Hobby Lobby And The America We Are Becoming

I know that most people are ambivalent to the Hobby Lobby case that has made headlines lately.  I don't see political commentary or much headline news on the story.

I don't see a lot of anger being expressed either in popular media or the blogosphere.  Most people I suppose think of it as a story far from them.  After all, what does a large successful American corporation suing the federal government over a mandate to provide an abortion pill have to do with them?.  I suppose most people think it's not about them.  Maybe they see it as political or legal maneuvering from big time lawyers.

They should think again.   They should be worried.  VERY worried.

First of all, what we have seen play out in the courts these past few weeks has everything to do with you because it has to do with your personal and religious freedom.  Hobby Lobby is not some impersonal corporate conglomerate.  It is a family owned business.  And as a good friend and pastor to many in this family I know them up close and personal.  These are not corporate tycoons.  These are not people who fly corporate jets and flaunt their wealth.  They are by all appearances an average American family with traditional American values.  They are about the least materialistic family you would ever meet.  They give most of their money away, pay their taxes, love their family, serve their church. They are patriotic, humble and outstanding role models and servants to their community.  They quietly support a multitude of charitable causes around the world.  

The Hobby Lobby success story is one of those feel good rags to riches stories of hard work, strong values and American enterprise that makes us proud to be Americans.  Their story is our story.  It is a story that says that anyone in this country can be successful if they work hard and do things the right way.  It is one of those stories that informs the American consciousness.  Hobby Lobby is us.  The Green family is a beautiful example of what it means to be American.

And that is why what is being done to them by the United States Government is so disgusting, frustrating and egregious.

The Federal courts have now ruled that Hobby Lobby and subsequently the Green family will not be provided relief from the federal mandate written into the Affordable Health Care Act (Obamacare) that could potentially fine the company 1.3 million dollars A DAY for non compliance.  The company is refusing to provide a pill they believe causes abortions within their private health care.  The company pays for their employees health care and has always met the healthcare needs of their female employees (including contraception) and did so long before Obamacare came along.

The reason this has everything to do with you and you should be worried is because this morning you woke up in an America whose government says it doesn't care about your sense of religious freedom if you happen to be a successful business owner.  The inconceivable punishment put on this company makes it frustrating.  But what makes it egregious and disgusting to me is that it is a direct violation to our long established and even sacred rights as citizens (read the first amendment).  In these initial rulings the government has made the unbelievable case that because Hobby Lobby is a "secular" business they are not under the same protections.

David Green put it like this:

“Our family is now being forced to choose between following the laws of the land that we love or maintaining the religious beliefs that have made our business successful and supported our family and thousands of our employees and their families,  We simply cannot abandon our religious beliefs to comply with this mandate.”

These first few court battles are not the end of the story.  Hobby Lobby will now begin the process of fighting it out in lower courts and may one day get a full hearing in the Supreme Court.  It will be an expensive, exhausting and senseless battle that should never have to be fought by such wonderful people.   The Greens are fighting it out in the courts for the freedom that is precious to all of us.  It is the freedom that is not just guaranteed in our first amendment, it is a freedom of consciousness that has been given us by our creator.  And that is why it has everything to do with you.

Mayans, Zombies, World Calamity and What It Says About Us

Now that we are done with the Mayan calendar obsession, I thought it would be good to reflect on what all this paranoia about the world ending says about us.  After all, this is not an isolated event.  Have you noticed that a year rarely goes by without some group somewhere or some self proclaimed prophet predicting that on such and such date all heck will break lose and the world will end?  And have you noticed how eagerly popular culture laps it up?

American culture apparently is fixated on the idea of global extinction.  If it's not preachers talking about Armageddon, it's scientists talking about global warming, politicians warning of a debt bomb or economists about the fiscal cliff.  Scores of movies have come out in recent years pointing to certain global destruction whether it be meteorite, pandemic or nuclear holocaust.  Not that any of those things aren't important to talk about, it's just the over- hyping of them that interests me.

The idea of world calamity has become such a fascination there is now an entire sub-group in American culture called "Doomsday Preppers."    

Many of the most popular shows on television have apocalyptic themes.  Shows like "Walking Dead", "Fringe" and "Revolution" are just a few examples of how American culture can't get enough of the idea of world wide destruction.  

What does all of this say about us? 

Perhaps the answer is less sociological and more theological.  Could it be the reason we look around our world and say "some day all this will burn like straw" is because that in a very real sense that truth has been in-scripted onto the human heart?   

