of African Americans and Hispanics that were technically considered homeless. But Tim had lived there quite a while and was known as “Pastor Tim,” the guy who led kids clubs, helped the poor and brought church groups to live in the hotel. “Stay in your room, Tim,” came the instruction from the other hotel residents. “We got your back.” Tim remembers seeing fires burning and military helicopters flying down the streets between the high-rise office buildings. Pretty crazy for a farm boy from Hillsboro, Kansas!

Tim told me that many people offered him loot from their sorties into the surrounding shops. Hotel residents were coming home with televisions, VCRs, and other bounty. Tim politely declined, offering instead an alternate narrative of peace and justice. Another thing that most people never realized about the riots: Tim personally witnessed many in the community feeling remorse for their actions and actually returning items they had stolen. I guess that doesn’t make for exciting news.

One more oddity of the riots I remember. While this has often been interpreted as a racial war between blacks and whites, it was actually the Korean American businesses that were most badly looted and damaged. In response, armed militias of Korean Americans formed to protect their storefronts. On my next trip down to LA, I witnessed block after block of Korean businesses that had burned to the ground.

What happened in Los Angeles in 1992 was so much bigger than the Rodney King verdict. Every time I drive through the intersection of Florence and Normandie with a van full of college students, I tell them about King and Denny (they don’t know the story of the riots anymore), and I lament the complexity of a system that continues to perpetuate racial divides of all kinds. Systemic injustices will never been solved or compensated with a court verdict (as was demonstrated again in the OJ Simpson tiral in 1995 and will again, undoubtedly, be demonstrated in the Trayvon Martin case in the coming year). We are part of systems that do not have “right” answers.

So what am I to do? When faced with racial injustice, I have to continually ask questions like, “How might God’s love be demonstrated here? What is the most Christ-like thing to do? What will the Spirit open my eyes to see in new ways?” Hopefully, prayerfully, my small moves will work together with others to change and influence the principalities and powers that reign with such a tight grip over all of us.

Of course, I write this as a privileged white male. It’s always easy to be theologically glib when in control of the systems.

Another viral video, KONY 2012

It seems a bit odd that my last post, which received thousands of hits and was carried by the Mennonite Weekly Review and a number of blogs, was about a viral video. It’s no coincidence that this post, too, is about another viral video. The internet certainly has made it easy to communicate about passionate interests, and people seem ready to access these hyper-popular issues in an age where news and information are turned on and off like a sitcom.

A number of friends and colleagues have entered the discussion about the KONY 2012 video campaign sponsored by Invisible Children, and while some have stood on one side or the other of the debate, many still have pretty big questions about whether this is a good or bad thing that IC is doing.

So, for what it’s worth, here are a few thoughts I have had about the latest story to set the internet ablaze.

• Issues that involve international politics, human rights, regional fighting, and religious conflict are always complex. There are rarely “right” and “wrong” answers. Yet, we Western middle-class modernists want easy answers in our drive-through culture of immediate gratification. We have become conditioned to thirty-second sound bites of yes/no, on/off, for/against, black/white, right/wrong solutions. The modern mind, with its love for the easily quantifiable, defaults to simplistic categories that offer only two possible outcomes. This bifurcation of culture doesn’t allow for the complexities of difficult and historic contexts. To say that KONY 2012 is right or wrong is reductionist at best, and disastrously harmful and neglectful of a multitude of real issues involving real people at worst. (See Rachel Held Evan's post for a broad discussion)


• The KONY 2012 campaign has once again raised the issue of child well-being across the globe, and specifically in Africa. While the awareness this has created is good and has appealed to a younger audience, the sad news is that that abuse of children is nothing new and is a major violation of human rights throughout the planet. It’s estimated that over a quarter of a million children in more than twenty countries are currently conscripted into serving as soldiers in armed conflicts. But there is a much more insidious use of children that is quietly accepted throughout the West. Millions of children never go to school and are forced to work in industries that benefit first world nations. In Africa, children are used to mine the gold, silver and diamonds that we find so precious (see Leonardo DiCaprio’s Blood Diamond as one example). The soccer ball that my son plays with is likely made by children in China. Cocoa farms on the Ivory Coast use child slaves to produce the Halloween candy we hand out to the neighbors every October. Coffee beans in Columbia? Children. Brand name blue jeans? Children. That popular iDevice? Children. Add to that an endless list of products that we Americans love, and an ever-bustling trade of global child trafficking, and the atrocities of child abuse are much larger than a viral video campaign. (See the Slavery Footprint website to calculate the number of slaves that you own)


