Mr. Blasphemy

I’m trying to avoid writing overly-long, self-indulgent posts on this blog, so when this post starting getting way too long, I divided it into two separate posts, both dealing with the problem of evil in the form of natural disasters.

A friend of mine told me about some short, sitcom-like sketches on youtube called “Mr. Deity.” The sketches portray God as the bumbling CEO of the universe. There are currently 8 or 9 episodes, and the first one pokes fun at why God allowed so much evil in the universe. (I’m not recommending that you watch these clips, especially if you are easily offended. They are very antagonistic toward Christianity and aim at insulting almost everything I believe as a Christian)

In the first episode, Mr. Deity is having a conversation with his consultant Larry about what evils he should allow into his creation. About half-way through the episode, Larry brings up the topic of natural disasters:

Larry – “Umm, well, the next one, I checked with the boys down on research on this, and they said we’re safe to leave it out.”
Mr. Deity – “What is it?”
Larry – “It’s that natural disasters compliment; the earthquakes, floods, tsunamis….”
Mr. Deity – “Yeah, I need to have that in.”
Larry – “But sir, I spoke with the head of R&D. He said if we leave this out, it’s not going to affect anybody’s freewill or violate any natural law or anything, and since you’re already way over quota on the gratuitous pain and suffering…”
Mr. Deity – (interrupting Larry) “Here’s the thing, if we take it out, it’s going to be way too easy for people to believe in me.”
Larry – “No, sir, let me go over the list: holocausts, torture, and Downs syndrome. Those three alone, make it kind of hard to believe in you.”

The creators of Mr. Deity see the challenge that natural disasters pose for Christianity. Why do earthquakes happen? Why did God allow hundreds of thousands of people to be tragically killed in the tsunami that struck Southeast Asia? These are really tough questions.

The Devil Did It

I recently finished a book entitled The Doors of the Sea: Where was God in the Tsunami? by David Hart. It is a tiny book with a glossy cover, but don’t be fooled into thinking it’s a simplistic pop-Christian read like The Prayer of Jabez. Hart is a serious theologian whose style of writing is almost as challenging as the problem of evil itself. He presents his defense of God’s goodness by cloaking it in poetic and archaic language. On almost every page the reader encounters words like “interlocutors,” “stochastic,” and “lachrymose”. It’s a great little book, but be sure to have a dictionary nearby!

Hart is from the Eastern Orthodox tradition, so his approach of theodicy tends a bit more toward Irenaeus than Augustine. He is very critical of Calvinists who consider natural evil like the tsunamis as being a part of God’s sovereign plan. Hart argues that God is wholly good, and therefore never causes any inherently evil event. Horrendous evils should never be attributed to the hand of God.

So, if God does not cause tsunamis, where do they come from? Hart believes that we should take the New Testament worldview more seriously. The NT authors were not sterile, modern theists who philosophized about the problem of evil. They were passionate followers of the Messiah who believed that a cosmic battle was being waged between good and evil. They were confident that God would be victorious in the end, but they also believed that evil spirits were at work in the world. So, what causes horrible natural evils? Hart suggests that it may be demons and devils.

Let me reiterate, Hart is not some crazy televangelist on cable TV. He is a scholarly theologian. He believes that the best way to explain all evils, natural and moral, is to attribute it to free beings. Humans cause much of the moral evil that we experience. Perhaps free, spiritual beings cause much of the other evils.

Hart doesn’t fully develop his view. He suggests this as an explanation of evil, and then moves on. I find his suggestion interesting, but I also wonder if it really settles the issue. I would have to ask, why does a good God allow these evil spirits to wreak havoc on humans who do not know that these spirits are acting? Couldn’t an all-powerful and good God stop events like tsunamis? Hart’s book is interesting, but not fully convincing.

One Crazy Dream

There’s a great song on one of Bob Dylan’s earlier albums entitled Talkin’ World War III Blues. The opening lines of the song are, “One time ago a crazy dream came to me. I dreamt I was walkin’ to World War III. Went to the doctor the very next day to see what kind of words he could say. He said it was a bad dream.” It’s probably the most amusing and whimsical song I have ever heard about a World War.

