A Father’s Story

This post is an excerpt from my Advent devotional, The Dawn from On High: Advent Through the Eyes of Those Who Were There. It appears as the second chapter of the book, after Mary has told the story from her perspective.

‘This is how Jesus the Messiah was born.  His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph…’ – Matthew 1:18

Oh the joy in my heart!  I was betrothed to Mary!  Oh Mary, she could knock your socks off.  Once matters were arranged, I looked her in the eyes – oh those beautiful eyes – and told her of the home I would prepare for us.  She smiled broadly, the kind of smile that makes the sun come out on a cloudy day, and I hurried off to begin the addition to my father’s house that would one day be our bridal suite.  Such a wondrous time.  The days were filled with expectation and longing.  Just seeing Mary walk by on her way to get water from the well was enough to send my soul into the skies. 

But then one day her father came by.  He could not look me in the eye.  He brought dreadful news.  Mary was pregnant. I tried not to believe it, but there was no reason for him to lie.  After a brief conversation he left, and I fell to the floor.  I cried for hours.  I felt as if the sun would never come out again.

Finally, I rose, resolved to see her, to hear of her betrayal from her own lips.  I felt I deserved at least that from her. 

Boy did she have a story.  She claimed that an angel had appeared to her and told her that she would conceive by the Holy Spirit, and that the child she gave birth to would be none other than the Messiah who would inherit the throne of our ancestor David.  Man, I had heard some whoppers in my day, but that one took the cake.  I was no fool.  I may have been young and inexperienced, but I knew where babies came from, and it wasn’t the Holy Spirit.  So I faced the fact: Mary had betrayed me.  I was heartbroken.  So was she.  I’ll never forget the look in her eyes as she begged me to stay.  But I didn’t.  I turned on my heels and walked out the door.  Mary had always been truthful, but I just couldn’t believe a story like that.  So I walked out of her life, believing I was doing so forever. 

___

My ordeal wasn’t over, however.  There were legal details to arrange.  My options were relatively straightforward.  I could publically divorce her, thereby exposing her betrayal and bringing shame upon her and her family.  I could call for her death by stoning for having broken the contract of marriage.  Or I could quietly break off the engagement.  The first two options were things I could never have done.  Truth was that in spite of what I believed she had done I still loved her.  And so I went with option three. 

Even so, it broke my heart.  It broke over the loss of Mary and the loss of my dreams.  It broke as I thought of what Mary would endure as an unwed mother.  What would become of her?  At best, she would endure shame and humiliation.  At worst, I feared, she might end up a beggar or prostitute.  One thing was certain: our traditional community would not look kindly upon her predicament.

With such thoughts, sleep did not come easy.  I tossed and turned throughout the night until finally, in the early morning hours, in that nether world between sleep and wakefulness, I had a dream.  Or at least something like a dream.  In it I heard a voice, ‘Joseph, son of David!’  I opened my eyes, or at least imagined I did, and saw before me a being wrapped in light.  It was an angel!  I was scared to death.  But then the angel spoke again:

‘Joseph, son of David!  Listen to me.  Don’t be afraid to make Mary your wife.  The child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.  She will bring forth a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will be the One who will save people from their sins.  Mary did not lie.  She has told the truth.’ 

I woke with a start, soaked in sweat from head to toe.  I pondered the angel’s words.  Could they be true?  Suddenly, as if by divine inspiration, the words of the prophet Isaiah came into my mind: ‘Look!  The virgin will conceive and bring forth a child.  She will give birth to a son, and he shall be called Emanuel, God with us.’  Tears erupted from my eyes.  It was true!  Mary had not betrayed me.  She had been faithful.  And, which was more, God was on the move.  Mary’s child was the Messiah who would save us all! 

I knew what I had to do.  Four in the morning or not, I had to see Mary.  I raced to her father’s house, pounded on the door.  He greeted me with bed lines on his face, wondering if I had lost my mind.  Maybe I had.  But he let me in.  When I saw Mary, I fell to my knees.  I grabbed her around the waist, resting my head upon her belly, and thought, ‘Oh my Lord, in here rests the hope of the world.’  Mary knelt beside me and we held each other for what seemed an eternity, flooding the house with tears of joy.  When we finally looked up, Mary’s father was crying too. 

In due time, I took Mary to my home, that where I was, there she would also be.  Oh you bet there was a scandal.  People counted on their fingers.  Some laughed.  Some snickered behind our backs.  Some gave dirty looks.  Others were rude, downright hostile.  But we took it all in stride, and if anyone ever got too out of line with Mary, I gave them a talking to they did not soon forget.  But for the most part we accepted the strife, knowing that nothing good ever happens without some degree of suffering, and if this was ours to bear in God’s great plan of redemption, we were more than willing to endure it. 

___

One day, as Mary was approaching her time, a Roman soldier, a herald, arrived in Nazareth.  Caesar had decided to take a census, and everyone was required to travel to the city of their ancestors.     This meant that I, a descendant of David, had to return to Bethlehem, the city of David.  I nearly laughed out loud.  Bethlehem was the place the prophets said the Messiah would be born.  Little did Caesar know that he was setting the stage for the fulfillment of God’s promise! 

So off we went.  I on foot, Mary, nine months pregnant, on our donkey.  The eighty mile, several day trip was a rough one for one so heavy with child, but as Mary herself pointed out, who were we to argue with the ways of God?  We completed the journey in the nick of time.  We had barely touched the mezuzah on the doorpost of the house when Mary had her first contraction (oh, I know many of you think it was an inn, but that’s a misunderstanding.  Bethlehem was my hometown – I had family there).  It was I who nearly fainted.  We first thought to take Mary to the upper portion of the home, but that was a no go.  The census had brought many of my relatives home and the guest room was filled to the brim.  My family would have cleared some space, but we realized that with so many people in the house, it would be best to head down to the lower level, the place where the animals were kept, since there would be more privacy (we folks in the first century weren’t as squeamish as you are today about animals). 

