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Whole Foods fans decry CEO’s health care views – boycott coming?

Aug 19

Posted by wiselad in Culture | No Comments

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32471153/ns/us_news-washington_post/

Wow…some folks are considering boycotting Whole Foods because the CEO stated that health care is not an intrinsic right.  Really?  Does that make any sense at all?  Whole Foods is about providing high quality organic and whole foods that benefit the general health and well-being of the community.  The CEO’s views about health care policy do not change the mission of Whole Foods.  Or do people spend their paycheck at Whole Foods to support social policies in addition to expensive food?

Satan’s Secret Weapon: Listening to Sermons

Aug 11

Posted by wiselad in Church, Culture | No Comments

I enjoy listening to sermons.  God-exalting, Jesus-loving, bible-preaching sermons.  And they are great sermons, preached by some of the best handlers of the Word in the West today.  But something came to the surface that I sort of knew all along.  I was seeking to satisfy my desire for entertainment in sermons.  If Satan cannot get us with the usual sex, money, and power, then surely entertainment is one of his weapons of choice.  Why?  Because it’s very stealthy.  It can be cloaked in such an appealing light.  What’s wrong with popping in your favorite action thriller on DVD?  Or what’s wrong with catching up on the latest news?  Or what could be better than listening to a series of great sermons by the likes of John Piper or Tim Keller? 

I love to hear the best communciators, the most fiery preachers,  and the most elogquent orators.  I’ve been amazed by the new knowledge that I’ve learned in the scriptures.   I’ve even often been convicted of sin through the many sermons that I’ve listened to.  And yet, if I’m honest with myself, I’d rather listen to sermons than go knock on the door of my neighbor to get to know him, because it’s much easier.  Listening to sermons takes no effort.  It’s a pleasurable way of passing the time.  It’s like my “Christian” movie of choice.  They’re interesting, funny, emotionally stirring, and yet just like movies, often forgettable, and almost never actionable.   Not that the sermons are bad at all, only my ears and heart are. 

I know there are things that God has gifted me in.  I want to teach, preach, and write more, and for me listening to sermons has been one of the ways in which I’d prefer to seek entertainment rather than exercise the gifts God has given me.  It’s so easy to justify listening to sermons or reading up on Christian topics because we think if we’re doing something related to Christianity, then we must be doing the will of God.  But we must examine our hearts to see if our desire is nothing more than the thirst for entertainment cloaked in acceptable Christian themes.  Does not God judge us according to our deeds?  Or will we receive our heavenly rewards on the basis of how many theologically sound sermons we listened to or watched?  Let us be honest and confess our sins of entertainment-driven procrastination.  Let us grab hold of Jesus’ promise to build his kingdom through his church and boldly assume the role that he’s given us in his body to accomplish the work that he’s prepared before hand for us to do.

More Americans say they have no religion

Mar 8

Posted by wiselad in Culture | No Comments

This just in from MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29585222/

Apparently the number of professing Christians in the U.S. continues to decline.  The percentage of Americans who claim no religion at all has now risen to 15%.  It’s probably safe to assume that this number is even greater in larger urban populations outside the bible belt, like the greater Seattle area that I live in. 

Quite frankly, this news does not surprise me.  In general it seems that God is not really relevant to that many people in everyday life.  As a Christian involved in leadership at my church and as a person out in the corporate workforce there is a stark contrast between those two contexts.  The topic of God just doesn’t come up much at work.  You might say that this is expected because people are focusing on work.  But I don’t think that’s the case.  Plenty of other non-work related topics come up during the day and are discussed at varying lengths, but on the whole, religion is not touched upon that often.  This, I think is largely the result of a cultural norm that’s developed that declares religion as a taboo topic.  Religion is not meant to be publicly discussed, but to be minimized and kept to oneself.  Which is interesting, because even if I grant that religion is a personal thing, it does not then follow that we should discourage it’s public discourse.  Public discourse if full of discussion of “personal” items.  One need only look to the tabloids and entertainment shows on television.  People enjoy discussing things that are personal to ourselves or personal about other people.  We are persons after all!

But religion is put into another catogory.  Personal, and undiscussable.  Why?  I believe it’s because religions, at least some, make absolute truth claims that can impinge upon each others freedom.  Religion, and in particular, Christianity makes certain claims that just don’t sit well with today’s American.  By and large Americans today want to live life in the best way we see fit.  And the best way that we see fit is often at odds with what Christianity teaches.  And thus, there is a push back against religion and perhaps against Christianity in particular, because it cramps our style.  It restricts our freedom.  And so we have rationalized God out of any relevant discussions in our lives, for to let him in is too dangerous to the authority of our own self-rule.

So then how are believers in Christ to respond in these times?  Do we adhere to the cultural norms and shy away from bringing issues of faith into the public discourse?  Or is there a way that we can lovingly push back against the prevailing culture and seek to demonstrate the relevancy of faith in public discourse.  Ultimately if people aren’t thinking through these things, then God is dead to us.  If Christians are content to keep their faith “personal”, then what we’ll have is a dying church, a fading light and an increasing irrelevancy of God.    Scripture calls Christians the light of this world.  But I’m afraid many of us would rather remain underground for fear of what others might think of us.