I say all of that to say this; I had one of the strangest dream a few nights ago. I dreamt that I was at some kind of professional conference, and I was standing is a large reception area with a lot of other people. There was nothing too exciting going on at the conference when suddenly, people started rushing to look out large, main window. As I looked, I saw a nuclear explosion in the distance, and there was no time to prepare for what was going to happen. It’s hard to explain what I experienced next, because everything happened in the course of about two seconds. I saw blinding light and fire rushing towards us at an infinite speed. I felt myself flying through the air in the midst of the light and the fire. Then, everything was black, and I knew I was dead. But, I didn’t wake up.

My death happened so quickly that I didn’t even have time to feel fear or sadness. In the midst of the blackness, I remember thinking to myself, “I am dead. I was just killed in a nuclear explosion….but….I am still thinking….” A few seconds later, I woke up.

I’m not really sure what this dream means. I think it’s pretty humorous that my first thought after death was that I was still thinking. I take this as a clear sign that I’ve been reading too much philosophy lately.

My Pastor, The Rock Star

We’ve been attending a really big church since we moved here last summer, and it’s been a good experience for us. We’ve been able to see some of the pros and cons of the mega-church culture firsthand. The most negative aspect for us has been our inability to connect to a smaller and more personal community within the church. It’s difficult to get to know people in a church of over 8,000 in attendance. I don’t want to blame this all on the stereotypical “mega-church” problem. They really do try hard to get people connected. Part of our inability to connect is due to the limited amount of time we will be staying in Lexington and our realization that most relationships we have here will be temporary. We could have done a lot more to get to know people in the church, but we’ve failed to make much effort. Plus, we have some good friends at the seminary, so we have even less motivation to get connected at church.

For me, the best part of our church has been the ministry of our senior pastor. It’s been an excellent experience watching his ministry over the past year. I have learned so much from him, and I have grown to deeply respect him as a minister and as a person. He’s only about five years older than I am, but I see in him that kind of man that I want to become. He exudes passion and excellence in his ministry, and he does so with a spirit of humility and grace. He is a great leader, but he seems to be more defined by his love for Jesus than his need for power. He has been a great example for me and has revitalized my desire to be in ministry.

The weird thing about this is that I don’t know him, so he feels more like a rock star to me than a pastor. Despite not knowing him, I really do care about the guy. He’s told several stories in his sermons about people attend the church that run into him in the city, and they will do things like come up to him and hug him in the middle of a grocery store, even though he doesn’t know them…..and the strange thing is, I know why they do it! I’ve never loved someone so much whom I’ve never met. I think for the first time I understand how people can become infatuated with famous people. There is something about the celebrity that inspires the fan, and the fan ends up feeling close to the celebrity, without knowing the celebrity.

The public nature of ministry, leads people to think they know the minister better than they really do. This puts a lot of responsibility on the part of the minister, but it also gives him the chance to influence their lives in more ways than he could ever realize. Even when I served at a church with only 225 attendees, I remember feeling strange at times because some people whom I had only met once or twice treated me like I was their long-lost son or their best friend. It always felt odd to me. I didn’t know why they treated me that way, nor did I realize the kind of influence they were allowing me to have in their life. After attending our current church for a year and loving my pastor the way I do, I think I now understand.

Allergy Update

Well, I’m still going strong with my honeycomb treatment. We’re over halfway through April and I have only taken one allergy pill this entire spring. At the height of allergy season last year, my nose was constantly running and I sneezed 50-100 times per day, and that was while using medication! This year, I have sneezed 4 or 5 times on my worst day, and my nose hasn’t run at all. So, for all of you naysayers out there (Tully), I just want to let you know that I am convinced that honeycomb has worked wonders for my allergies.

I also wanted to let you know that while I’ve been taking honeycomb, I haven’t been sick, developed any cancers, or had any heart attacks. Now, I'm not going to guarantee that honeycomb can cure all such ailments, but I think it's pretty clear that it prevents them. If you have any miracle honeycomb stories, please let me know.