It was a long night.  Mary’s labor was hard.  As I said, nothing good ever happens in the world without some degree of suffering.  But eventually the glorious moment arrived, and Mary’s son, God’s son, was born.  It was beautiful and miraculous, but at the same time unremarkable, like any other birth.  The midwife cleaned him up, and while she tended to Mary, she handed him to me. 

It was love at first sight.

___

There is much more I could tell.  Of shepherds and angels.  Of the day we took Jesus to the Temple and met Simeon and Anna.  I could tell of how Simeon, to whom God had promised he would not die until he saw the Messiah, took Jesus in his arms and declared that he had, and then handed him back to Mary.  I remember his words as he did so, ‘this child is destined to cause the rise and fall of many in Israel.  He will be opposed.’  Oh how his face darkened with those words, and darkened deeper still as with furrowed brow and sad eyes he told my wife that a sword would pierce her heart as well.  I could tell you of how we later received a visit from Magi from the east bearing gifts, and of how an angel again warned me that King Herod was trying to kill Jesus.  I could tell of our consequent flight to Egypt, of how we lived there as refugees for a time, and of how, after an angel told us it was safe to return home, we learned what had happened in our absence.  In a mad attempt to kill our son, Herod had killed all the children under two years old in and around Bethlehem.  Oh how Simeon’s words resounded in my mind as I wondered what such a thing might mean for the future of my son? 

It has been a few years now.  We live in Nazareth.  Jesus is a toddler.  Our lives have been, for the most part, uneventful.  But still, on some nights, after we have tucked Jesus in and helped him say his prayers, I stand over him and wonder: what did Simeon mean?  I reflect upon how Jesus came into the world, of Mary’s difficult labor, and of how nothing good happens in the world without some degree of suffering.  And I reflect upon the fact that Jesus came to do the best thing of all: to save the world.  What pain and suffering must await him?  I have seen what a maniac like Herod can do.  What will others do when Jesus begins to fulfill his destiny?

My friends and neighbors believe that the Messiah will be a triumphant warrior.  But I have heard the town Rabbi read the sacred words, of how the Messiah will be pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our sins.  The punishment that will bring us peace will fall hard upon him.  It will be by his wounds that the rest of us will be healed. 

Oh Father in heaven!  What does that mean?  What will happen to our son?  How can I prepare him for his future?  How can I teach him to be faithful and true, to stand when the time to fulfill his destiny arrives?  Blessed Adonai, I am so inadequate to the task.  Why did you ever choose me?  How can I possibly be a father to the Son of God?

But I remember what the angel said.  I am the son of David.  The descendant of a simple shepherd used by God to do great things. And I think, maybe God can use a simple carpenter too.

Maybe, he can use anyone. 

Under Christ’s Mercy,

Brent

Artwork by Michelle Jones

The Manger Player

‘And she brought forth her newborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger’ – Luke 2:7

How extraordinary is the chronicle of Christ’s Nativity!  Peasant parents-to-be on the move to register for the all-powerful Emperor Augustus’s census, mere mice in a world patrolled by imperial lions.  Arriving at their destination, they are forced to bring forth their miracle child in less-than-ideal conditions.  Depending on your interpretation of events, they were either shuffled off from the inn to a barn out back or relegated to the lower portion of a dwelling where the animals were kept.  Either way, their son – no less than the Son of the God – was born in a stable.  You might have thought that the Almighty Maker of Heaven and Earth, who created the universe out of nothing, could have arranged a better location for His Son’s birth than a place that stank like wet animal fur and dung.  The only people who came to acknowledge the incredible introduction of God in human skin were shepherds (the magi came later), hardly the major players of Judean society.  It was hardly an auspicious beginning.  The regents of the world would never have done it this way.

Which is precisely the point.  This was the unfolding of God’s plan to save the world, and God, though the possessor of ultimate and comprehensive power, doesn’t behave like the world’s major players.  He reveals his strength in weakness, a weakness that proves itself to be stronger than human strength (See, 1 Corinthians 1:25; 2 Corinthians 12:9).  It is through weakness and foolishness that God saves the world.  Which explains perfectly why Jesus was conceived in the womb of a poor peasant girl, birthed in a stable, and laid in a manger, why he came into the world not as a major player but, if you will, a ‘manger player.’  That’s the way God rolls. 

We would do well to remember this.

Too often we do not.  History is replete with examples of professing Jesus followers pursuing the way of power, the path of the major players, rather than the path of the one in the manger.  It is a path God never asked his people to follow, one that He Himself expressly rejected in the life of His Son.  Yet many follow it anyway, believing that obtaining what the world perceives as power is not only important but a matter of life and death. 

I am reminded of this every day when I read the news.  The 2020 Presidential election is over, and most of us would like to move on, but as we all know the President is playing a dangerous game, spinning patently false conspiracy theories in a transparent attempt to steal an election in pursuit of his own interests.  That a political leader, a major player on the world stage, would behave in such a manner probably shouldn’t surprise us.  The regents of the world often behave this way.  It’s kind of par for the course.  The extent to which it seems odd to us in America reflects how privileged we have been in this society up to this point.  Not everyone in the world is quite so privileged. 

But to see professing Christians, those who claim to follow Jesus, backing such an effort, hoping to thereby have access to the halls of power, exercise influence, and advance an agenda, should shock the conscience of everyone who hopes to honestly follow the one born and laid in a manger. 

An influential leader in the evangelical world recently gave voice to the position of many when he echoed the President’s lies, refused to accept the ‘monstrous’ Joe Biden as his fellow American, and called the election ‘the most horrifying thing that has ever happened in the history of the nation.’  He then proclaimed to the President (who had called in to his show; yes, this man has a show): ‘I’d be willing to die in this fight.  This is a fight for everything.  God is with us.’[1] In brief, this leader conveyed his belief that Christians had to fight for Trump because everything depends on keeping him in office. 

