Cultural Engagement and Alignment

So where have I been these last two weeks since my last posting? Well, you know how I said that I might buy a motorcycle, possibly in 2009? Well, the timetable got moved up just a little, . . . I bought a motorcycle last week! Yikes! My neighbor asked me if it was an impulse buy. Now, . . . that's a hard question to answer because as my last post read, it's a decision I've been mulling over for twenty years now. So was it an impulse buy? Well, being a guy who tends to make decisions slowly, in a sense had I waited twenty-one years, there is something in me that says it would have been less impulsive than waiting a hasty twenty years. So what have I been doing these last fourteen days? Well, isn't it clear yet? I've been riding my motorcycle and trying to think great thoughts about God, at the same time! Actually, the key word in that last sentence is "trying." You see, if you get too caught up fixing your thoughts on heaven while on a motorcycle you're likely to miss the driver who pulls out in front of you in heavy traffic! As they teach you in class, it's probably better to scan the road at all times, "Searching, Evaluating and Executing" (comprising the nice acrostic SEE- sure enough, that's me as the diligent student practicing SEE! and "yes" that is the new hog I'm riding).

I know this is a weird way of getting around to my subject today, but I remember years ago, after having received Jesus as my Savior, thinking that the only point to life in this world was to get to the next one. I've since changed my perspective in a fairly dramatic way. The Lord's Prayer has now become my central vision for life on earth, that "His Kingdom come and will be done 'on earth as it is in heaven'," that so much of what we are to be about in the here and now, is living rather "earthy" lives holding onto the grand vision that one day all of creation be renewed (Rom. 8:20,21 and Matt. 19:28). The implications in all this are that we see our lives here on earth to be terribly important to God and that we set living well for Him now as a chief goal in preparation for the world to come!

This brings me to: 1) an incredibly encouraging observation I've made the last couple weeks about the church at large in our city and 2) a somewhat discouraging observation as well though I do believe the discouraging part isn't for lack of sincerity on the part of believers here in this city (and as I'll explain later that I, Mike Hsu, contribute to the discouraging part as well). I'll explain more on this second point, but let's start with the incredibly encouraging observation.

The last two weeks, I've been to two different churches each led by dear friends of mine. Both of the men who lead their respective congregations are men of integrity, prayer and great passion for Christ. The two churches are both of very different denominational traditions and backgrounds from Grace Chapel as well as from one another. However, what they both share in common with Grace Chapel (and one another) is that they see a purpose for the work of God to impact this world in dramatic and powerful ways. Along with Grace Chapel, they both see cultural engagement and transformation as a central part of the mission of the church. I think that is so exciting and encouraging, that fellow evangelical churches would see engagement of the world for the sake of Christ as a central aim of the Church universal. That we should engage the world for Christ is agreed upon- that’s the encouraging part, but as mentioned there’s also a discouraging part as well right? But as I proceed, to guard against any “us against them” tone as if we at Grace Chapel have this cultural engagement question figured out, know the following observations come with my identification with the struggle rather than the belief to stand above or outside it.

Let me flesh this out more specifically by describing some of the content of the worship services these last two weeks. First of all, two Sundays ago a key part of the message was addressing the importance of housing and feeding the poor in this city and making a difference by meeting the needs of people in Lincoln. So far so good right? But the tension began to arise for me when my pastor friend went on to talk about how certain local leaders and representatives were now looking to the various churches in our city to participate in state-sponsored programs designed to address poverty in Lincoln, and the pastor concluded by saying with excitement in his voice, "Government is now looking to the church for finding solutions to poverty in our city,” and with excitement and passion declared, “This could be the church's finest hour!"

Secondly, this last Sunday just a couple of days ago, Tanya, kids, Darius, his friend Ben and I went to another church also led by another good friend of mine and seeing that we were in memorial day weekend, there was an extended time during the service to give thanks for the great sacrifice that our US soldiers had given for this country, especially for those who had paid the ultimate price for our freedom. Various servicemen both past and present stood to be honored. And in this 2nd church, my pastor friend prayed for our soldiers to be blessed and protected as they served overseas especially in places like Iraq and Afghanistan seeking to preserve our freedoms as Americans. In so many ways, to honor our men and women in uniform was a beautiful and wonderful thing. Yet at the risk of sounding like an ungrateful or unpatriotic American, I felt a kind of tension arise in my heart as had happened at a similar point the previous Sunday.

