stuckinstuff

Eliot Spitzer - Private Lies

The reactions are many to former New York governor Eliot Spitzer’s implication in a prostitution ring.  Thankfully, everyone is outraged regardless of political persuasion.  I’ve gotten most of my information from National Public Radio and The New York Times, which (bite your tongues my conservative friends) have seemed to me objective and right in much of their analysis and commentary.

What seems most troubling to me is that Spitzer has repeatedly called his actions a “private” matter and a “private” failing.  While he has admitted that his actions have damaged his public career, he has not been willing to admit that his actions are a public wrong.  That sentiment, at least in my limited view, seems as troubling as all that he did to victimize many prostitutes.

For years Spitizer worked as a public defender as the District Attorney.  You know where I’m going here.  Why is a District Attorney called a “public defender”?  It is because crimes are wrongs that offend the public.  Soliciting a prostitute is not a “private” matter, as if it were an immoral but legal extramarital affair.  (Arguments can be made that immoral but legal affairs also offend the public, and I hold that view.  But it is not the point here.)  Literally nothing Spitzer did was private.  He used money he received as a public official to break public laws with another human being in public hotels.  He also had to involve people other than himself and the woman he victimized.  He had to book his affair through others.  Surely he became aware of this opportunity through others.  And quite simply it is impossible to imagine that there were not other people involved in covering up his wrongdoing.

A terribly sad outcome of this mess is that a champion of fighting crime, Spitzer, is now aping the best of political spin artists.  “Immorality is a private matter.”  But public crime flourishes amongst private lies.

The Whole Horse - Wendell Berry again

"One of the primary results - and one of the primary needs - of industrialism is the separation of people and places and products from their histories... This is an economy, and in fact a culture, of the one-night stand... In this condition, we have many commodities, but little satisfaction, little sense of the sufficiency of anything."

This from the first handful of sentences in Wendell Berry's essay "The Whole Horse" published in The Art of the Commonplace (Shoemaker & Hoard: 2002).

Over time as I have taken in Berry's essays I've been left with a nagging aftertaste.  Berry makes so much sense, so clearly articulates what is wrong in the world and what could be right if only... "if only."  But how?  I've yet to meet Wendell Berry.  And I'd like to.  I'll be surprised if he is not a joyful pessimist.  I'm not sure I've ever met a joyful pessimist.  But I suspect he is one, and that such a person would be, on the whole, enjoyable to spend time with.  Yet I'm not sure how I'd feel leaving a joyful pessimist - finishing up the conversation, shaking hands, and going back home.  That's the trouble I've had with Wendell Berry over the years.  Going back home after reading him.

"The Whole Horse" is a fine example of Berry's attention-grabbing critique of modern industrialism.  It's always an essay you can walk away from.  I recommend it.

Contradiction Must Feel Better Than Virtue

I am so much not a fanatical sports fan that I feel a bit funny writing this.  I’ve rewritten the first few sentences several times.  Sports writing is just not my thing.  But I cannot help myself.  And that’s probably why I’m not a fanatical sports fan.

It is quite possible that I am the only San Diegan who feels that losing is a better option than watching Phillip Rivers act like an idiot on the sidelines.

On the way home from work today I briefly listened to some sports talk radio.  A caller brushed off the immature and unprofessional behavior of Rivers in the Chargers’ win over the Colts.  And the host responded something like, “It just matters that he is winning.”  How Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds wish they could receive such a pass.  But neither of them are winning anymore, not on the field nor off.

Face it, for the most part professional sports is not about winning anymore.  It’s about beating the rules, not the other team.  It’s about turning your head the other way while cheering.  It’s about contradiction - crying foul at the cheaters while reveling in their cheater-enhanced performances.  Whatever most sports fans feel these days, it sure isn’t virtue.

Our Hamster Muffy Died on Christmas Day

In our laundry room in her cage wrapped in a sock and surrounded by fresh handplane shavings our hamster Muffy died on Christmas day.
    Last night my wife discovered Muffy asleep, laboring to breathe.  She brought her downstairs in her hands.  Our daughters were already in bed, and by ourselves the two of us pet Muffy in the kitchen.  We watched her with her closed eyes, breathing quick and silent.  Curled up and still, she looked restful.  She seemed neither sad nor happy but at peace.  Muffy has been a contented hamster.   Our three daughters loved her with abandon.  Also she was an ambassador, frequently borrowed by friends for weeks on end.  One family bought their own hamster after returning Muffy to us.   Muffy had showed them the joy rodent ownership.
    While I distracted our two-year-old daughter, the big sisters each held Muffy one last time this morning before she died.  Later in the afternoon Muffy breathed her last.  My wife made a tea-box coffin, and laid Muffy on a bed of laundry lint.  I dug a grave in our yard.  The girls each shoveled a pile of dirt into the hole before I filled it up and packed it tight.
    We’re well.  Our family celebrates life - the life of Jesus and our life in Him - on Christmas morning.  And we have faced pet deaths head on in the past.  Yet death “is just not right” as my wife says.  And each death takes with it a bit of what should have been.  Christmas Day is a good day, though, to relish life, to anticipate living now and forevermore.

N. T. Wright Interview

My friend has a link to an extensive N. T. Wright interview on his blog.  The interview can be found here at Kingdom People.  This is well worth reading for anyone who is a fan or not so much a fan of Wright.  Recently he's come under fire from D. A. Carson, John Piper, and Doug Moo for his interpretation of Paul.  It's probably not my place to side with any of these men.  I'm not a biblical exegete.  But I cannot help saying I lean toward Wright.  I also have a deep appreciation and respect for Piper and Moo.