I beg to differ.  Christians should know that everything does not depend on keeping one’s preferred political candidate in power.  Rather, everything depends on following the one who, rather than be born in a palace and laid on a bed of downy softness, was born in a stable and laid in a manger.  Everything depends on following the one who, after he grew into adulthood, expressly spurned the imperial power game.  Everything depends on following the one who, though he had created all things, rejected being a major player on the world’s terms, took up his cross as his preferred means to save the world, and called us to do the same.

The Apostle Paul said that Christians are to have the same mind as Christ Jesus, who, even though he was God, renounced his privilege, became one of us, took on the form of a servant, and humbled himself all the way to the Cross (Philippians 2:5-8). 

There is a battle worth dying for in our time.  It’s a battle for the soul of the Church.  In this battle, with all due respect to the evangelical leader quoted above (and those who agree with him), the question is not whether we will give our lives for Donald Trump.  Or Joe Biden.  Or any other major player on the scene of imperial politics.  The question is not whether we will give our lives in the mad quest to obtain imperial power that we might change the world from the top down.  The question is whether we will give our lives, not for the major players, but for the ‘manger player,’ pursue his humble path, and walk with him as he changes the world from the bottom up. 

As the Mandalorian would say, ‘This is the way,’ and everything depends upon our following it.    

Under Christ’s Mercy,

Brent

[1] Eric Metaxas, Christian Radio Host, Tells Trump, ‘Jesus is With Us in this Fight.’ Religion New Service. November 30, 2020.

A House Divided

‘Come now, and let us reason together’ – Isaiah 1:18

The recent election proves what we already knew: we live in a deeply divided country.  This should trouble all of us, no matter what side of the political divide on which we find ourselves.  A divided people cannot find ways to tackle their problems.  When Lincoln quoted Jesus in the years before the Civil War, he was not misappropriating anything: a house divided against itself cannot stand (Mark 3:25). 

Even more troubling to me, as a follower of Jesus, is the division within the Church.  Jesus prayed that his followers be one, and not just for unity’s sake.  He gave this reason: ‘may they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you [the Father] sent me and that you love them as much as you love me’ (John 17:23).  Our unity, Jesus said, points people to God and His love.  By this measure, Christians in America aren’t doing very well right now, and so, in this post, I want to name and confront the proverbial elephant (or donkey?) in the room.

I suppose I should begin by identifying my own stance (regular readers can skip this paragraph). I’m neither a Democrat nor a Republican. As I wrote in my previous post, I follow the example of Treebeard from The Lord of the Rings when it comes to the empire’s politics. We should be altogether on the side of Jesus, not the empire. Thus, I am not altogether on the side of any political party, though at times I find that my way and the way of a particular political party may follow similar paths, thereby enabling us to work together on at least some things. Conversely, I find at times that the path of a particular political party is so contrary to my own that I cannot walk with them at all. So full disclosure: I currently find myself walking more closely with those who label themselves ‘blue’ than with those who label themselves ‘red.’ Indeed, as Treebeard might say, while I am not altogether on the side of the blues, I am altogether not on the side of the reds at the moment. I don’t say this to attack those of you who are on that side. I say it in the interests of full disclosure.

Overcoming the division in the Church (to say nothing of the country) is going to be tough.  In recent years, as the divide has deepened, I’ve found myself struggling with two competing truths: first, that I am, as a follower of Jesus, called to seek unity; and second, that I am equally called to pursue truth and justice.  Balancing these two imperatives has been tricky.  Unity is important, but unity without truth and justice isn’t unity; it’s complicity.  Martin Luther King, in his Letter from Birmingham jail, condemned the preference of the ‘white moderate’ for civility over justice.  Choosing a phony unity at the expense of justice only exacerbates the suffering of the marginalized and vulnerable.  That isn’t the sort of ‘perfect unity’ Jesus was talking about in his high priestly prayer.  There is nothing admirable or God-honoring in that, nothing that makes the world look to the church and say, ‘boy, I sure see God’s love there!’  On the contrary, the world sees such nonsense for what it is: a cold ambivalence toward the suffering of others.

And so, I have spoken out, and as I have, in blog posts and books, I have found myself at odds with those who see things differently.  I’m not entirely sure how to resolve this situation.  I still have an obligation to speak truth and do justice, even if it upsets people.  But at the same time, knowing how disunity in the Body of Christ breaks Jesus’ heart, I would like to find a way forward. 

To do so, we will need to go on a journey.  By ‘we’ I mean Christians like myself who have opposed the presidency of Donald Trump, and Christians not like myself who have, for reasons I still don’t understand, chosen to support him. It will be a painful and difficult journey, sort of like Frodo’s to Mordor, fraught with perils and potentialities for disaster.  But if we are to discover together what it means to be followers of Jesus in this divided world, if we are to find together the positions and values that Jesus desires us to take into the political sphere (discoveries that will require us to do far more than just ‘agree to disagree’) we will need to take it. 

The first step along this journey, I believe, is this: we need to listen to one another.  You need to listen to me, and I need to listen to you. 

Since I’m the one writing I guess I’ll start.  I will share three reasons why I have opposed and continue to oppose Trumpism.  I hope you read them with an open mind.  I do not offer them to start a fight. I offer them in the hope of inspiring constructive conversations that may take us beyond our current state of division.

First, I oppose Trumpism because I oppose autocracy. 