Here's what I mean, the Bible teaches that the human heart has an ontological sense about it.  Consider this verse in Romans 1:20:

²⁰ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Romans 1:20)

The Bible teaches that there are certain things about God's creative work that the human heart understands instinctively.  It only stands to reason then that the contrast of this is that we can look around our world and see that something is eroding and deconstructing what God has perfectly made.  Just as we have an innate sense that God's hand is in all of creation, we can also see that something has gone wrong and that some kind of curse has been unleashed on the universe.

In fact the Bible teaches that as a result of the fall, all of creation is in a constant state of "groaning" (Romans 8:22, 2 Corinthians 5:2).  The word to groan in this context is a word that describes a deep emotional sense of dissatisfaction.  To groan is to say to ourselves that life is not holding up and that something has gone terribly wrong.  A part of the reason we are fascinated with world destruction is because we know in our hearts that the world is indeed deconstructing.

So in other words, the human heart wants something more, and incidentally, that sense is the best evidence I know outside of biblical revelation of the existence of God.   I remind you again of one of my favorite C.S. Lewis quotes:

“The Christian says, 'Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or to be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage. I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that country and to help others to do the same.”

So the next time you find yourself in a conversation with your friends about some version of the apocalypse, be encouraged to talk about the "reason for the hope you have."  (1 Peter 3:15)  Point others to the biblical version of last things and that Christianity teaches that although life is falling apart, the end of the story is that through Christ it will all be put back together again.  Tell them there is a perfectly logical explanation to why our hearts are fascinated with end times.  That one day there will be a new heaven and a new earth and every tear will be dried and every tragedy will become untrue, that the curse will be reversed and all of us spiritual zombies will stop groaning.

Looking Through A Dark Glass

Yesterday we were confronted with the horrible news that twenty young children in Newtown Connecticut were brutally killed in a place where they should have been safe.  Children sitting in an elementary school classroom is as innocent and important a space we have in our American consciousness.  It is a sacred space.  It is a space for learning, nurturing and growing.  And yesterday evil and violence visited that space and as Americans our collective hearts were horrified, angered and deeply saddened at the result.

In this kind of horrible tragedy it is natural for people to ask the question, "Why does such evil happen in our world?"

When people are seeking ultimate answers to difficult questions it is a temptation to give answers that seem reasonable and comforting.  But in truth there is no answer to that question this side of eternity.  Every answer we might formulate will be incomplete.  Any person who pretends to have all the answers is simply not being helpful.   There are questions in this life that are so complex they cannot possibly answered in this life.

Paul the apostle made this observation in 1 Corinthians 13:12:

"Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.  Then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."

So it is helpful at a time like this to hold on to the knowledge that it is only within the scope of eternity, looking back on this wisp of smoke that is our brief time on this earth, that complex questions have solid answers.  C.S. Lewis once said that he believes the first thing we will say as we enter eternity are the words, "Aha... now I understand."

Here are some of the common answers people give in response to tragedy that are incomplete and not helpful:

1.  There can't be a God if this kind of evil happens in our world.

This is an unreasonable and unhelpful response because if all we were left with in finding meaning in this life was to deny the existence of a creator and see ourselves strictly from the standpoint of biological scientific method and highly evolved protoplasm, then what would explain our sense of disgust in the presence of evil?  Why would our hearts crave answers to ultimate questions?  Darwinian science provides no solace and comfort when our hearts are shocked and angered by violent injustice.

2.  There is a God but he is helpless in the face of evil and human suffering.  

This too is an incomplete answer because it does not match up with our understanding of God.  None of us wants to believe in a God who is not all powerful and all knowing.  Such a God would not provide a sense of justice and meaning in this world.

3.  There is an all powerful God but he is not trustworthy

There are many people who question God in the face of suffering and come to the conclusion that God is either all loving and not all powerful or He is all powerful and not all loving.  He can't be both at the same time, because a loving God would not allow evil and since there is obviously evil and suffering in this world it only stands to reason that God is one or the other but not both.  So the only conclusion we can come to in the face of suffering is that either God is loving and powerless or all powerful and not trustworthy.  But this too is an incomplete answer because if He were not all powerful He would not be God and if were not all loving our hearts would have no place for love.  Because we know and long for love and joy in this life it can only mean that that impulse was placed there by a God who was loving.

