Lunch with the Governor

I'm soon off to lunch with Idaho's Governor Butch Otter, well, not just the two of us, but the Twin Falls Kiwanis Club and our guests which will be about 80 of us meeting with the Governor. I'm not really all that sure how I feel about this week's program. I can't imagine that Otter will have much to say that I'll agree with, but he is the state's highest elected official so certainly he'll have something to say that is of interest.

I know these feelings are only part of a larger feeling of malaise in our country over elected officials at any level. There are people who are unhappy that the President is too Socialist and there are those on the left that think he's moved too far to the middle. Then there are people who think the Republicans in Congress are too obstructionist and there are those on the far right and in the "Tea Party" who think they're not conservative enough. In Idaho there's a sense that all taxes are bad and therefore we certainly can't raise taxes to make more happen and then a lot of those people who complain about taxes happily collect their Social Security Check or enjoy the benefits of Medicare.

It seems like you just can't please anyone these days. So I'm going to lunch where a Governor I didn't vote for and won't vote for in November will probably talk about things from a perspective that I don't agree with, but if he does so in a way that is authentic and true to how he believes he is being led to believe then who am I to not at least listen? That and it seems to me that there is something in what it means to being a Christian about loving neighbors and not only those with whom I agree. So, shortly I'll hop in my car and try to not only open my mouth for lunch but also to open my ears, mind, and heart to what Governor Otter has to say.

Social Darwinism

The two words of this post sum up what I think is going on in the Healthcare debates. That is, for those on the right there is a pervailing perspective of social darwinism--survival of the fittest. What is interesting about this for me is that for so very long the right has been identified with the religious right and not just any religion at that but Christianity. Now as a Christian Pastor this is a really interesting thing to me, that is how is it that people who are so opposed to evolutionary darwinism are so ready to accept the precepts of social darwinism? I mean, if survival of the fittest is so off the mark when it comes to the origin of species then why is it o.k. when it comes to who gets care?

I don't know if others have thought about this, but it is something that comes up again and again for me. When someone with a severe pre-existing-condition is booed at a so called "town hall" meeting and those booing her are representing the right I wonder if they have ever really stopped and pondered their position. Sure, if they are atheisitic/agnostic right wing opponents of health care reform then fine. But what if they are religiously inspired right wing phanatics? What if the religion they believe informs their perspective is Christianity? How then does a survival of the fittest, socially, fit in with the Beatitudes, or with Jesus' response to the question "What is the greatest commantment?" If you don't know Jesus' response was love God and love neighbor.

So then what of those who oppose health care reform? I suppose if they simply oppose it on the basis of it costing too much or there are other priorities which face our nation then that makes sense. But what doesn't make sense to me is when people who claim allegiance to Jesus Christ heckle those less fortunate than themselves and say that they are doing so in the name of their religion. Because for me, that isn't Christianity. That isn't loving your neighbor, nor is it reflective of God's intentions for humanity.

Granted, I could be wrong, after all I'm only a pastor in a medium sized church in a small city in Souther Idaho. Who knows, what do I know? It just seems like an interesting perspective that those who seem so opposed to health care reform are also those who so readily embrace the proponents of the religious-right--those American Christians who are so vehemently opposed to evolutionary darwinism but who so willingly embrace a form of social darwinism.

Higher Loyalty

Yesterday morning I continued my odd calling in life to stand up, just about every Sunday, and share a few words about what God says to us through the Bible. Yesterday's reading was Matthew 22:15-22, the story about Jesus being asked whether or not taxes should be paid to Rome. The line that Jesus speaks, that stuns his listeners probably as much today as two thousand years ago is, "Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's."

As yesterday's sermon was delivered on Stewardship Commitment Sunday, the focus of the sermon was on our financial commitments for the year to come, both as members of FPC, Twin Falls, as well as in our lives in the wider world. Another way to pursue the same wisdom of Jesus would have been to speak about the quickly heightening negative rhetoric being splashed over the various media outlets covering the national election. That is, by giving to God the things that are God's we are called to a higher loyalty than merely our own opinion of who is right and who is wrong in any election.

What I mean to say is, if we take seriously the need to give to God the things that are God's, then we have to remember that the greatest commandment, at least according to Jesus, is to love God and then love our neighbor. And in the current political environment where accusations of socialism on one side and being out of touch with reality on the other side are being thrown around by both campaigns, perhaps a healthy dose of Christianity should be thrown into our considerations of these issues. For, if you are a Christian, and you engage in such damaging rhetoric with your friends, family, and acquaintances, then you are not living up to the higher loyalty to God of loving God first and because of God's love, in turn loving your neighbor even if they don't agree with you politically.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that you can not have a robust political opinion or even an uninformed political opinion. Rather, if you are a Christian and call on Jesus Christ as your guide in life, then how you express those opinions does matter. It is not a matter of political correctness, instead it is a matter of correct living as a follower of Christ and a beloved child of God. That is, no matter who is elected 15 days from today, if your ultimate loyalty is to God, then you are going to have to think and pray long and hard about how you are going to be in relationship with those friends and family and complete strangers with whom you disagree.

Why? Well, my guess is that from God's perspective, none of us are perfect or completely correct or as loving as we ought to be and yet God loves us still. And maybe, just maybe, its time to treat those with whom we disagree with some of that amazing grace and love as well.

30 Days

I've just finished watching my weekly dose of "Meet the Press" and it is hard to imagine, that after 18 months of candidates, debates, ads (negative & semi-truthful) that we are about a month away from this all being over--we can only pray.

Do you realize that a month from now we will wake up and one ticket or the other will have won? Regardless of your partisan feelings, we all can pray God that there are no recounts with their hanging-chads and court cases, don't you agree?

Won't it be a little strange to turn on the TV or go online or talk to your friends, family, and acquaintences and realize that the spectre of partisan politics will be relieved, if but for a few weeks?

Can't we all, in spite of our personal politics, pray that the campaigns of both respective tickets remain respectable? Can't we all pray that Republicans and Democrats, both, remind themselves to think before they (or their surrogates) speak? Can't we all, call on the name of God Almighty to bring a little civility and reality to this national contest?

Hopefully--prayerfully--we can all look back on these 30 Days between October 5th and November 5th and see that we all prayed; we all spoke truth in a spirit of love; we all loved our neighbor and considered not only what to say--but just as importantly--how to say it, before we opened our mouths. Hopefully--prayerfull--we will be able to look back on these 30 Days to come and see not just victory, but more importantly a coming together, that is worthy of the American Spirit and the Spirit of God--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.