I know that some of you are fearful of the radical left, and believe that if a Democrat had won the election, even a relatively moderate one like Joe Biden, this would have been a step in the direction of a leftist autocracy.  I respectfully disagree with your assessment there (I don’t think Biden poses such a danger), but I do share your desire to avoid autocratic rule, be it from the left or right.  And that is my problem with Trumpism: I fear that it represents a clear and present danger of autocracy from the right.  Donald Trump has shown a tendency toward autocratic rule from the beginnings of his candidacy.  He promised the country he would show us the power inherent in the Presidency, and he did.  During his administration, we have seen and continue to see a disrespect for democratic norms, the prodigious use of ‘alternative facts’ (aka lies and propaganda), attempts to suppress voting, spurious attacks against the legitimacy of the electoral process, the intimidation of a free press, the purging of government agencies, the overriding of Congress, the bullying of perceived enemies, the use of force against peaceful protestors, the weaponization of religion, threats to deploy the military against American citizens, the refusal to denounce a kidnapping plot against a sitting governor (which, it could be argued, he encouraged), and the coddling of authoritarian rulers.  Over the past 100 years of American history, we have seen the rise of an ‘Imperial Presidency,’ as the Executive branch of government has grown in power at the expense of the Legislative and Judicial branches.   This has been accelerating for the past twenty years under both Republican and Democratic administrations, but Trump put the pedal to the metal.  I believe that if Trump had won this past election, he would have eroded our system of checks and balances even further and done profound damage to the American republic.  At best, I believe America would have become an elective dictatorship wherein the President would call all the shots going forward.  This, I believe, would have been tragic, as it would have created the possibility of autocratic rule from both the left and right for decades to come.  Jesus said that while the leaders of the nations seek to lord authority over people, it should not be so for those who follow him (Mark 10:42-44). Simply put, as a Christian charged with ‘seeking the welfare of the city’ in which I live, I could not countenance the possibility of authoritarianism, especially one that enlists the support of Christ followers.  And so, for this reason, I opposed and continue to oppose Trumpism. 

Second, I oppose Trumpism because I reject the politics of fear, anger, and division.

From where I sit, Trump came to prominence by playing on people’s darkest fears, stoking the fires of hate and resentment, and portraying ‘the other side’ not as mere political opponents with whom to spar, but as dangerous enemies who need to be eradicated.  It is not for nothing that Trump earned the moniker, ‘Divider in Chief.’ 

My reading of the Bible teaches me that fear, anger, and division are not merely poor motivators, they are evil ones.  Fear causes us to cling to what we have and fight off any perceived threat, no matter how innocuous.  It causes us to assume the worst about others, even to demonize them, which in turn leads to division, marginalization, and oppression.  It has no place in the repertoire of Christ followers, who are to be motivated by the perfect love that casts out fear (see, 1 John 4:18). Anger, too, is a poor emotion upon which to build a political philosophy.  Anger is addictive; it provides our brains with a bio-chemical boost that fuels more anger. Nursing grudges and harboring resentment can make us feel good in the short run, but longer term, it eats away our souls, causes us to view others as contemptible, even sub-human, and builds walls instead of bridges.  Division is the result of both fear and anger, and as Jesus (and Lincoln) noted, a divided people will not last very long.  There is a reason why tyrants employ the tactic, ‘divide and conquer;’ once we are divided, we can be picked off quite easily. 

When I consider the fruits of the politics of fear, anger, and division, I feel confirmed in my opposition to it. After four years of Trumpism, both America and the Church are less kind, less unified, and less willing to work together to solve problems than ever before. We are literally afraid of each other.  We are angry to the point of breaking off relationships.  We are even, in some quarters, threatening violence against one another.  For the first time in American history, we have a President unwilling to commit to a peaceful transfer of power, doing all he can to sabotage his successor, and fomenting dangerous and false conspiracy theories about a stolen election.  I believe that if he could pull it off, he would happily destroy democracy to stay in office, and millions would cheer that as a victory. This is the fruit of Trumpism.  He has narcissistically sown the wind, and the nation has reaped the whirlwind.  It will take a long time to recover.  Friends, this is what I feared when he first emerged on the political stage years ago, and this is another reason why I have twice opposed the election of Donald Trump.

Third, I oppose Trumpism because I oppose racism. 

Trump is a racist.  The evidence for this is overwhelming. He has said awful things.  He has encouraged violence against people of color.  He has called them thugs and worse.  He has channeled the spirit of ardent segregationists of the 1950s and 60s.  He has called white nationalists ‘good people’ and refused, repeatedly, to denounce white supremacy and Neo-Nazi groups (indeed, he has encouraged them). He has condemned in fiery terms those who lament the shootings of unarmed black men by police. He denies the existence of systemic racism and routinely stokes the fires of racial prejudice against black and brown people. 

This, if nothing else were wrong with Trumpism, would be a deal breaker for me.  And since I am trying to honest here, the fact that it is not for so many who support Trump, hurts me deeply (as does the name calling that often ensues when I admit that; racism is real, and being hurt by racism hardly makes a person a ‘snowflake’).  After four years worth of evidence of Trump’s racism (and willingness to act on it), I find it hard to fathom that 73 million people either agree with him, or, at the very least say, ‘Yeah, I know he’s a racist.  But so what? It’s not a deal breaker for me.  Go Trump!’  Maybe that’s not what every Trump supporter is saying, but it sure seems that way.  I have rarely, if ever, heard a Trump supporter, Christian or not, condemn Trump’s racist rhetoric and policies.  Indeed, I have more often heard them defend him.  Either way, by silence or affirmation, my fellow Christians who support Trump have told me they don’t care.  They have, it appears, dismissed the experience of black and brown people, many of whom are their brothers and sisters in Christ who endure the bitter sting of racism every day.  How can this be? This is not just a theoretical issue for me either. I have an African American son who will have to grow up in the America Trump and his followers are creating.  Trumpism is a threat to every American who doesn’t have the ‘privilege’ of being white.  It is a threat to my son’s very life, and to the lives of many other sons and daughters.  This too, is a reason why I have strongly opposed, and will continue to strongly oppose Trumpism.

So there they are, three reasons why I have not supported and will not support Trumpism.  Three reasons why I cannot understand why anyone does. There are other reasons too, but this is a start.   

Now comes the really hard part: the invitation.

