The ugly face of entitlement

If this video were a parable it would fit comfortably alongside the ones Jesus told about people who think they've earned their blessings, and are thus scandalized by the idea of free grace for sinners and the outcasts of society. "No more handouts!" Of course it's not a parable but a sad picture of the current political climate. Yet, I can't help but wonder . . . would Jesus be welcome at a Tea Party rally? Not Republican Jesus. Or white middle-class Jesus. Or "pull yourself up by your own bootstraps" Jesus. But the Jesus revealed in Scripture who challenges all earthly ideologies and attachments.

The subtlest of snares

'How fantastic!' said I.

'Do ye think so?' said the Teacher with a piercing glance. 'It is nearer to such as you than ye think. There have been men before now who got so interested in proving the existence of God that they came to care nothing about God Himself . . . as if the good Lord had nothing to do but exist! There have been some who were so occupied in spreading Christianity that they never gave a thought to Christ. Man! Ye see it in smaller matters. Did ye never know a lover of books that with all his first editions and signed copies had lost the power to read them? Or an organiser of charities that had lost all love for the poor? It is the subtlest of all the snares.'

C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce

Those who've read the book will recall that the "Teacher" is none other than Lewis's hero and muse George MacDonald.

While I'm on the subject of Lewis -- here's N.T. Wright reflecting on CSL's influence.

A unique solution to evil

I'm not familiar with the book or author, but I really like this quote from the latest issue of Mission Frontiers magazine.

There will always be a cross somewhere in the midst of the Christian solution to evil, a cross of pain involved in not returning blow for blow; a cross of the natural, human bitterness felt in the experience of hatred and returning love in its place, of receiving evil and doing good; a cross reflected in the near impossibility of counting oneself blessed in the midst of persecution, or of hungering and thirsting for justice, or in being merciful and peacemakers in a world which understands neither. Between us and fulfillment, between us and everlasting justice, between us and salvation of this suffering world, there will always stand the paradox of the cross, a cross not for others, but for us. "The Jews are looking for miracles and the pagans for wisdom. And here we are preaching a crucified Christ, to the Jews an obstacle they cannot get over, to the pagans madness" (1 Cor. 1:22-23).

There is, on the one hand, a moral, human, political solution to evil in the world. And there is a Christian solution. The gospel, which contains the latter, will always be compromised by identifying it with the former.

Vincent J. Donovan, Christianity Rediscovered

Could it be we gravitate to political solutions to evil because they let us off the hook when it comes to the teachings of the New Testament? Passages like Luke 6:35 and Romans 12:21 may not apply to nation-states, but they very clearly apply to Christian disciples.

Carl and Karl with a word for preachers

@ Ref21

The cost of having it your way

Is it true that we are what we eat? Well, not literally. What a person eats does say a lot of about that person though. More to the point -- what a society eats tells a lot about that society. Eric Schlosser's polemical expose of the fast food industry is over ten years old, but it still makes for a rip-roaring read. Fast Food Nation may not cause you to swear off Mickey D's or turn vegetarian, but it would be hard not to think twice about one's eating habits after reading it. Most of us don't spend much time thinking about how our food gets to our plate. We don't have to. The industrialization of food has made it possible to eat our hamburger and fries in blissful ignorance.

Schlosser sets out to remedy that by taking his readers on a guided tour of feedlots, slaughterhouses and high-tech labs where chemists concoct those artificial and "natural" flavors that give those frozen, processed burgers that char-grilled appearance, smell and taste. Fast Food Nation is also an engaging cultural history and slice of Americana -- chronicling the rise of icons such as Ray Kroc and potato baron J.R. Simplot. Ironically, these examples of American ingenuity and individualism contributed to the rise of a system that thrives on rigid uniformity, eliminating competition and squashing the little guy. It's also a system that wants your kids -- as "Kid Kustomers". The fast food chains have become remarkably sophisticated at marketing to children as young as two-years-old. They know that "getting them while they're young" will translate into loyal adult customers. If you're a parent you'll want to read Chapter 2 of this book.

While cognizant of the benefits of the industrialization of food production (and the undoubted taste appeal of those crispy french fries!) Schlosser exposes the unintended consequences and hidden costs. Costs such as the alarming rise in obesity and "diseases of affluence" that are contributing to exploding healthcare costs. Systems of production that emphasize speed over safety, and rely on exploitation of cheap undocumented labor. These same production and distribution systems also make it possible for widespread outbreaks of sickness -- and even death -- due to new strains of foodborne pathogens, especially the notorious E. coli O157:H7. One reason is that the typical ground beef patty contains meat from dozens of different cattle. Betcha didn't know that. Why do so many people get sick from eating beef and poultry? To put it bluntly, there's s--t in the meat. One study cited by Sclosser claims to have found more fecal bacteria in the average American kitchen sink than on the average American toilet seat. Hopefully things have gotten better since the deadly E.coli outbreaks in the 1990's when this book was written.