• I don’t really have a problem with the organization Invisible Children. They have done a fine job creating awareness of global injustices. However, those who donate to this organization must understand one important aspect: your money is not going to people in Africa. IC won’t deny this. As an advocacy group (unlike a charity), IC uses contributions to create awareness. While a small percentage of donations will actually end up on the ground, most will be used to create structures that get their message out (i.e. video productions, billboards, radio antennae in Africa to broadcast their message). If you want your money to be directly spent on the underprivileged of a third world country, use a reputable charity like World Vision, Bread for the World, Compassion Int’l, MCC and so many others. If you’re comfortable supporting IC’s awareness agenda, your money will probably be used to generate more advocacy programs. (See Invisible Children's website for a “What We Do” statement)


• Whenever I hear conflicting reports about an agency’s work in a foreign country, I’m more likely to believe the people who live in the country rather than the agency’s own promoters. Herein lies another huge issue related to international aid. We Americans consistently go into very complex foreign contexts with our packages of aid and solutions to the “poor African’s” problems. It’s a top-down approach without regard for culture or context. We believe, either motivated by guilt or by duty or by entrepreneurial opportunities, that our role is to “fix” what is broken. Unfortunately, we continue to proliferate the imperialism of Kipling’s “White Man’s Burden” first published in 1899. I am deeply suspicious and cautious of any organization that seeks to provide aid to and advocacy for a cross-cultural context when that agency does not first and foremost seek to partner with and learn from the culture it desires to help. The history of Western countries is replete with stories when “helping” actually led to unintended hurt.


• I’ll say what I’ve said before: social media is great for spreading awareness and generating conversation, but it does not equal activism. Many of the desperate situations mentioned above will not be solved with the overthrow of a particular leader, an infusion of funds or the good intentions of people thousands of miles away. The child-soldiers of Uganda do not need your prayers (alone). Praying is a convenient way for Christians to opt out of the larger need: systemic change. When I buy a shirt from Target, chocolate from Nestles or a ring from Rogers Jewelers, I participate in the systemic injustices that so dominates the culture in which I live. It seems almost impossible to imagine another narrative. Yet, that’s precisely what the Gospel calls us to do. Jesus preached forgiveness, but also freedom from oppression, sight for the blind, and justice for the prisoner. Echoing the Old Testament prophets, James said, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27). And again, “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them” (James 4:17). I’m glad we’re all discussing these important issues via social media (we wouldn’t likely be having this conversation without Facebook), but to let it stop there might be worse than not having the conversation at all.

For those of you who have read this far, and for those who may be a bit disturbed by this whole Kony thing, I have good news. Give it a week or two and we’ll be on to the next viral video highlighting another global crisis. (Will it be an earthquake? tsunami? famine? war? recession? Or will it be about a surfing dog or a high school girl singing of her plans for Friday?) You probably won’t even remember Kony and the child soldiers in a few days. That’s the upside about living in an isolated individualistic Western culture that primarily gets its news from social media. Ignorance is bliss.

“Oh, don't worry about it. As soon as you step outside that door, you'll start feeling better. You'll remember you don't believe in any of this fate crap. You're in control of your own life, remember? Here, take a cookie. I promise, by the time you're done eating it, you'll feel right as rain.” -The Oracle to Neo in The Matrix.

Why I think "Why I hate religion but love Jesus" is dangerous

To all my friends who have been disillusioned by church, have been hurt by organized Christianity, or have given up on religion, please don’t jump on the “I hate religion” bandwagon.

Within the last few days, a video by Jefferson Bethke labeled “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus” has had over seven million views on YouTube. That’s quite stunning. Comments on Facebook about this video show that countless people identify with the sentiment that “religion is bad” and “Jesus is good.” I have numerous friends who have been judged, ostracized or treated unfairly by the church. I understand the pain that can come from these experiences.

I, myself, have been confronted, questioned, censored, and banned for challenging assumptions and suggesting solutions to problems within the church (here and throughout this post I’m referring to the church as a whole, not my local congregation). In fact, I’ve been placed on a “watch list” and know that some people will be reading this in an effort to keep an eye on me (peace and grace to you all). All of this has caused a significant amount of pain for me and my family. If anyone has a right to bash institutional religion, it’s me.

