No doubt you have noticed; we in the USA are in the homestretch of a presidential election year.  So let me see if I understand the current reality...er, dilemma for many evangelicals:

On one side we have a sitting president and candidate who openly professes his love and commitment to Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior...but, who is persistently painted by some, many of them Christians themselves, to be a closet Muslim, an insinuation he repeatedly denies.

Why do they overlook his claims?

On the other side, we have a candidate who openly and proudly displays his devotion, service and leadership in the Mormon faith, a cult with its own scripture, the Book of Mormon, which is in direct opposition to biblical Christianity.

Why do they overlook his claims?

Hmmm...awkward.

Minority Milestone in the US birthrate...

In the last couple days I've been following a reading trail which presents a milestone in US demographic history.  From now on, there will always be more minorities born in this country than Euro-Americans.  Several publications document this threshold, here is one from the Washington Post.

How many majority-culture churches are aware of this trend?  How many care?  Sadly, for those paying attention, many will see this development as more of a threat than an opportunity...  The youth of this country is the future, and it will be a very diverse story.  Yet, the suspicious boundaries between ethnicities and cultures persist.  Christian self-segregation mutes God's intention for the church to be a contrast community visibly demonstrating the reconciliation power of the gospel.  Unity has no meaning apart from diversity.  Likewise, unity means nothing without participation.

The Prodigal Sons

I just read Carolyn Arends' piece on Luke 15 and the unfortunate title given to this story, "The Prodigal Son." I agree with her assessment that the main point of this parable addresses "the other prodigal son," the 'older brother', in that it is a group of 'older brothers' to whom Jesus is addressing...his usual foil, the infamous Pharisees, et. al. (see 15:2). They play the 'older brother' role perfectly...and we, the evangelical establishment, follow well in their wake.

There are three points I would like to add. The first relates to my reference above "this parable." Often the parable known as "the prodigal son" is presented as a story that stands alone. However, note that in verse 3 Jesus says, "Then Jesus told them this parable...". Was it just the one about the lost sheep? No, the whole chapter is the parable. There are three vignettes within one parable, each building on the other. In my Bible, each vignette is titled as a separate parable, but this was not Jesus' intention.

Secondly, having noted that each vignette contributes to the flow of this parable, we see there is a pattern in these three segments--something lost (sheep-coin-son), something found, then great rejoicing. Right? Yes, but, I left out a critical piece...in the first two scenes there is another key element...one which is missing in the third scene, an extensive search. Who was supposed to be looking for the lost son?

Note that how the older brother learns of the celebration party, the other servants tell him in verse 27, "your brother has come." When disrespecting his father by complaining about his treatment, the older brother says, "this son of yours," (verse 30) we see that the older brother is so incensed that he cannot bring himself to acknowledge he has a brother. But, his father says in verse 32, "this brother of yours was dead and is alive again...". Who was supposed to be looking for the lost son? His older brother! (In my years in Africa I learned how the eldest brother was the leader of the siblings, the one responsible for them before their father...an Eastern cultural characteristic which is still widely common.)

Thirdly, note how the parable ends without resolution. One lost son has been found, the other is still outside the celebration. This is a clear reference to us older brothers who suppose ourselves to be so tight with our God...when, in reality, we are mostly far from celebrating that which our Father celebrates. Instead, like the older brother, we want to dictate what honors us and pick the friends with whom we want to celebrate...instead of looking for our lost brothers.

So, the older brother is outside the celebration...but, what will it take for him to join the celebration? Clearly, it would mean repentance and reconciliation with his father...but, that is not all. The older brother cannot join the celebration without acknowledging his younger brother, humbling himself and reconciling with him as well. Not only do we not recognize that we are largely estranged from the party...thinking, like the Pharisees, that we are insiders when we are actually outsiders, but, do we also recognize the degree to which we are estranged from those who are actually celebrating with our Father?

Not only are we not looking for our lost brothers...we don't care that they are lost, let alone desiring to be in intimate kingdom fellowship with them. As our Lord said, "The first will be last, and the last will be first."

Today I listened to the full length as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered "I Have a Dream." It is unquestionably one of the most stirring speeches of all time, given August 28, 1963 on the Washington Mall.

At the time, most evangelical churches were, sadly, indifferent; many, tragically, were vehemently militant. A great opportunity to give glory to Christ & Gospel was lost. What of today? Have we learned? It seems that we evangelicals are once again populating the sidelines of indifference while immigration reform languishes...