Christians like myself need to know where those on the other side of the divide are coming from.  We need to have you talk to us about our concerns, and why they aren’t enough for you to sever your allegiance to Donald Trump.  Equally important, we need to listen to your concerns, and why they lead you to continue to support him.  And we need to have such conversations in a calm, rational, and deliberative way.

I don’t know if doing so will achieve anything.  Perhaps not. Perhaps the Church in America has become so lost that there is no way for us to find our way back to Jesus together. Perhaps we have to accept that we have been torn asunder and go our separate ways, with some doubling down on Trumpism (or whatever name it will go by in the years ahead) and others standing against it. Perhaps the ‘perfect unity’ of which Christ spoke, a unity that encompasses both justice and truth, is, for Christians in America, merely a fool’s hope.  

But perhaps, if we listen and talk together, we may find a way forward.  We may find a way beyond the divisiveness of Trumpism, beyond collaboration with either Red or Blue versions of empire, and into the good and perfect way of Jesus.

Maybe, somehow, the Church can still find a way to be one, so that when others see us together, they will see the love of God. 

Under Christ’s Mercy,

Brent

Rejoicing Christians – Beware a Constantinian Moment

‘Soldiers do not get tied up in civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them’ – 2 Timothy 2:4 (NLT)

Those of us who bemoaned the rancorous leadership style of Donald Trump the past four years have reason to celebrate these days.  After a contentious election, the American people have collectively chosen Joe Biden to be the President of the United States.  Although Trump refuses to concede, and is already (and predictably) plotting mischief, it nonetheless appears that the long night has come to an end and a new day has dawned.  We have every reason to believe that, come January 20th, 2021, there will be a new occupant in the White House. 

As I listened to Joe Biden’s victory speech on Saturday, November 7th, I could not help but rejoice.  To hear the President-elect speak of decency and healing, after four years of trash talk and division, was refreshing to say the least.  My family and I expressed our thankfulness that this man, and not the other, had been granted the privilege of leading this country for the next four years.  We felt as if he were the right man for the right time, a grandfatherly figure who could help heal the nation’s wounds.  Where before we had little hope of progress on issues of deep concern to our family, we sensed hope rising once again.

But even as I felt hope rising, I felt the check in my heart: ‘don’t get carried away with this.’  Why?  Well, maybe the best way to explain that is to go back 1700 years in history.

 It was early in the 4th Century, and Christians had emerged from the Diocletian Persecution, one of the worst periods of persecution against the Church in its history.  While it was severe, it wasn’t anything new.  For three centuries the Church had been in Rome’s sights.  Christians were hunted, burned, thrown to the lions, and slain by gladiators.  Denied the right to freely practice their faith, they lived in fear of exposure and death.  Then, in 313 AD a Roman named Constantine won a major battle at the Milvian Bridge.  He claimed to have had a vision of the Cross and painted it on the shields of his warriors.  After he won, he credited the victory to the God of the Christians, and announced he was now one himself.  In the ensuing years, he consolidated power and became Emperor.  He legalized Christianity and made himself an ally of the church (though perhaps it would be more accurate to say he enlisted the church as an ally to bolster his empire).  In the years that followed, under Constantine’s predecessors, there was a bit of an ebb and flow to this alliance, but in the end, Christianity emerged as the official religion of the empire.  The cementation of politics and religion had been made complete. 

Christians were generally ecstatic over this change, and it isn’t difficult to understand why.  Where they were once hunted and killed, they were now coddled and exalted.  But alas, this switch came at great cost. Seduced by the power and security of empire, the Church changed dramatically.  Where once it had been nonviolent, even pacifistic, it now took up arms in service to the empire.  Where once it worked at the margins of power, with the weak and vulnerable, it now stood at the center of power, with the strong and powerful.  Where once it worked from the bottom up, transforming society from below, it now worked from the top down, controlling society from above.  Where it had once stood at the crossroads of culture, showing the world another way, that is, Jesus’ way, it now stood in the halls of power, copying the way of the world.  The Church became a servant to the empire, rather than a counter-cultural witness to it.  It became so entangled in the empire’s affairs, that it soon lost sight of what the Master was calling it to do and be. 

We have been paying the price ever since.  For 1700 years, the Church of the west has been off course, most often following the way of the dragon instead of the way of the Lamb. 

Now, to be clear, this isn’t a precise parallel to our current situation.  Christians haven’t exactly been thrown to the lions these past four years (though I hasten to add that many have been separated from their families and thrown in cages), and Biden didn’t gain power after a battle wherein he claimed to have seen a vision of Christ.  But the lesson nonetheless applies.  Christians should never align themselves with empire.  They should never entangle themselves so deeply with political power that they become unfaithful to their mission.  This principle applies across the board, to both Republican and Democratic versions of empire (or any other for that matter).  And yes, both are versions of empire.  We may prefer one over the other, but make no mistake, both seek to control from above, both employ violence to achieve their ends, and neither follows (at least not completely) in the footsteps of Jesus.  Democratic and Republican regimes are regimes of empire, and neither has a better claim to our allegiance.  Our allegiance belongs to Jesus Christ alone. 

This doesn’t mean that we can never work with government leaders, just that we need to be careful.  I recently read (for the umpteenth time) The Lord of the Rings.  (I confess to a certain thrill when I read of the fall of the Tower of Barad Dur as the election results came in).  One of my favorite characters is Treebeard, the wise old Ent who shepherds the trees of Fangorn forest.  This time around, I was struck by something Treebeard said to Merry and Pippin when asked which side of the battle he was on:

‘We might do some things together.  I don’t know about sides.  I go my own way; but your way may go along with mine for a while…I am not altogether on anybody’s side, because no one is altogether on my side, if you understand me…there are some things, of course, whose side I am altogether not on; I am against them altogether.’ 