A common response when wronged by the church is to condemn the church and then withdraw from organized religion. But this is not the way forward. Isolation, dislocation, fear and hate of anything will not help anyone become a better follower of Christ. Unfortunately, it’s far easier to walk away from and condemn something than it is to stay and help make a change.

So, though I have a pretty consistent (and I think valid) critique of institutionalized Christianity, here are some reasons why I think a “why I hate religion but love Jesus” approach is simplistic, unbiblical and even dangerous.

1. It is not possible to have a belief system without religion. An organized religion is a framework for understanding a particular faith, and includes beliefs, values and practices. A religion creates a whole culture in which one lives and worships. The notion that someone can have Jesus without having religion is a bit like the person who wants a contemporary music-driven worship service because he or she doesn’t like liturgy. Yet even the most charismatic and spirit-led church undoubtedly follows a pattern for worship that is repeated again and again on a weekly basis. This is precisely what a liturgy is—a way of “doing” church. Religion is a way of “doing” faith. It is the system which allows faith to be expressed and passed on to all of its adherents. Religion can be used for good or bad, but there is no escaping it if you believe in and follow God.
2. It’s a very sad point, but this notion that one must make a choice between religion (which is evil) and Jesus (which is good) reflects a prevailing idea among Evangelicals: all that matters is my relationship with Jesus. Our narcissistic, individualistic and egocentric culture has led us to unconsciously believe the myth that the most important thing a person can do is make sure that he or she is right with God. Just in the last fifty years believers have turned worship into a desperate search for therapeutic healing, singing “I want you, I need you, I love you,” and “help me, save me, love me.” It’s the Jesus-is-my-boyfriend scenario. We think God exists simply to help us and make us feel better, and that’s how we judge our Sunday morning worship experience. On the contrary, the Christian life is one of community and the worship experience should not be a focus on the self but on the mystery, majesty, character and transcendence of God. Bethke argues that religion is for the self-righteous, but that argument backfires on him. It’s those who think they can exist outside of religious structures that are the most self-righteous and indulgent. Religion is the vehicle that brings us to the place of community and worship. To suggest that one can do without religion is to suggest that one can live apart from the body of Christ.
3. The video does not present an accurate interpretation of scripture and Bethke contradicts himself multiple times. Here’s just one example. The opening line in this video states “Jesus came to abolish religion.” The idea is later repeated as “Jesus hated religion.” Is this true? If so, Jesus would have had to toss out the entire Hebrew Bible (our Old Testament) and all the “law” within it. Due to a gross misreading of Paul, we often believe that the law is bad and that Jesus came to replace it. But, in Jesus' own words, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17). In the parable of the Good Samaritan Jesus affirms the law and tells his listeners to “go and do likewise.” The law of the Moses, essentially the code of Hebrew religion, was not something Jesus hated, nor did the Jewish people in general. The law guided, directed and freed the Hebrews to love their God, learn about their God and live for their God. The main point of Psalm 119, the longest chapter of the Bible, is exactly that—love for the law of the Lord. While it’s true that Jesus had harsh words for the hypocritical teachers of the law, he had the deepest respect and honor for his Jewish heritage. The Bible simply does not support any dualistic notion that Jesus and religion were in opposition to one another.
4. Another problem with the “I hate religion” approach is that it never offers any answers. Those who withdraw from organized religion seldom have any hopeful suggestions or practical ways to positively work for change within religion. I teach and mentor a lot of young adults who are preparing for ministry at Fresno Pacific University where I am an associate professor of ministry. I see many students who are discouraged and frustrated by the institutional church, and in many cases rightly so. Unfortunately, the favored option is to withdraw from the established church, strike out on their own and plant a new church. And who can blame them? Working in an existing church, especially an historic church can be very hard. Patterns are often engrained and rigid. It’s simply easier to go it alone. There are many troubling issues about this scenario, but perhaps the greatest is this: we need the gifts, talents, skills and contributions of all people in the church, not just from those with which we agree. Church should be the safest place on earth to be different, to disagree and to offer countering ideas. True community encourages fresh ideas and new practices. If you are a young pastor, leader or member of a congregation thinking about leaving the institutionalized church because of disagreements, please don’t—we need you! 
5. Finally, while I recognize that organized religion has numerous faults and has hurt many people, the way forward might actually be through a renewed and revitalized interpretation of religion itself. Just as Jesus didn’t call for the abolishment of the law but its complete fulfillment, so we might find a correction to the church’s dysfunctions through a recommitment to its practices. Whatever we might call this culture we live in—postmodern, post-Christendom, post-Christian or other—and for all of our attempts to create new models of church, target new segments of the population, initiate new musical styles or flee our religious past, I believe the answers lie in the historic church. I’m encouraged when I see college students engaging in the ancient spiritual disciplines of the church. A new generation is finding deep meaning in lectio divina, silence, fasting, prayer labyrinths, historic creeds and so much more. These practices are the bedrock of the historic church. As we again discover these rich disciplines of a 4000-year old religion, we will draw together in communities that reimagine the role of the church while listening for the active presence of God in our midst. This isn’t a time for throwing religion out, it’s a time for rediscovering what it really is, working to right the wrongs and stepping into the great adventure that God has always intended for his people.

