Keeping Focused on Christ When Our World Falls Apart

 

Unworthy Republic was written by Claudio Saunt, a professor of American History at the University of Georgia. It is about the government Indian Removal of 1820s through 1840s. Saunt addresses Georgia and that state's advocacy and execution of the policy, but also discusses in depth Indian 

Removal in Ohio, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida, as well as the arduous journeys experienced by the various tribes as they moved (or more often were moved) to new lands in Oklahoma and Kansas. Saunt introduces key characters on both sides of the issue and reveals the impact of the policy on each of their lives. Among the main characters, I enjoyed learning more about John Ross of the Cherokee, since I once lived on John Ross Road near Chattanooga, Tennessee. It's an account of broken treaties and includes how and why a state government decided to ignore a Supreme Court verdict. Indian leaders like Osceola and Black Hawk reacted to the policy with aggressive, militant resistance; John Ross used the American legal system to argue the Cherokees' and other tribes' cases. These leaders agreed in resisting orders to abandon properties and possessions to move to another part of the continent. They each encountered opposition within their own tribes from other leaders who believed that the most beneficial course would be to comply.  Dr. Saunt recounts the experiences of those who left their homes as well as those who resisted. The atrocities that Saunt recounts may cause you to reconsider the concept of Manifest Destiny and perhaps reevaluate your list of our nation's best Presidents. 

What do the The Trail of Tears and the U. S.- Seminole War have to do with comforting people? This book is not about Christian discipleship or leadership, but I discerned principles from the accounts recorded in it. First, the Indians who responded to a confusing and terrifying change in American government policy towards them often listened to spiritual leaders as they searched for answers.  Many had converted to Christianity. Their preachers spoke to the crisis. In their letters to the President and other government leaders, Indians appealed to biblical principles, and also to key American historical values derived from the Bible's teaching and set forth in the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. Second, they responded as a community. Leaders like John Ross led by consensus.  They were not loners; they helped one another (although there were Indians who took advantage of others misfortune).  Although some committed suicide, others survived because friends and family reached out to help them.  Bible uses metaphors like family and body to describe followers of Christ as a collective group. Third, this book reminds us that institutions that we support and hold dear may disappoint or even horrify us at times.  When they do, the human toll can break our hearts and challenge us to rethink our worldview, the principles by which we live our lives. Unworthy Republic introduces flawed heroes and principled villains.  Cherokee Chief John Ross was a slaveowner.  The politicians and bureaucrats who led the Indian Removal included people who kept meticulous records and worried about the welfare of the uprooted Indian families, even if they did not contest the policy itself. Soldiers questioned their commanders when ordered to commit inhumane actions. Even when everyone around us chooses to do evil, each of us can choose to do right.  Even our world falls apart, we can survive.  

I love to study history.  I did not enjoy at all some of what I learned from this book. People for whom cities, counties, corporations, and universities are named are revealed at their worst.  Other leaders disappoint, but then seem to have awakened to the horror of what they had backed.  As I read the book, I noticed disturbing parallels in attitudes between the 1830s and 2020. If we seek to follow Christ, we must govern our actions and attitudes with a disciplined love that keeps promises and seeks the best for others. Life is not easy. Each of us confront moments of ethical challenge in our lives. May we keep focus on Christ and what it means to follow him in such moments.  

Loving for the Lord

Does God care how we treat other people? Does God care how generous we are? Why should I care what God thinks? These are questions I considered in my sermon, "Loving for the Lord," this past Sunday. I noted that I had chosen the text for the sermon to be delivered yesterday months ago, long before the tragic and sobering events in Charlottesville, Virginia, this past weekend. I made that statement because the text was relevant to why those events were so heinous and reprehensible. I encourage you to view the sermon and consider its message. When we consider hate, or a symbol of hate, to be our heritage, we should pause to remember that Jesus said that people would be able to identify his disciples by their love. The sermon is not simply a response to Charlottesville. In fact, I don't remember mentioning the city by name. It is a sermon delivered to a Christian congregation to address situations in their lives and in our culture, to help them and me assess how God wants us to live and to love. Comment if you have any questions or reaction. I encourage you to live, and to love, for the Lord.

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address: A Reflection

Though he said that the "world will little note nor long remember," we still recall the speech that Abraham Lincoln delivered at Gettysburg 150 years ago. He honored Soldiers, most whom we would call "citizen Soldiers" today, who perished in combat in and around that small town. I visited the Gettysburg battlefield three years ago. It remains a somber reminder of what price we may pay when we fight for principles in which we believe. We have a responsibility to know what we believe and how important those beliefs are. Some beliefs are in fact based in falsehood; they survive only when fed with erroneous information and emotion, or when lack of information allows their sustainment. Others have little consequence; in the big picture of history, it makes little difference whether the Boston Red Sox won the World Series this year or if the Atlanta Braves will do so next year. Some beliefs are philosophical: The nature of freedom, economic theories, the meaning of love. Sometimes they are difficult to establish as true or valid, but still their means of execution has a lasting impact on our lives and our history. A copy of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address hangs on the wall in my office at home. It reminds me that some principles are worth defending. Lincoln's words remind me that the man who spoke them endured merciless ridicule and cruel slander as he navigated our nation through its most tortuous years. We forget the bitter opposition he experienced even in the North when we regale him as perhaps our greatest President. Abraham Lincoln called the nation to action with him speech. He admonished his countrymen to engender "a new birth of freedom." He implied that freedom best survives in a democratic republic. We have opportunity to influence events in our nation. We may speak and write; we can assemble and we can vote. Our freedom has its best opportunity to survive when we use those privileges with respect for truth and the right of others to express their opinions. Suppressing the rights of others historically has a tragic trend of sad consequences when the other party gains power. Let us resolve that we will treat one another with respect and that we will listen to one another. Some principles are worth defending with our lives. We will thrive as a society when we defend truth, life, and freedom.