I love those words.  They remind me that as a follower of Jesus, I should not be altogether on anyone’s side, other than His.  Still, there are some things I may be able to do with others, for our ways may travel together for a time, and there are some things, of course, on whose side I can never be.  In the real world, and particularly in this moment, this means that Christians can work with Biden and his administration on all sorts of things, the sorts of things on which our ways travel together, such as: fighting racism, helping the poor, caring for creation, restoring decency, and building bridges of understanding between people who do not agree.  These are all consistent with the way of Jesus, and to the extent we can advance them together, wonderful!  It also means that Christians may need to stand against other ‘sides’ when they, say: promote racism, neglect the poor, despoil creation, act indecently, or divide people with the politics of fear and hate.  In this season, we can look for ways to work with the ‘sides’ that promote causes consistent with the heart of God, even as we stand against the ‘sides’ that fight against those same causes. 

But we dare not make the mistake of believing that we are on the side of any political party.  We are not.  The Empire, however benevolent it may seem at a given moment, is not the Kingdom of Jesus.  Biden and the Democrats are not marching in lockstep with Kingdom values.  As the Church, Christians have a different mission and different means than those of empire.  Yes, we may do some things together, but let us not pretend we are ‘altogether on the same side.’ 

Shortly before the election, I posted two Christian ‘to do lists’ in the event that Trump or Biden won.  The point of the article was that no matter who won, our work would be the same.  Here is my list of things to do in the event Biden won (which, again is the same as if Trump won):

  1. Hope
  2. Pray
  3. Stand against racism and bigotry
  4. Speak up for immigrants and refugees
  5. Care for Creation
  6. Advocate for and serve the poor and vulnerable
  7. Speak truth
  8. Do justice
  9. Love God
  10. Love my family
  11. Love my neighbors
  12. Love my enemies
  13. Seek the Kingdom
  14. Anticipate the return of Jesus
  15. Point people to Jesus

I might now add to the list, ‘do not succumb to the temptation to join the empire.’ 

This list is important folks.  Because even when Trump is gone and Biden is President, our job is not done.  Trumpism isn’t going anywhere, nor should we think it is a cultural aberration.  It is the latest iteration of the age old fallen imperial tendencies to exert control via the means of fear and rage, to divide populations in order to conquer them, to marginalize certain people groups, to steal from the poor, and to achieve absolute power.  These tendencies are as ancient as Old Scratch himself, and sadly will remain with us until the day of Christ’s return.  Until that day, disciples of Jesus must be on guard against them, even as we stand on guard against the excesses and abuses of other political philosophies as well. 

Folks, we still have work to do.  We need to show the world, including Biden and his administration no less than any other, the Jesus Way of doing things.  As we do, we can follow Treebeard’s advice and do some things together.  But let us remember, our allegiance is to another King. 

Under Christ’s Mercy,

Brent

Sesame Street Dispatches ‘The Count’ to Save America

Phoenix, AZ – Anxious Americans breathed a sigh of relief today as it was announced that Count von Count, aka ‘The Count,’ had been dispatched by the Children’s Television Workshop to assist struggling Arizona vote processors in Maricopa County. 

Upon his arrival, The Count immediately took his place beside two nice older ladies who were already hard at work in the trenches of American Democracy.  Grabbing a bundle of ballots, The Count began opening envelopes and creating piles of ballots for processing. ‘One, one ballot!  Two, two ballots!  Three, three ballots!  Mwah ha ha ha!  I can do this all night!’ 

The Trump campaign was quick to smell a left-wing conspiracy.  ‘For crying out loud, he’s from public television!’ cried Rudy Giuliani, ‘PBS!  What’s next, the ghost of Mr. Rogers giving lectures on kindness and decency?  This kind of election interference is the last thing America needs.  We were doing fine until all this ‘counting’ stuff started happening.  What is this, a democracy?’ 

After finishing his work in Maricopa, The Count plans to move on to Nevada, Pennsylvania, or wherever else he is needed.  When asked why he was so amenable to such work, he smiled broadly, shooed away the bats flying over his head, and replied in a thick Transylvanian accent, ‘I love to count!’ 

Experts believe his final task will be to count the number of lawsuits the Trump campaign files to challenge the election results, but it is widely believed that even The Count won’t be able to count that high. 

A Christian ‘To Do’ List in the Event Trump/Biden Wins

God is our refuge and strength…therefore we will not fear, though the mountains should fall into the heart of the sea – Psalm 46:1

Well, it’s Election Day, and like many of you, I enter this day with a certain level of anxiety.  Many have said this is the most important election since 1860, and although I think that is something of an exaggeration (1876 was pretty big too!) there is no doubt that a lot rides on the outcome.  Regular readers of this blog know that I certainly have my choice in this contest, along with a host of fears concerning what might happen should that choice not prevail.  What will I do if it doesn’t?  What will life be like if the country descends into the pit of despair I imagine will happen if the other side (Trump and Trumpism) wins?  What will happen to the country?  To my family?  To the vulnerable among us?  To the witness of the Church? 

Such thoughts stand a good chance of keeping me up most of the night, even though I would prefer to go to bed early and skip the whole election night drama.  Heck, it may be days or even weeks before we know anyway.  Wait, what?  Days!  Weeks!  Aye carumba!  How can I get by day to day during such a prolonged holding period!  I need to know!  I need to know so I can figure out what to do on the other side of this election!  In the words of Charlie Brown, ‘AAGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGH!’