As I said earlier, I certainly have reason to be negative and judgmental of the church and organized religion. But condemning it is not the answer. Neither is expecting everybody to become like me and believe like I do. If you have been hurt, please consider that no church is perfect, nor are the people in it. Religion is not bad or good, though it can be used for both. In the end, the church is the biggest and best run volunteer organization in the world. Let’s not give up on the church, but let’s keep working, together, to shape it, change it and imagine what God could do through it to accomplish his purposes, just as he did through the chaos of the Spirit’s coming 2000 years ago to a frightened gathering of believers in Jerusalem.

Holiday gift giving with a purpose

In a recently published Scholars Speak piece I ask what a meaningful Christmas gift might be. Do we really need more stuff? Or, could our gift giving express a deeper value of benevolence and care for others, while at the same time honoring those we love?

America is certainly experiencing some hard economic times this holiday season, but let's not forget about those who have so much less. If you make $50,000 a year, you're in the top 1% of the wealthiest people on the planet. At $34,000 you're in the top 5%, and at $25,000 (just above the poverty level for a family of four in the U.S.) you're in the top 10% of the globe's richest. Almost half of the world lives on less than $2.50 a day.

How would we spend money this Christmas if we took these stats seriously? As part of the 99%, many of us could do more.

Here is a teaser for my article:

August. That was the month I saw Christmas decorations appear in my favorite big-box superstore, along with aisles of children’s toys waiting to be snatched up in the coming shopping frenzy. I quickly snapped a picture of the surreal landscape and posted it to Facebook with the caption “Really?” and then headed back to my car through the 105-degree heat.

Retailers have perfected their Christmas marketing strategies. They begin their planning a year in advance, ordering merchandise, shipping stock to warehouses and testing product desirability. The trend to bring larger quantities of fewer items into store inventories earlier and earlier enables vendors to get a jump on competitors. These savvy merchants have turned shopping into a science as they fiercely contend for the half-trillion dollars that Americans will spend on gift giving this holiday season.

Click here for the full piece.

Youth ministry and the teenage brain

I have been perusing a plethora of articles being written lately about adolescent development, specifically about how the brain of a teen is formed. We know more about teenagers and the way they think (I know, you’re asking if they think at all) than we ever have. Thanks to vast improvements in technology that allow scientists to scan the brain, we can actually see what is happening inside the mind of an adolescent.

This is exciting because we can now make correlations between adolescent development and their spiritual formation. Why is this important? Because too many times we tend to respond to and interact with teens as if they were just little adults, small versions of ourselves.

One of the things that we have learned is that the teen brain is almost fully formed physically. But though the size of the brain is similar to adults, the hard wiring of the synapses actively continues into the mid-twenties. If you’ve ever wondered of your teenage child, “What was she thinking?” or “Where is his mind?” the recent literature reveals that you’ve been closer to the truth than you were probably aware. Teens’ brains are in expansive stages of development.

Here are some great resources with brief summaries of each article.

“Teenage brains." National Geographic. October 2011.
We used to understand adolescent behavior through the very common storm-and-stress framework, thinking that teens’ irrational actions were due largely to the stress that they faced. Scientists today are showing us that while this is partly true, the development of the brain has much more to do with unpredictable behavior. Seen from an adaptive view, we find that teens are highly proficient at adapting to new experiences and social situations, and in fact, require these kinds of opportunities. The downside to adaptability is that they aren’t adept at logical thinking, especially in social contexts.
One lesson for youth ministry: students must be provided with opportunities to take risk, give significant creative input and engage socially with one another.

