Mark's Remarks for Friday, December 5, 2008
It's Friday, but Sunday's coming
This is the start of what I hope is a conversation. I am going to throw out my ideas, passions, and opinions on things that I find interesting. I welcome your feedback. As a matter of fact, your feedback could very well help me formulate a new understanding, that happened earlier this year with the subject of science and creation. A conversation was begun with someone who disagreed with me and, in time, I came to agree with this individual. Now, onward to a thought.
Barak Obama's Election
Basically one month has passed since our presidential election. That has given me a few weeks to process something that I told my congregation the first Sunday after the election. Nothing has occurred since then that has changed my mind.
On election night, I heard a lot of commentators interpreting what happened. I listened to their interviews with the people of this country, and I watched the pictures they broadcasted of people all over the world watching the election results.
Many Christians had been praying about this election. We had been praying that God would work and that God's will would be done. I believe that we must assume that our prayers were answered. And as part of God's answer, we witnessed an intersection between our culture and the church.
One of the things that I noticed on election night was this: in many of these larger cities, particularly outside the Bible Belt, I saw the faces of many of the people who had voted for Barak Obama. Did you catch how many of them were black and white and different colors, how many of them looked up at the huge screens set up in places like Broadway in New York City, or those who were at the rally in Chicago. I was looking at these faces and they showed awe and wonder and almost a messianic zeal.
One of the things that I am seeing in these cities in the younger generations, and on many of the college campuses, is this, a deep desire for racial reconciliation--a loving society of many cultures. They hunger for it. And that's understandable considering that many come from families where they have been neglected, or did not feel loved. They want to transcend that abyss. That abyss of neglect does cut across racial and economic lines. Some of these neglected kids have grown up in rich families, some of them in poor families. Many are from African-American families, but there are also a significant number from Hispanic and Anglo families as well. They cannot control their past, but they can have an impact on the future. What greater goal or ideal to have than racial reconciliation?
Here is where I think we, in the church, can help. ? A desire to see races reconcile and have relationships with each other is a desire that God has. Politics and government can be a great instrument of God to achieve racial reconciliation and to improve the relationships of people. But it is not the primary instrument that God has chosen, nor is it the United Nations, nor was it the League of Nations. Any expectation that earthly entities of peace will achieve this purpose is doomed to failure.
There was a time in history when people came together and unified themselves outside of relating to God. They built a tower, God saw the destructive nature of what would happen with their unity, and he gave them different languages and divided them. He knew the destruction that could come from a unified man outside of God.
Yet there is one area of hope where God has chosen to work to unify people. Paul writes about this group in Ephesians 2. It is the Church. The Church holds up the cross of Christ and calls for people to come together at the cross. God tears down the walls of racial separation and cultural separation and brings about unity through Christ. You can hold up Christ above a culture and Christ will not let the people down. People will become disillusioned with us, but people will never become disillusioned with the real Jesus.
Now, some of our members here have told me, "I don't hear many college students and young people talk about racial reconciliation in Tyler." And they are right. But I think "that" day is coming. And if we, as a church, can lead the way, we'll be ahead of the wave, and this will give us great opportunity to reach many people for Jesus.
This spring our church is going to enter into a study in First Corinthians in the sermon time, as well as, in our Bible classes. We will emphasize unity based upon Christ, his love, and his cross. And in the fall of 2009, I'm thinking we are going to hold up Christ as the hope for true relationship to reconciliation.
President -- elect Obama has many wonderful qualities. But I have been around politics and government long enough to know that if you hold up human beings to an idealized state, your illusion will ultimately become "dissed", and nothing is harder to deal with than disillusionment. For those who idealize President -- elect Obama, I stand ready to present to them Jesus.
It's Friday, but Sunday's coming
This is the start of what I hope is a conversation. I am going to throw out my ideas, passions, and opinions on things that I find interesting. I welcome your feedback. As a matter of fact, your feedback could very well help me formulate a new understanding, that happened earlier this year with the subject of science and creation. A conversation was begun with someone who disagreed with me and, in time, I came to agree with this individual. Now, onward to a thought.
Barak Obama's Election
Basically one month has passed since our presidential election. That has given me a few weeks to process something that I told my congregation the first Sunday after the election. Nothing has occurred since then that has changed my mind.
On election night, I heard a lot of commentators interpreting what happened. I listened to their interviews with the people of this country, and I watched the pictures they broadcasted of people all over the world watching the election results.
Many Christians had been praying about this election. We had been praying that God would work and that God's will would be done. I believe that we must assume that our prayers were answered. And as part of God's answer, we witnessed an intersection between our culture and the church.
One of the things that I noticed on election night was this: in many of these larger cities, particularly outside the Bible Belt, I saw the faces of many of the people who had voted for Barak Obama. Did you catch how many of them were black and white and different colors, how many of them looked up at the huge screens set up in places like Broadway in New York City, or those who were at the rally in Chicago. I was looking at these faces and they showed awe and wonder and almost a messianic zeal.
One of the things that I am seeing in these cities in the younger generations, and on many of the college campuses, is this, a deep desire for racial reconciliation--a loving society of many cultures. They hunger for it. And that's understandable considering that many come from families where they have been neglected, or did not feel loved. They want to transcend that abyss. That abyss of neglect does cut across racial and economic lines. Some of these neglected kids have grown up in rich families, some of them in poor families. Many are from African-American families, but there are also a significant number from Hispanic and Anglo families as well. They cannot control their past, but they can have an impact on the future. What greater goal or ideal to have than racial reconciliation?
Here is where I think we, in the church, can help. ? A desire to see races reconcile and have relationships with each other is a desire that God has. Politics and government can be a great instrument of God to achieve racial reconciliation and to improve the relationships of people. But it is not the primary instrument that God has chosen, nor is it the United Nations, nor was it the League of Nations. Any expectation that earthly entities of peace will achieve this purpose is doomed to failure.
There was a time in history when people came together and unified themselves outside of relating to God. They built a tower, God saw the destructive nature of what would happen with their unity, and he gave them different languages and divided them. He knew the destruction that could come from a unified man outside of God.
Yet there is one area of hope where God has chosen to work to unify people. Paul writes about this group in Ephesians 2. It is the Church. The Church holds up the cross of Christ and calls for people to come together at the cross. God tears down the walls of racial separation and cultural separation and brings about unity through Christ. You can hold up Christ above a culture and Christ will not let the people down. People will become disillusioned with us, but people will never become disillusioned with the real Jesus.
Now, some of our members here have told me, "I don't hear many college students and young people talk about racial reconciliation in Tyler." And they are right. But I think "that" day is coming. And if we, as a church, can lead the way, we'll be ahead of the wave, and this will give us great opportunity to reach many people for Jesus.
This spring our church is going to enter into a study in First Corinthians in the sermon time, as well as, in our Bible classes. We will emphasize unity based upon Christ, his love, and his cross. And in the fall of 2009, I'm thinking we are going to hold up Christ as the hope for true relationship to reconciliation.
President -- elect Obama has many wonderful qualities. But I have been around politics and government long enough to know that if you hold up human beings to an idealized state, your illusion will ultimately become "dissed", and nothing is harder to deal with than disillusionment. For those who idealize President -- elect Obama, I stand ready to present to them Jesus.
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