I think they have. Though one detects a whiff of elitism in the "buy local" and organic foods movement, it's great that more and more Americans are concerned about how their food gets to them. We're becoming more willing to spend a little more for products like grass-fed beef, free-range eggs and beer brewed the old-fashioned way by small independent brewers. Consumers are looking to buy from companies they trust, and producers are finding ways to balance the demands of convenience and craft, automation and imagination. Even in the world of fast food there are exceptions to the utilitarian imperative. Schlosser writes about the In-N-Out Burger chain where "the ground beef is fresh, potatoes are peeled every day to make the fries, and the milk shakes are made from ice cream, not syrup." In-N-Out pays the highest wages in the industry and provides generous benefits. May their tribe increase.

If you're concerned about the "fastfoodization" of consumer culture (no longer just an American phenomenom btw), or just curious about how that Big Mac got here, I think you'll enjoy this book. It might even change the way you eat.

Newbigin: the gospel and culture

Lesslie Newbigin gives as good a working definition of "culture" as I've ever come across. It is "the sum total of ways of living developed by a group of human beings and handed on from generation to generation." These ways of living include language, the arts, technology, laws, and social and political structures. And fundamental to any culture are the "set of beliefs, experiences, and practices that seek to grasp and express the ultimate nature of things" i.e., religion. There's no getting around it. Religion is part of culture. Drawing out the implications of this fact for Christian mission was a major part of Newbigin's work. Read him and you'll begin to see how easily we can confuse our cultural assumptions with the gospel.

Here's an excerpt from Foolishness to the Greeks (1986) . . .

The words Jesus Christ are the Greek rendering of a Hebrew name and title, Joshua the Messiah. They belong to and are part of the culture of one part of the world — the eastern Mediterranean — at one point in history when Greek was the most widespread international language in the lands around the Mediterranean Sea. Neither at the beginning, nor at any subsequent time, is there or can there be a gospel that is not embodied in a culturally conditioned form of words. The idea that one can or could at any time separate out by some process of distillation a pure gospel unadulterated by any cultural accretions is an illusion. It is, in fact, an abandonment of the gospel, for the gospel is about the word made flesh. Every statement of the gospel in words is conditioned by the culture of which those words are a part, and every style of life that claims to embody the truth of the gospel is a culturally conditioned style of life. There can never be a culture-free gospel. Yet the gospel, which is from the beginning to the end embodied in culturally conditioned forms, calls into question all cultures, including the one in which it was originally embodied.

Quotes from Lesslie Newbigin: Missionary Theologian: A Reader, ed. Paul Weston (pp. 108-109)

Protecting Obama

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

1 Timothy 2:1-4


@ The Guardian a fascinating and disturbing look at the plots to kill the president and the men whose job it is to stay one step ahead of the plotters.

Apart from the Obamas themselves, the burden of such a threat falls primarily on the shoulders of the US secret service, and as Joseph Petro, head of global security for Citigroup, puts it, the challenges facing the service today are unlike any period that has gone before. On top of all the usual risks associated with guarding the world's most powerful politician, there is now the added, explosive ingredient of his race. "As the first black president he creates a whole other set of issues for the secret service to deal with," he says.

Petro can claim to be something of an expert in this area: he spent 23 years as a special agent in the service, four of them, from 1982 to 1986, as the man who stood beside Ronald Reagan. He knows what it's like to be the last line of protection, how it feels to be in a milling crowd in which you are surrounded by thousands of potential assailants, what it is to live with the constant knowledge that any mistake – a split second taking your eye off the ball – could be fatal.

Petro has a formula for measuring the potential dangers for any particular incumbent of the White House. You take the general atmosphere of the times in which they are in office and combine it with the specific personality that the president brings to the job. In both regards, he says, Obama presents a huge task.

"In Obama, we have a president with a very unique personality who likes to be out with the people. Put that together with the political atmosphere of these times that is highly partisan and vitriolic, then include race, and we've got a big challenge. There's no margin for error."

HT: Challies

There's something about a library . . .

This compendium of beautiful libraries reminded me of two favorite movie scenes that take place in a library. Here they are:



Se7en (dir. David Fincher, 1995)





Wings of Desire aka "Der Himmel über Berlin" (dir. Wim Wenders, 1987)

Kevin DeYoung on why the doctrine of particular (or "limited') atonement gets to the heart of the gospel

@ DeYoung, Restless, and Reformed

Photos of the big one

@ The Big Picture