“Why teens are wired for risk.” CNN Health. October 19, 2011.
Teens are hungry for and seek out social rewards, and they are willing to take huge risks to get them. Because of this, they aren’t always aware of the danger at hand when taking risks. They are prone toward experimentation in this stage of life, which might lead them to harmful practices of substance abuse, promiscuity, reckless behavior, etc. To change behavior, adults need to reinforce good behaviors and trusting relationships.
One lesson for youth ministry: students need risk, and the youth group is a great place to experience this through new, creative and healthy experiences such as social encounters, service projects and mission trips.

“IQ can change in teenage years.” BBC Science & Environment News. October 19, 2011
A general assumption has always been that the capacity for intelligence will stay the same throughout life—if you’re born smart you will stay smart (though that is no guarantee that you’ll do smart things). But recent brain research indicates that in adolescence intelligence can go either up or down. In other words, someone who can’t do math in junior high might do very well with the subject in college.
One lesson for youth ministry: don’t judge a book by its cover; those squirrelly freshmen have the potential to turn into significant and thoughtful leaders.

“Experiencing teen drama overload? Blame biology.” NPR Health News. August 16, 2010.
It’s not just raging hormones that cause irrational behavior. The developing teen brain actually favors this irrationality. In a sense, teens are wired for emotional experiences, not for thinking. This is why teens are so emotional; they’re just doing what teens are wired to do. Adults need to learn that adolescents don’t view the world the same as they do.
One lesson for youth ministry: when your students get angry (or feel overwhelmed by any other emotion), don’t respond with anger or shock; come alongside the teen, support him or her, and wait for a “cooling off” phase, then use the emotion to learn about life (and definitely do not manipulate teens with emotion).

In his book Like Dew Your Youth, Eugene Peterson says that adolescence is a gift from God. While most people, especially parents, think of this stage of life as a time merely to be endured, Peterson understands it as a beautiful opportunity for growth. And the growth doesn’t just happen in the teen; it happens in all of us as we interact with and learn from one another.

Rather than seeing the students in our youth groups and families as problems, let’s recognize what science is confirming: teens are wonderful human beings with a propensity toward resilient adaptation, a love of new experiences, and vessels of a marvelous range of emotions. Though incredibly complex, adolescents are a delight to work with and the church is a great place for them to work out the development of their new brains.

Caring for Teens of Divorce

Are you working with adolescents who have experienced the divorce of their parents? If you have any contact with youth, the chances are very high. A majority of teens will spend some time in a single-parent or blended family due primarily to divorce. If you help in a youth ministry you can expect half of your students to have gone through this traumatic process.

In grad school I wrote a thesis on Pastoral Care of Adolescents from Divorced Homes. Here is an article from my denominational magazine, The Christian Leader, which summarizes some important findings about working with this very large subset of adolescents.

Teaser:

A teenager is at a particularly vulnerable stage of life to go through the divorce of parents. Perhaps you have witnessed a teenager going through the divorce process and have wondered, “What can I do?” First, recognize the various situational issues that adolescents face in the divorce process. Second, pursue those tasks that will help the teen.

Full article here.

Anabaptism for the twenty-first century

Today I had the amazing privilege of participating in an historic event. As chair of the division of Biblical and Religious Studies at Fresno Pacific University I represented our department in the dedication of the Center for Anabaptist Studies. The purpose of this Center is to research, teach and envision how the original Anabaptist movement of the sixteenth century might influence and inform our theology and churchly practice in the twenty-first century.

These are my people. This is my tradition. This radical wing of the Reformation was neither Protestant nor Catholic. Harold Bender reminds us in his book The Anabaptist Vision that it was a movement of priests and peasants who centered their understanding of God’s kingdom in three things: discipleship, community and the way of peace. For this they were hunted, persecuted and martyred.

Dr. Valerie Rempel gave an inaugural address in which she provided a concise definition of Anabaptism and offered a rationale for the founding of the Center. Here is an excerpt from her presentation.

In the 16th Century, some of the greatest theological minds of that era began to read the Bible in new ways. The text itself hadn’t changed but because of their experience in the Roman Catholic church, their own study of the scripture and, I have to believe, the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives, they began to develop a new understanding of God’s grace and free offer of salvation. Among those who were committed to reforming the church were those who wanted more than reform – they wanted to restore the kinds of communities described in the New Testament. These were the men and women who became known as the Anabaptists. Many of them lost their lives because of their witness to a new way.