Again, at the risk of sounding ungrateful or unpatriotic, the tension for me was that we were praying for American soldiers who carry arms across the globe, yet as people with our first allegiance to our citizenship in heaven, shouldn't our message be primarily about our missionary armies who carry Kingdom weapons across the globe [like the sword of the Spirit (the Word of God), faith and prayer], for the sake of the Gospel? that the Church militant (as they said in the old days to describe the people of God progressing the Gospel) should always be front and center in our message, perhaps?

Please hear me now, I am sooooooo grateful for our men and women in uniform, but I don’t agree with Billy Sunday, America’s best known preacher before Billy Graham, coming off the heels of WWI when Sunday said that “hell and traitors are synonymous terms.” Also let me clarify further, I am not a pacifist, . . . but I do see the argument of pacifist people like William Willimon and Stanley Hauerwas who challenge their readers with the question of imagining a brother in Christ in one army of one country killing a brother in Christ in another army serving another country, that such a scenario is unthinkable participation for all who claim to follow Christ and hold an ultimate allegiance to a heavenly citizenship. Of course, in this new age of a "war on terror," here in the West we might tend to think that none of the "bad guys" are Christians at all but only terrorists and extremists. . . even if we grant that such were the case, would that somehow make it OK to kill them when Jesus said to love our enemies and do good to them? Just challenging your thinking and especially mine (seeing that I am a just war theorist and stand by capital punishment as well).

OK, I've probably said about a ca-zillion things to light some fires under people, but here's the tension in all this whether we are talking about riding motorcycles, feeding the poor or military involvement- for the church of Jesus Christ and the progress of the Gospel, what is an appropriate alignment with state-sponsored agencies, programs and institutions? OK, so maybe riding motorcycles doesn't so much belong in this discussion, but it was a nice try wouldn't you say?

It seems to me that as a corporate group of people called the Church of Jesus Christ, we have to work hard to make our Gospel message clear, that we don't fight with weapons of power and coercion to accomplish our goals and that the transformation of the world begins with transformation of the church. It seems like the power of the early church in places like Acts 2:42ff. was in how they shared possessions in common to rid fellow believers of want. Or that the admonition in Deut. 15 was about Israel dealing with poverty from within her own ranks, that what makes the Church a transformational presence in the world is that our seeking solutions for the world's problems has always been motivated by one central message about a Savior who became poor for our sakes that we might become rich (2 Cor. 8:9). And while I do see so many occasions to give thanks to those who serve so faithfully in uniform (and what better way to commend such dear people than during memorial day weekend?), nonetheless believe the corporate witness of the Church must first and foremost be about commending a missionary army who, around the world TODAY, are sharing Christ, loving people and dying for the preaching of the Gospel as spiritual weapons of love, evangelism and prayer are utilized. Maybe Richard J. Neuhaus was onto something when he once said, "the best thing the Church can be for the world is the Church."

Now, please hear what I am not saying here. I am not saying we should remove ourselves from involvement in government agencies, military service and other forms of cultural engagement. Remember I am not a pacifist nor a separatist. I say with humble confidence that the Amish and Mennonite traditions have gotten some things wrong here. What I am saying is that as a corporate group of people who comprise the Church, we have to be careful how we align with "world agencies" so that the message of the Gospel is communicated with clarity; that others see a people who believe the way up is first the way down in God's economy; that the pattern of their Savior as a suffering servant is clear; and that His people are willing to die for those on the other end of our spiritual swords called "The Word of God." As for involvement in politics, government agencies and the military, this must be the call of individual believers particularly but never the testimony of the corporate Body of Christ that testifies to Christ crucified and nothing more (or less). Isn't this what the Apostle Paul was trying to convey in claiming ignorance to all other matters (1Cor. 2:2), that the light of the Gospel might shine forth with clarity and power?

I understand the tensions revolving around the cultural engagement question, and lest you hear me saying these other two churches have gotten it wrong and Grace Chapel has gotten it right, know that I understand myself to be a part of “the perennial problem” as H. Richard Niebuhr once described in his classic work, "Christ and Culture." Niebuhr recognized these great tensions and identified at least five approaches that various church groups and traditions have taken through history. I think Grace Chapel would be adequately described by Niebuhr's classifications of "Christ Transforming Culture" and "Christ and Culture in Paradox." The former establishes for us that cultural engagement is our call as the Body of Christ (just as with the other two churches mentioned in this posting), the latter establishes more the method by which we accomplish our Kingdom task, by working on ourselves and our communities as a group of people set in distinction from the world's value systems (something perhaps all evangelical people can struggle with more rather than less), that the best thing the Church can be for the world is the Church.