Oh foolish me.  Truth is I already know what I will do.  In fact, I know so well I made a list, well, two lists.  One to remind me of the things I, as a follower of Jesus, will need to do in the event Trump wins the election.  Another to remind me of the things I, as a follower of Jesus, will need to do in the event Biden wins the election.  I think these lists may help some of you as much as they are helping me.  And so, here they are:

List One – Things to do if Trump wins the election

  1. Hope
  2. Pray
  3. Stand against racism and bigotry
  4. Speak up for immigrants and refugees
  5. Care for Creation
  6. Advocate for and serve the poor and vulnerable
  7. Speak truth
  8. Do justice
  9. Love God
  10. Love my family
  11. Love my neighbors
  12. Love my enemies
  13. Seek the Kingdom
  14. Anticipate the return of Jesus
  15. Point people to Jesus

Yes, should Trump win, it will be important, as in life and death important, to do all these things.  On to list two:

List Two – Things to do if Biden wins the election

  1. Hope
  2. Pray
  3. Stand against racism and bigotry
  4. Speak up for immigrants and refugees
  5. Care for Creation
  6. Advocate for and serve the poor and vulnerable
  7. Speak truth
  8. Do justice
  9. Love God
  10. Love my family
  11. Love my neighbors
  12. Love my enemies
  13. Seek the Kingdom
  14. Anticipate the return of Jesus
  15. Point people to Jesus

Get the picture?

The truth is, no matter who wins this election, the mission of those who follow Jesus will not change.  We will still live in a world that is broken and in need of a Savior.  We will still need to live as the advance echoes of the world that is to come.  We will still need to stand at the crossroads of culture and show the world the peculiar way of God’s people.  True enough, some of the things on the list will perhaps be more or less challenging depending on who wins.  But the mission will not change at all. 

And that gives me hope today.  No matter what happens tonight, even should the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, God remains our refuge and strength.  Jesus remains our Lord and Savior.  The Kingdom remains the place of our citizenship.  And the mission is the same. 

I still may stay up awhile to see what happens, but knowing this, I can face tomorrow, no matter what it brings.  

I hope you can too. 

Under Christ’s Mercy,

Brent

Deleting Jesus – Free Starting Today

Hey folks, just a quick reminder that the countdown deal for a free Kindle copy of Deleting Jesus starts today! Here’s a little blurb from the back cover:

Deleting Jesus is an examination of both who Jesus is and what he asked his followers to be. Through a study of the words and actions of Jesus, the witness of the New Testament, and the writings of early Christians, pastor and author Brent David Miller contrasts the Christianity of the early Church with the counterfeit version so prevalent today, and issues a call to follow the radical and loving way of Christ. In this book you will discover the teachings of Jesus and the early Church on such topics as power, politics, enemy love, war, the proper use of wealth, the treatment of refugees and immigrants, racism, and the life of discipleship. Whether you are a believer stuck in the trenches of American pop Christianity, or a non-believer who is turned off by the antics of the so-called Christians around you, prepare to have your perspective rocked. Prepare to discover the real Jesus.

You can download your free copy on Kindle through Monday October 12th.

Under Christ’s Mercy,

Brent

Deleting Jesus Giveaway

Then the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ‘I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,’ the devil said, ‘because they are mine to give to anyone I please. I will give it all to you if you will worship me.’ – Luke 4:5-6

This is just a quick post to announce that my book, Deleting Jesus, will be FREE in the Kindle store from this Thursday, October 8th, through Monday, October 12th.

Deleting Jesus laments the mistake Christians make when they accept the devil’s bargain of Luke 4:5-6, trading fidelity to Jesus for the promise of political power. It was written in the wake of the 2016 election but remains relevant as once again, Christians approach another presidential election and wrestle with the intersection of faith and politics.

I am offering this free at this time as my way of helping folks navigate a world where large segments of the Church have traded the way of the Cross for the way of the dragon and its beasts. My hope is that it will be a blessing to you. My only request is that if you like it, take a moment to write a review on Amazon. Positive reviews help the messages of my books reach a wider audience.

Feel free to share this with others! May God bless you as you follow the Lamb in this crazy and stressful time.

Under Christ’s Mercy,

Brent

Born in America?

Special guest piece by President Donald Trump

Fellow Americans,

It’s a great day.  A huge day.  A day for making America great.  America wasn’t always great.  She was great once.  Then not so great.  But now, thanks to me, great again.  It’s important that we keep America great.  Very important.  Because not everyone wants her to be great.  But we are great. 

My staff is nodding at me.  I think they want me to write about, oh yes, Kamala Harris.  You know, some very bright people, highly qualified, very talented people are pointing out she wasn’t really born in America.  Like Obama wasn’t.  You know he never really produced a birth certificate.  The FAKE NEWS LIBERAL MEDIA said he did.  But he didn’t.  A lot of people said it wasn’t authentic.  Smart people.  And now, here we are again.  The Democrats are conning America once more.  And I should know.  I know a con when I see one.  I practically invented the con.  Ask anyone.  Everyone’s talking about it.

But back to Kamala.  Some called me a racist because I said that Obama wasn’t born in America.  People are always ganging up on me like that.   I’ve been treated worse than Lincoln.   Who was shot and killed but I’ve still been treated worse.  Way worse.  I’m sure I’ll be called racist for pointing this out about Kamala too.  She’s nasty by the way.  Very nasty.  A mad, nasty woman.  And too ambitious.  Lots of people tell me so.  The best people.  But I’m not a racist.  I’m the least racist person in the world.  Just ask all those good people in Charlottesville.

I have nothing against Kamala.  Or Obama really.  Other than that they are HORRIBLE people who want to steal our history and heritage and take down our monuments to our glorious Confederate heroes.  It’s just that, and this is just common sense, no one of color was EVER born in America.  How could they have been? Some say they were.  But that’s the biggest con ever.  Or maybe it’s not.  Who knows?  All I know is that this stuff works.  My supporters eat it up.  They’re not racist either you know.  Just good people who question whether any and all people of color are born in America.  Which only makes sense.  Maybe not to you.  But to me.  And I should know because I have a HUGE brain.  VERY STABLE GENIUS.   I passed a cognitive test to prove it.  Sleepy Joe couldn’t pass it but I did.  He should take it.  He won’t though.  Because he knows he can’t.  But I can. That’s how I know that America is for white people.  And Native Americans.  Well, not really.  Except Senator Pocahontas.  But then again you never really know.  She’s a nasty woman too. 