Regaining Spiritual Balance

I read an article recently entitled "You Can't Run on Pop Tarts." It was a great article about living a balanced spiritual life. I read it as a fifty-ish person who runs 20 to 30 miles a week, usually fueled by a breakfast of a banana and two Pop Tarts. I watch what I eat more carefully at other meals, having reduced intake of red meat and regulating caloric intake. I replied to the article; this post is an expansion of my response. As we run the race of life, we encounter obstacles that we must resolve. Activities, relationships, and work may slow our pace. We pause to work on these distractions (some of which have inherent positive value) and may have trouble returning the path we want to run. Sometimes work demands our attention. Supervisors want to increase productivity; that may mean that employees work harder or longer. It may also invite ethical challenges - taking a short cut that reduces value but increases the volume produce, stealing a competitors formula to enhance our own product. We wake up one morning and realize that we run the race of life with the goal of getting promoted, getting a raise, or earning a pension. Values have vanished from our metaphorical wardrobe; family, faith, and integrity have diminished roles when we make choices in time use or moral choices. The same dilemmas may emerge in regard to recreational activities and relationships. We have a sense that we have lost our way. How may we regain our spiritual balance? First, we identify the distractions that keep us from living a spiritually healthy life. A biblical passages that urges running with our eyes fixed on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-3) precedes that admonition by telling us to get rid of what holds us back or obscures our focus. A husband may have to cut down the number of hours he spends watching sports on television or playing with friends to improve his marriage. A teenager may have to distance herself from a "friend" who tempts her to compromise her values. Second, we associate regularly with other believers in worship and study activities that will help us improve our focus (Hebrews 10:25). It's hard to run alone; although I frequently run trails alone, the time goes much faster and I run faster when I run with others. The same principle applies to living for Christ. Although time in prayer alone is critical, the affirmation received from worship and fellowship in Christian assemblies helps bolster faithfulness to Christ and to the values contained in his teachings. We become more accountable through such association and so make decisions in a more thoughtful manner. Third, taking in regular amounts of Bible study seasoned with prayer will greatly increase the probability of our crossing the finish line and receiving the prize laid up for us in heaven (2 Timothy 4:1-8). Reading all the Bible systematically will decrease your straying from your path. It will keep you from focusing on a sliver of truth rather than the Christ who empowers. We can't live a spiritually balanced life that is fueled only by televangelists and contemporary Christian music. These "spiritual Pop Tarts" may have some value in pointing us to Jesus and the Bible, but they cannot replace the accountability and affirmation gained by regular attendance at Christian worship assemblies and Bible studies. Regular Bible study and prayer remind us where the boundaries lie and help us to stay on the path to a life that is eternal in quality now as well as in duration.

Following Elijah, Not Jonah

Several weeks ago I asked for prayer. Since then, a short-term work assignment has kept me quite busy as I adapt to a senior supervisory role. During that time, I've also grieved as I've read news stories telling senseless violence - teenage boys killing an aged World War 2 hero; different teenage boys killing an Australian college athlete who was a student in our country, killing him because they were bored; and allegations of chemical warfare in Syria. I've also notice what appears to be an increasing militant opposition to Christianity and its values. This opposition sometimes presents itself in ways that threaten the free expression of religious practice by Christians. While Coptic Christian churches burn in Egypt, in America actions by churches are scrutinized for failures in political correctness. I've been discouraged also by Christians who act, speak, and write with apparent hatred for those who disagree. That is not my goal here. Jesus taught his disciples to love their enemies. As Christians, we should act with compassion and listen carefully to those who seem to oppose, to make sure that we understand correctly what they say. We should examine our actions, and the motives for those actions. We should avoid following in the steps of the prophet Jonah, who after preaching to a pagan city that its citizens should repent of their sins, camped outside the city so that he could watch God destroy it. Jonah, you see, didn't want his audience to hear his message. Elijah, who we remember because fire from God consumed his sacrifice, prayed that God would change the hearts of his audience. Elijah cared for the people who heard him. Love, however, does not always translate into tolerance. I might love someone who is determined to kill me, but I would seek separation from such a person. Neither Elijah nor Jonah tolerated the sins of the people to whom they preached. Elijah, however, loved them as he loved God, and because he loved them, sought to persuade them to change. Persuasion is a key words. Biblical Christianity persuades; it does not coerce. I ask again for prayer - for those Christians who are attacked by those who do not share our beliefs or values; for those Christians who act in hatred or fear feeling justified in doing so; for people who commit senseless acts of violence; and for those who seem to hate the cause of Christ and his values. May God turn their hearts back to him. That was Elijah's prayer. It is my prayer, too.