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--- Friday, December 22, 2006
From a Manger to the Throne
(I wrote this a few years ago, but I think it still speaks truth. Have a blessed Christmas!)
Eyes flaming with wrath and justice. Riding on the back of a white horse. Words of anger, vengeance, and destruction pouring through a majestic breath of fire. A mighty warrior. An all-powerful king. Isn't this who they were expecting?
Certainly not this pathetic convict, crying out in agony as rusty nails steal his lifeblood. This couldn't be Him. The salvation of the world, shouting pitifully for His God, forcing a request for one last drink to touch His parched mouth? It doesn't make sense.
Or a tiny newborn being clutched in the protective arms of a young mother. This is the Lion of Judah? Looks more like a helpless lamb. In fact, He's in the midst of lambs, all completely indifferent to this peasant couple and their new addition. Meanwhile, passers-by just outside the gate fail to offer so much as a simple congratulation in their hurry to get back inside the warm motel. Easier just to ignore these poor people who failed to make reservations.
Could this have been the scene envisioned by Moses, when he foresaw the Scepter who would come out of Israel to destroy her enemies? The once prince of Egypt would surely not have pictured the Prince of Peace welcomed to the world by only an entourage of young shepherds. Or that like Moses, God's Redemption, too, would have to be rescued from a slaughter of innocents by a ruthless governor.
Where are the red carpets, flowers, and trumpets to announce this royal birth? Could this infant, sitting in a livestock trough, truly be the one whom Isaiah said would reign forever on David's throne?
Abraham. Moses. David. Daniel. Job. Isaiah. Adam. Centuries of anticipation by the faithful, yearning the day when God would make His word flesh, His promise alive. Did they really expect the fulfillment of their prayers, prophecies, and hopes to come with this obscure infant, in this obscure place, at this obscure time?
But there He lies. A king. A warrior. A savior. A child. The answer to a million prayers, and the answer to millions more to come. Yet the answer to those prayers is also the one to whom they were prayed. The breath that spoke the universe into existence now wails for a mother's care. The hands that sculpted the mountains, not even strong enough to clench a clod of dirt. God's own begotten Son, left in the unsteady hands of an innocent young lass. Only His name declares His mission: Yeshua, "Jehovah is salvation."
Perhaps only the devil stood terrified by this little one. While rocking Him to sleep, would young Mary realize that the life entrusted to her was the source of Life itself, sent to defeat death? He was Messiah before being wrapped up in dirty rags. Redeemer before stepping aside from the throne of grace to enter humanity. Lord before man's first breath. But the power of God was folded up in this tiny body. The manger could only contain Him for a moment before He placed Himself in the crossfire of good and evil in order to reclaim the world that He had made. Behold, the Lamb of God.
--- Monday, December 18, 2006
You Who?
From The Point:
If there were any doubt that we are living in the "Me Generation," Time magazine has silenced it by awarding its Person of the Year distinction to "you." This doesn't seem to be a collective "you," however, but rather an individual one, directed toward each of the unique personalities that occupies his 15 megabytes of fame on YouTube or MySpace.
America loves its solitary geniuses -- its Einsteins, its Edisons, its Jobses -- but those lonely dreamers may have to learn to play with others. Car companies are running open design contests. Reuters is carrying blog postings alongside its regular news feed. Microsoft is working overtime to fend off user-created Linux. We're looking at an explosion of productivity and innovation, and it's just getting started, as millions of minds that would otherwise have drowned in obscurity get backhauled into the global intellectual economy.
Who are these people? Seriously, who actually sits down after a long day at work and says, I'm not going to watch Lost tonight. I'm going to turn on my computer and make a movie starring my pet iguana? I'm going to mash up 50 Cent's vocals with Queen's instrumentals? I'm going to blog about my state of mind or the state of the nation or the steak-frites at the new bistro down the street? Who has that time and that energy and that passion?
The answer is, you do. And for seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, TIME's Person of the Year for 2006 is you. While it is incredibly tacky to give Time readers its annual, often abstract honor (complete with a Mylar mirror to reveal the winners), it might also be an astute bit of social commentary. In a decade where celebrity has become an increasingly fluid and fickle concept, where voyeurism has turned into a global hobby rather than a bizarre obsession, and where the front page has been eclipsed by the home page, "you" have indeed played a part in shaping the new culture.
The popularity of MySpace, YouTube, and similar outlets seems to be linked to humanity's deep desires for truth, respect, and relationship. Yet are these trends fueled by a longing for purpose, or merely by a longing for attention? Blogs, networking sites, and video sharing offer novel means for engaging in the search for truth. At the same time, the abuses of such media are well known, and are very often a product of selfishness, or fear of the new society's great taboo -- obscurity.
These venues provide great potential to expose both the depth of the human heart and the depth of human depravity. The challenge will be to convince all of "you" to seek the transcendent meaning that exists beyond yourself.
--- Wednesday, December 13, 2006
What Kind of Nation?
In the Newsweek/Washington Post On Faith section, Albert Mohler tackles the question of whether America is a Christian nation.
Should America be a Christian nation? No. Not in a constitutional or creedal sense. But, as a believer in Jesus Christ, my hope is that every American would come to a saving knowledge of Christ. My hope could be nothing less. But that would mean a nation of Christians, not a Christian nation.
According to the Bible, the Kingdom of God will include believers in Christ from every tongue and tribe and people and nation. There will be no American section in Heaven. Faith does not come to nations, but to individuals. Yet, nations are shaped by the faith and worldview of their citizens.
Is America a Christian nation? No. But it is a nation with a majority of its citizens identifying themselves as Christians. This is a distinction with a difference. This is an important point, and the distinction at which I have arrived as well. To be a "Christian nation," in the truest sense, would require the United States to adapt the teachings of the New Testament as legally, constitutionally binding. This is neither a practical nor desirable way to govern, for myriad reasons, not the least of which being that many (perhaps most) Scriptural mandates are intended only for those walking with Christ, and the Church does not have consensus on the interpretation of even some of the most fundamental doctrines.
On the other hand, every nation must be guided by an underlying set of principles and values that affect every legislative and judicial decision. The Constitution provides a framework, but it does not in itself offer a comprehensive political philosophy. That must come from a broader worldview accepted collectively by society. The worldview adopted by the United States, at least thus far, has been a Judeo-Christian one, though Americans -- at least in some sectors -- seem eager to either dillute the Christian ethic, or discard it entirely. God forbid.
Other thinkers answer the question at On Faith -- I'll try to weigh in on some of them as well, time permitting.
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