Anabaptists were radical Bible readers at the core. They understood the reign of God to be centered in the church rather than the state, and believed that the body of Christ was to give visible witness to its proper citizenship. They saw themselves as present-day disciples of Jesus and because of that, they gave special weight to Jesus’s teaching – to his invitation to live generous lives, to his call for love of enemies, to his encouragement to participate in God’s work of healing and justice and hope. They formed voluntary churches based on an adult confession of faith. They practiced mutual aid. They practiced church discipline.

As spiritual descendants of those early radicals, these ideas have informed our theological tradition and our church practices. But, nearly 500 years later, we live in a very different period of time. Separation between church and state has morphed from a theological idea about proper allegiances, to a political idea embedded in a constitution. Old enemies – church bodies that persecuted early Anabaptists, are now brothers and sisters in common endeavors – mission enterprises, community development projects, health and human service ministries, and educational programs. We are witnessing the demise of Christendom, a political and cultural reality that privileged Christianity but also invited, indeed welcomed, compromise. In its place is an increasingly secularized society and an increasingly secularized church.

I believe that this is a time that calls for radical Bible reading. The text hasn’t changed – but the times we live in have and they call us to re-engage with God’s Word and with our own theological tradition to see how it can offer us wisdom for living as Christians in our world and for engaging in mission that invites all people to become followers of Jesus and children of God.

I, too, believe that Anabaptism is a viable and relevant option for our postmodern, post-Christendom culture. In an age when people are increasingly skeptical of a superficial gospel that amounts to nothing more than “fire insurance” from the “flames of Hell,” the call to discipleship is compelling and authentic. As people face the crushing and dehumanizing consequences of individualism, the call to community is meaningful. As people recognize the failure of war and militarism to bring about positive change, the call to a way of peace is hopeful. This is the time to dream dreams and allow the Spirit to move us in ways that are often counter to the culture we inhabit. And a re-envisioned Anabaptism gives us the theology, history and tradition from which we can engage the new world around us.

Another quote from Dr. Rempel:

I want the Center to be a place that encourages our own tradition – the Mennonite Brethren church that gave birth to the University and the Seminary – to reclaim its theological heritage. The question of allegiance – to God or to the state – has not gone away. We, too, struggle with an increasingly secularized society and its impact on the church. It is difficult for us to resist the lure of a consumer society – to live lives of simplicity and generosity. Too often, we find ourselves fighting over how God accomplished the work of salvation through Jesus, rather than joining together to proclaim the message that Jesus does indeed save and that through him, people and communities can be transformed. We need active imaginations that can envision ways for our congregations to live out their calling to be the body of Christ and we need the courage to lead.

My people died at the hands of their persecutors for these beliefs. They would not claim allegiance to the state. They would not take up arms against the enemies of the state. They would not baptize their children, but rather chose adult confession of faith. They would not coerce anyone to join them. They were, however, a people of discipleship, community and peace, committed to the Sermon on the Mount. For this they died.

Particularly thrilling today, was when I got to hold a copy of a 263-year-old book. This book, The Martyrs Mirror, is a collection of stories chronicling the deaths of an untold number of Anabaptist martyrs. First published in 1660, the copy that I held was printed in 1748. Documented as the largest book to be printed in Colonial America, and older than the Declaration of Independence, the book before me held story after story of people who sacrificed everything to be a part of this radical way of life.

One of the most famous stories tells of the Anabaptist Dirk Willems. Dirk had the opportunity to flee his captors, but as he ran across a frozen lake he suddenly heard the cries of his pursuer. Dirk’s would-be-captor had fallen through the ice and was certain to be drowned. In an act of compassion, Dirk rescued his pursuer, was recaptured and later burned at the stake.

These are my people. I am very proud to be a founding partner in the Center for Anabaptist Studies. I believe that God has a great and vibrant future for us as we bear witness to his Son through the ongoing creative work of his Spirit, and as we carry forward the heritage of our past.

Here is the dedicatory prayer I offered for the center:

We come today, our great God and Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, through the guidance of the Spirit, to ask for wisdom and discernment. We ask that you would enlighten our minds, open our eyes and soften our hearts for the mission at hand. We ask that you would challenge us through the vast host of witnesses that have gone before us, the forbears of a great tradition of faith – a tradition committed to discipleship, witness, service, community and peace. 

We ask, Father, that you will anoint and bless The Center for Anabaptist Studies. And as the various partners work together to further a theological, historical and educational mission, will you revive the hearts of your children and draw all people to yourself.