Probably wasn’t born in America. 

Making America White Great Again,

Donald J. Trump

Why I Don’t Say the Pledge of Allegiance

The Christian icon is not the Stars and Stripes but a cross-flag, and its emblem is not a donkey, an elephant, or an eagle, but a slaughtered lamb – Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw, in Jesus for President

No one can serve two masters – Jesus, Matthew 6:24

I said it for years.  It was second nature.  In school, in Boy Scouts, in public assemblies.  When we were told to rise and place our hands over our hearts and recite the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, it was second nature.  It was what you were supposed to do.  It was the patriotic and respectful thing to do.  And so for years I did it, never questioning the practice. 

But as the years passed by and, more importantly, as I grew more in my relationship with Jesus, saying the pledge made me uncomfortable.

Two reasons. 

The first is that I came to understand myself to be a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20).  Specifically of the restored world that will come when Jesus returns and brings heaven into the real world.   That will be a world without borders.   In the meantime, I am a stranger and alien without a country on earth (see, Hebrews 11:13; John 17:16; 1 Peter 2:11).  The only sense in which I have citizenship in this present age of the world is my citizenship in the Kingdom of God.  And that, already, is a transnational kingdom without borders, made of people from every nation, language, and tribe. 

Secondly, there is the most basic confession of Christianity: Jesus is Lord.  Jesus is the one to whom I owe my life. He is the only one who is worthy (Revelation 5).  The only one before whom all kings and nations will one day bow (Philippians 2:11).  (You do know that when that happens, America will cease to exist, don’t you?).  I owe my allegiance to him and him alone.  Jesus said you cannot serve two masters.   The early Christians took that at face value.  The historical record of the first few centuries of Christianity shows that many preferred to die (and did) rather than pledge allegiance to Caesar and Rome.  Moreover I’ve seen what can happen when Christians try to serve both God and country, when they try to claim Jesus as Lord while pledging allegiance to a nation.   Such duality of allegiance leads to a loss of focus, a syncretistic faith at best and idolatry at worst.  In America, it has created a nationalistic form of Christianity Jesus never intended.   One in which the Lamb has been wedded to elephants and/or donkeys, and is usually treated as the submissive partner. This has led to the propagation of a false Gospel that has distorted the Church’s witness to the world. 

At the same time I know that there are certain responsibilities everyone has by virtue of being a member of the society in which they live.  The Bible indeed confirms this.  For example, I must seek the welfare of my society (Jeremiah 29:7).  I am to pray for its well-being and for its leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-4). I am to show those leaders a measure of respect even in the face of deep and justifiable disagreement (1 Peter 2:17 – this doesn’t mean being a yes man who remains silent in the face of injustice or evil leaders. God’s people have always been commissioned to speak truth to power and confront evil wherever and whenever it abounds. But they must do so respectfully and peaceably, never violently or destructively).  I am also to be respectful of civil authority and obey the laws of my country so long as they do not contradict God’s commands (Romans 13:1; Acts 5:29).  In the event of conflict, God’s commands must be followed, and I may therefore need to engage in civil disobedience as a witness to truth in the hope that my leaders and nation might turn to the truth.  Nonetheless I must remain respectful and peaceful as I do so. (There’s a catch here of course, the powers that be, as well as those in cahoots with them, will never consider any criticism respectful, and will therefore accuse me of violating the very principles I just cited.  But I cannot worry about that.  I figure acting and speaking like Jeremiah and other prophets puts you on good ground in terms of being respectful in Gods eyes as you speak truth to power, so I’ll go with that approach).   These are my duties as a Christ follower living in the world in its present state.  I must always act in love and seek the best for the ‘city’ in which I live.

But such duty does not negate the fact that I am a citizen of heaven with a higher loyalty to a Higher King.  Indeed the very verses I have cited emphasize the truth that as I seek the best for the place in which I live I must maintain my full allegiance to my True King.  And this is the reason why I find it impossible to pledge allegiance to any flag or republic for which it stands.  No flag is synonymous with the cross, and no republic is synonymous with the Kingdom of God.   A Pledge is a solemn oath of loyalty, and allegiance connotes an absolute loyalty.   To take a pledge is even in a sense a religious act.  It is a promise of unwavering, unyielding fealty to a concept or ideal that is higher than oneself. 

I cannot make such a promise to anyone or anything other than Jesus and his Kingdom.  For me, as it was for the early Church, it feels idolatrous.  It feels like a betrayal of my True King and Kingdom.  It feels like an attempt to serve two masters.  If I were to say the pledge, I’d have to do it with my proverbial fingers crossed.   I wouldn’t really mean it.  And I’d feel pretty darn lousy about that.  It would honor neither my King nor the republic in which I live. 

And so I no longer say the pledge of allegiance.  Haven’t for years. 

Most of the time, this is not a problem.  I don’t go to school anymore, and I am no longer in Boy Scouts, so the pledge doesn’t come up a lot.  But still, from time to time, I find myself in situations where the pledge is recited.  What do I do then?  How do I balance my need to maintain absolute fidelity to my Lord with the obligation to be respectful to the civil authorities under which I live while seeking what is best for my society?  Well, this is what I have come up with.  While everyone else says the pledge, I silently pray.  I pray to acknowledge that Jesus is my Lord.  I ask him to help me live as a faithful citizen of his Kingdom.  I pray for wisdom for our leaders; that they come to, and act in accordance with, the saving knowledge of God.  And I pray for the welfare of the world, country, state, and town in which I live.  That righteousness and justice will reign. That I can be an instrument of welfare and peace.  And that the people of my ‘city’ who do not already do so will one day pledge allegiance to the world’s True King.   

I’m sure that doesn’t satisfy everyone.  I’m sure it ticks some people off.  But I’m not trying to satisfy people. 

I’m trying to satisfy my King. 

The King to whom I have already pledged my allegiance.

Under Christ’s Mercy,

Brent