It seems to me that the most helpful though incomplete answer to this question is to say that we know from scripture that God is both all loving and all powerful and that all the suffering that comes into this life is the result of the fall.  When we see evil and suffering we are reminded that something is terribly wrong and the fact that our hearts long for a solution is in itself evidence of His existence.   Our world is horribly broken and the only answer is the redemptive work that God has set in motion through Christ and will be culminated one day in eternity.  Tim Keller put it like this:

God did not create a world with death and evil in it. It is the result of humankind turning away from him. We were put into this world to live wholly for him, and when instead we began to live for ourselves everything in our created reality began to fall apart, physically, socially and spiritually. Everything became subject to decay.  But God did not abandon us. Only Christianity of all the world’s major religions teaches that God came to Earth in Jesus Christ and became subject to suffering and death himself, dying on the cross to take the punishment our sins deserved, so that someday he can return to Earth to end all suffering without ending us.  Do you see what this means? We don’t know the reason God allows evil and suffering to continue, or why it is so random, but now at least we know what the reason isn’t, what it can’t be.  It can’t be that he doesn’t love us. It can’t be that he doesn’t care. He is so committed to our ultimate happiness that he was willing to plunge into the greatest depths of suffering himself.

A grieving mother once asked the famous 19th century English pastor Charles Spurgeon "Where was God when my only son was tragically and violently killed?"  Spurgeon softly comforted her with these words,

"He was in the same place as when His only son was tragically and violently killed; He was on His throne."

This is not a complete answer, but it is a part of the answer that we desperately need. We need to know that God loves us and that He has provided a solution for what is so terribly wrong in our world.  We need to know that in spite of what seems so senseless and unanswerable, that God is still in control. And although we don't get it now, there will come a time when we will fully know even as we are fully known.

Yes to Christmas!

This time of year I get lots of questions about what I think of celebrating the Christmas holiday, advent etc... "After all," the thinking goes, "Christmas was not in the Bible and most of the traditions come from ancient pagan culture so why should we Christians celebrate it?"  

My answer is that I believe the advent season, though laced with semblance's of paganism in some of our modern traditions, is still a wondrous gift and the season is a terrific way to point people to the beauty of the incarnation.  Though many of the traditions do not have their roots in the sacred text, there is still plenty of biblical narrative in our celebrations.  After all, there is not another season of the year in which you can go to practically any department store in the city and hear actual scripture in songs of praise over the sound system.   And as D. Eric Williams points out, the fact that Christianity won out over paganism and embraced some of it's traditions in order to teach the meaning of the advent is in itself a great reason for celebration:

The Christian holiday of Christmas is a celebration that replaced a variety of pagan festivals and in fact adopted many of the practices of those pagan holidays. Evergreen wreaths and trees, gift giving, feasting and the burning of the Yule log: all of these have roots in non-Christians festivals which took place around the end of December. But that's okay. These familiar Christmas traditions actually serve to remind us of what Christmas is all about.  

You see, the coming of the Christ - the coming of God as a human - was a declaration of war. It was an invasion by the Kinsman Redeemer in order to conquer Satan and restore Mankind to his rightful place in the cosmos. The war was finished about thirty-three years after Jesus was born when He died on the cross and then rose again. His blood paid the price to redeem us from the clutches of Satan and His resurrection restored Humankind to the position of vice-regent in this universe. Now, all those who are found in Jesus, are seated in the heavens in Him (Ephesians 1:3, 2:6), and we have been given the responsibility to labor in this life to manifest the already existing kingdom of God in Christ (Matthew 11:28-30, Philippiams 2:12-13, 3:12-16 and many more). Remember, we do not earn our salvation through our effort to manifest the rule of Christ; there is nothing we can do to contribute to the grace of God in salvation. However, we do have the responsibility to live up to our high calling in Christ. He has conquered and so we are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37), children of the most high God (Ephesians 5:1).  

Therefore, we should view the divergent cultural aspects of the Christmas celebration as evidence that Christ's invasion was successful. Satan has been stripped of the spoils of war and they are now used to glorify the Messianic King. Just as the plunder of pagan Jericho was used to beautify the tabernacle, likewise the heathen customs of the winter festivals are now the property of the King of Kings. No longer is the furniture of creation soiled by the ungodly; now it is used to remind us that our Great Kinsman Redeemer has driven the enemy from the field of battle.   

So, as you trim your tree, hang your wreath or fasten a sprig of mistletoe to the lintel, take a moment to consider the reasons you may do so without shame: Christ has cast down Satan, rent the curtain and entered the Holy of Holies clothed in human flesh. It is because Jesus has paid the price of redemption and ratified the eternal covenant with His blood. It is because the Everlasting Son became the Son of Man and restored Humankind to his place of grandeur. And it is because the followers of Christ in times past understood His Lordship and were willing to bring their sphere of influence under the authority of King Jesus.  This is what Christmas is all about. It is about a baby born in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago - and so much more.