I was able to read an advanced reader of Simply Christian by Wright.  And recently I've finished his Evil and the Justice of God.  My sense is the Wright is the theologian/pastor for our times.  John Piper is right up there with him.  But I appreciate Wright's focus and emphasis on the Kingdom and what it means as a way of life and a response to our world.

Rick and Kay Warren Interview - You Should Listen

Over the years I've found an interesting principle at work in my life.  If I say something good, someone else something better.  A few days ago I tried to express how many evangelical Christians miss the point of charity by making out justice and compassion ministries to be add ons to preaching the gospel.

Well I found someone(s) who makes the point better than me.  The wonderful PBS program Speaking of Faith has a series called The New Evangelical Leaders.  And Krista Tippett interviewed Rick and Kay Warren for this series.  It's a must-listen for anyone who is concerned about the Christian response to the needs of the poor.

The False Dichotomy of Gospel Preaching and Social Justice

In this brief post I’d like to suggest that some evangelical Christians have created a false dichotomy, pitting “preaching the gospel” against “social justice.”  Some evangelical Christians believe that activism, advocacy, and justice work is an add on to preaching the Good News of salvation.  Verbally proclaiming the gospel in sermon and witness takes priority over acting justly toward those with whom we share the Good News.  Here is a quote from the president of a Christian college who argues for this dichotomy,

St. Francis famously exhorted, ‘Preach the gospel at all times.  Use words if necessary.’  We know what this aphorism was designed to stress: the importance of the ‘adorning’ role of our deeds (Titus 2:10).  But were we to press the saying literally, it would be false.  The gospel is inherently a verbal thing.  It requires verbal expression.  Social action can never take its place.
    At [Christian College] we are striving to keep in mind it is this proclaimed gospel that is ‘the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes’ (Rom. 1:16), not our social action.  We view justice and compassion ministries as buttressing our gospel witness, not replacing it.

In our culture academic and public intellectuals have been attacking the efficacy of language to convey truth claims for some time.  It is appropriate that the president of a Christian college would react against that trend.  Christianity makes truth claims using language.  The Good News is Christianity’s most precious truth claim.  And Christians rightly should defend its validity.  But should Christians contrast verbal proclamation with physical charity?  The Good News “requires verbal expression,” yes.  But does it not require actions of justice and compassion?

Christians are familiar with John the Baptist, who while in prison wondered about Jesus’ ministry.  The Gospel of Matthew says,

Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”  And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.

It is impossible to imagine Jesus only verbally proclaiming the gospel.  It would be as if our Lord’s Prayer went simply, “Thy will be done” and neglected to add “on earth as it is in heaven.”  But that was not how the Prayer was prayed by Jesus.  He said, “Thy Kingdom come.  Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  Jesus began his ministry by going to “Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God, is at hand; repent and believe in the  gospel.’”  Can you imagine a verbal-only kingdom?  A kingdom with only benevolent words and no charitable deeds?  Or can you imagine a verbal-only law?  A legal code without enforcement?

Yes, the gospel requires verbal proclamation.  Inherent also in the gospel are acts of justice and compassion.  Such charity does not buttress the gospel.  Justice and compassion do not “support” or “defend” the truth claims of the gospel.  Acts of justice and compassion are part of the truth claims of the gospel.  As surely as the gospel proclamation is incomplete without verbal expression, so too is the gospel deficient without actions of justice and compassion.

Mark Noll Commencement at Wheaton College

For many months now I've known that my former M.A. adviser and professor Mark Noll delivered the commencement address to the 2007 graduating classes at Wheaton College.  But busy and distracted, I had not found time to listen to the fifteen minute address on the Internet.  The other day I did.

You should too!  Noll's Commencement Address inspires.  He rightly aligns Christian commitment to "Christ and His Kingdom" as the proper view for all our activity on earth.  This is an address to consider over and again.

You can download it at the Wheaton WETN website.  Listen now.  And break it out again on a rainy day.  And let me know your thoughts in the comments of this post.

NOC Callouts

I spent about a half day at the National Outreach Convention yesterday.  As always, it was nice to spend time with some folks we (i.e. ChristianAudio) regularly see at conferences.  And we made some nice new connects.  A couple are worth mentioning.

I appreciated Jason Gilde who started the Africa Dream Project, which plans to eliminate the Kibera Slum in Kenya.  This is hands and feet ministry.  Jason rallied some women in the Kibera Slum to create goods that can be sold to fund the first high school in the area that will eventually raise the leaders necessary to change this slum into a thriving community.

Also we took time to speak with Amor Ministries.  Honestly I don't know much about these people, except that I like their ministry of building houses in Mexico.  For San Diegans, going down to Mexico to build a house can seem kind of passe compared to the One Campaign or Facebook Causes.  Yet it's a local and important way to help those in need.

Aside: through an online link found post-conference, I ran across Invisible Children.  This San Diego-based ministry looks really good.  Let me know if you know anything about it.

Positive

I had a nice conversation today with a friend I've not talked for some time.  In a round about manner the topic of The Secret came up.  I've not read the book.  But my understanding is that it advocates a positive karma-like attitude in which you stay positive and thus attract positive things into your life.

A positive attitude is a good thing.  The difficulty I have with many advocates of positive thinking is that the sun rises on the just and the unjust all the same.

How does The Secret handle King Mswati III of Swaziland who recently chose his thirteenth wife from a stadium full of 50,000 eligible virgins?  Positive thinking just does not compute in the daily circumstances of the average person in Swaziland or Albania or China or most of the world.  It seems to me that is the challenge of most of the people in the West who attempt to practice a lifestyle of positive thinking.  The challenge is not to live such a life in abundance.  But to test such a life in the harshest of circumstances.  In the slums of Nigeria.  Or a slave factory in Asia.