We ask a blessing upon Dr. Valerie Rempel, our center’s director. Give her vision, passion and purpose for the challenges that lie ahead.  We are grateful for the benefactors that have made this center possible. We honor their faithfulness to the Anabaptist vision and thank you for them.

God our Father, an idea is born today. For some, it would seem to be an idealistic one, an antiquated aberration of history. Some would even call it heretical as they did 500 years ago. But today, God, we stand together to again commit ourselves to the way of Jesus, though that way may not make sense, though that way may not be popular and though that way may not walk easily in step with the current culture.  We believe that we have a vital and prophetic message for the twenty-first century and we believe that there are those, especially the young who are so disenchanted with popular ideologies and paradigms, that will also find hope, meaning and purpose in a third way.

So, today, our great God, we dedicate The Center for Anabaptist Studies to you and ask that you grant us favor.

Ephesians 3:20-21
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

 

Who will "born again" Christians vote for?

It might surprise you whom self-identified "born again" voters will vote for in the next election. A recent Barna survey compared born again Republicans, Democrats and Independents. It's no shock that Republicans in this category indicated that President Obama held a distant third place when matched against Governor Perry (first) and Governor Romney (second) on issues of honesty, intelligence, philosophy of government and leadership ability.

The surprise, for some, will be that Democrats who declare themselves born again (another surprise for some: yes, there are born again Democrats) overwhelmingly support Obama in all four categories. Among Independents, Obama was the favorite when it comes to honesty, intelligence and philosophy, but they thought Perry had the best leadership ability.

In a final comparison, Barna found substantial differences between age groups. Born again Christians under 40 strongly favored Obama for his honesty, intelligence and philosophy. Among 40 to 64-year-old voters, Obama has a slight edge. Those born again Christians over 65 signaled Romney has the best philosophy while Perry and Romney tied for having the best leadership abilities.

There is clearly no consensus as to whom born again Christians will vote for.

A favorite lyric of mine from a Mumford and Sons song is "Lend me your eyes I can change what you see / But your soul you must keep, totally free." ("Awake My Soul")

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could stop lampooning one another during this political season long enough to understand each other? Even better, what would it mean for those who declare themselves as born again to take a look at the issues from another's perspective with a new set of eyes. It appears partisanship is strong; no doubt there will be incivility and conflict among Christians. My fear is that our arguing and fighting will continue to keep the focus on politics and off of the work of the gospel. And, sadly, that certainly won't advance the church's witness and testimony as a foretaste of God's kingdom to the world around us. 

 

Teaching U2: The Classroom as Theological Learning Space

I'm finally getting around to posting this. Back in October of 2009 I attended and presented a paper at the first-ever academic conference on U2, The Hype And The Feedback. The paper was published last year in Pacific Journal, a publication of Fresno Pacific University. Jessica Mast, a former student of mine at FPU, helped write the piece by giving the perspective of a sharp 20-something woman who's learned to love the work of U2. I'm grateful that she gave input and was also able to attend the conference with me.

"Teaching U2: The Classroom as Theological Learning Space" highlights some of the outcomes from a very unique class I teach at FPU, "Theology, Culture and U2." To my knowledge, it's the only semester-long course of it's kind.

In the paper I suggest that students' perceptions of theology can be radically shifted by investigating U2's approach to scripture, global activism and artistry. The band's biblical background certainly influences their engagement with the world.

Hear for yourself what students discovered by studying U2:

"Before taking this class my idea of theology would have been the systematic study of the Bible and all of its principles. I would have described theology as taking each passage of scripture in the Bible and defining the clear, distinct truth or command God is expressing to his followers. If you were to ask me how one can better understand theology I would have told you to start a Bible study, listen to a sermon, or talk with a Bible scholar. U2 has changed all of that. Through studying the music of U2 I have been faced with a new reality: theology isn’t knowledge, its practice!"   -Kyle

"Before taking this class, I thought theology was simply the study of God. I can understand now that theology is yes, based on orthodoxy, but also orthopraxy. The music of U2 has freed my soul in a way. Ha, I’m now more annoying to others—telling them what Jesus is doing in the world and throwing a few U2 facts and lyrics in as well. But more than just learning to “act out” my faith more, or even speak up more… things and life and faith become more primal. More sensory-oriented. Let’s taste our faith, feel our faith, smell it, hear it, let’s touch it. But together, please."   -Karen

You can find the whole paper here. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.