Sticks and stones may break by bones, but Don Imus will never hurt me

A few nights ago, we were out with some friends, and in the course of discussion I said something trying to be funny that didn’t come out right. The way I said it could have really offended one of the people we were eating with. I just hope that he interpreted my comments with grace and realized that my intention was not to attack him.

This made me think about the Don Imus situation, so I figured I’d throw in my two cents. I am not a Don Imus fan. I’ve never seen his show on MSNBC, and I’ve never heard his radio show. Before last week, I did not know Imus existed. From what I have heard, he is a rather vile individual. I’m not going to try to defend what he said. I know that if I had used the expression “nappy-headed hos” in a sermon, I too would have been fired. Whether he should have been fired or not is up to the corporations that employed him. I just want to chime in by saying that many of Imus’ harshest critics are utterly hypocritical. Here’s why:

1. Words should be interpreted within their greater context. The question is this: Were Imus’ words intended to be malicious or were they just offensive? I have heard that much of what Imus says on his program is controversial. That is why people listen to him. I suspect that Imus was intending to be provocative, not hateful. If he was truly trying to be hateful, I would assume that he would have tried to defend his words. But he didn’t. He apologized repeatedly, and said that his comments were idiotic. Of course, some may say that he only apologized in an attempt to save his career, but we will never fully know Imus' intentions. I would think that if he were truly racist/sexist then his critics would have referred to other racist/sexist remarks that he has made. Since I have heard them make no other references, I assume that this situation is an isolated incident. If this is the only racist/sexist remark that Imus has made, it seems unfair to label him as a racist/sexist.

His intentions can be juxtaposed with the intentions of his critics who refused to accept his apology and protested until he was fired. Were they really worried about redeeming the situation and seeking racial and gender reconciliation, or were they bent on vengefully destroying Imus’ career? While Imus’ comments were offensive, it seems to me that the intentions of his critics were more contemptible than his intentions.

2. Some consideration should be given to the effect brought about by one’s words. Imus’ words were offensive, but what evil did they bring about? Sure, he hurt the feelings some innocent women basketball players, but should we consider this as some kind of cosmic tragedy? None of their lives will be ruined because of his comment. If Imus had made some insensitive comment about me, I would have said he was an idiot and moved on with my life. But Imus’ critics have treated his words as if they warranted the death penalty.

This raises the question, why don’t Imus’ critics condemn all such words? A number of people have compared Imus’ use of the term “hos” to the tons of times “hos” is used in Rap and R&B music. Rap and R&B constantly denigrate women, and this music has a much more detrimental effect on society than Imus’ words. Culture is shaped by art. Kids who immerse themselves in the Rap and R&B culture often adopt the values of that culture. I'm sure that countless more people end up degrading women because of the words of this music than the comments made by Imus. If Imus’ critics were serious about defending women against such degrading language, they would be more consistent in attacking all such language.

My Priorities

I’ve been thinking a lot about my future. I graduate in a couple of months, and as of right now, I have no idea where we are going after I graduate. I have no definite job offers right now. I have a few prospects. Sometimes I have doubts about my own abilities. I've had a lot of questions about what decisions I need to be making right now, what kind of church I could serve, etc… Needless to say, I’ve worried a lot while thinking about all of this.

A couple of weeks ago, in the midst of these worrying thoughts, I sensed Jesus asking me the question, “Do you really love me?” I’ve thought a lot about myself lately: my future, my job prospects, my abilities, and what’s best for me. I haven’t thought much about Jesus or his Kingdom. Am I so arrogant to think that he actually needs me to do some sort of important work? Do I think my calling into ministry is some sort if important cosmic event? Jesus is calling me to refocus my attention and affection on him, not myself.

I feel like a simpleton because I need to be constantly reminded that the Way of Christ is not about me, it’s about Jesus. I am not called to a job; I am called to follow my Lord. It’s so fundamental, but I need to keep learning this truth and living within its reality.