Fractured Saints - never beyond mending - a christian blog for the broken ones

Here I am. As bond-servant to the men known as the Wise Ones I have travelled far and wide and seen many strange things. I have seen a mountain spew fire from its belly; I have seen the spirits dance in the northern sky; I have felt the Earth growl with hunger and shake with rage. But of all of these things nothing compares in any way with the awe I feel now.

I stand here in this humble house. There is a young man who looks at me and my masters apprehensively. Seated is a young woman who seems to be in as much awe as anyone here. But it is not the young couple, not my masters dressed in scarlet and gold, not even the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh that is the reason for the excitement here today.

It is the small child on the lap of the woman. He is mightier than the mountain, brighter than the sky, more powerful than the Earth itself. For he is Emmanuel, God is with us, God Incarnate. The king of heaven come to die for the slaves of Earth.

Most of the time, when election season rolls around there is a palpable increase in the level of tension in any conversation that moves beyond the latest sporting event. These days it seems that election season has stretched itself out to enfold not only the year of the big vote, but all years in between. As such we are all faced with dealing with a near-constant level of rancor in what would otherwise be fairly placid conversations. It seems that “my team is always right and your team is always wrong” has become the mantra of every other soul around. Ironically, each ideological camp accuses the other of being the most egregious practitioners of this universally hated art.

Many Christians, upon seeing the degradations born of extreme partisanship, have come to long for a way out of this morass. They ask whether we can move beyond the “us vs. them” polarities of American political life by advocating a “Third Way.” After all, in the Early Church many Christians proudly declared that they were a “Third Race” that was neither Greek nor Jewish and therefore independent of the biases of either. At this point there is no large move to create a Christian political party of the sort that CS Lewis beautifully derides (in God in the Dock, if memory serves), but there are many who, rather than swearing allegiance to either donkeys or elephants, have decided to term themselves “moderates.”

In many ways this is a highly laudable reaction. For the reasons mentioned above and many other unmentioned and unmentionable examples of human indignity, to be repulsed by the disdain incarnated in Left vs. Right polemics is the mark of extreme sanity. That being said there are also some reasons why joining the Moderate Party is less constructive than its stump speeches would have you believe.

The first problem is somewhat subjective. That is, its problematic nature rests entirely on the behavior and attitudes of the person claiming moderation and is not inherent “centrism” itself. One of the obnoxious things about people who go to non- or inter-denominational churches is the way they vaunt the superiority of their churches for not feeling superior in the way denomination rooted churches do. In the same way there are “moderates” out there who may have come to their anti-partisanship affiliation from genuine disgust at the elitism of the party who now practice the same elitism one step lower. Rather than proclaim the excellence of holding this or that position they now dwell in a bed of self-satisfaction called “open-mindedness.” However, just as a single car may be driven recklessly or with great skill, so too snobbery is a human quality quite independent of a particular faction.

The second problem rests in the nebulous nature of moderation. It is not the presence of an offensive article of faith that is in some way bothersome, but rather it is the absence of any defining characteristic at all. Being a moderate tells the world something about what you don’t like. You don’t like spite and reductionistic formulations. But what does a moderate like? What do they believe?

Let’s say, for simplicity’s sake, that there are two views of two positions to consider. If I have the conservative view of gun-control and abortion, then I’m a conservative. If I have the liberal views on the same two issues, I’m a liberal. Fair enough, but what does the moderate believe? If I have the liberal views on gun-control and the conservative views on abortion, but you have those ideals flip-flopped, are we both moderates even though we don’t agree on a single thing?

You might be thinking to yourself that this is a far too simplistic rendering of highly complex issues. I couldn’t agree more, but adding in more issues makes “moderation” even less distinct than dealing with only the two. Adding ten or twenty positions to the hypothetical questionnaire would hardly clear things up.

I certainly applaud the motives of those who have sought to enter the political fray in a fashion that brings honor and not grime to the name of Christ in the world. We certainly must maintain – both to ourselves and to the world – that our final loyalty belongs to another land let alone to a simple political party. However, I suggest that the way forward on such a quest lies not in trying to find the middle ground between two factions but by expressing our political opinions strongly yet respectfully. It will say far more to the watching world to see two Christians arguing for their positions with dignity and honor than it will by offering either the hypocritical snobbery of the first problem nor the ephemeral identity of the second.

by Timothy Padgett

“Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good works and glorify God on the day of visitation.” 1 Peter 2:12

Over the past several years I’ve spent most of my employed time as a waiter. Technically we’re supposed to be called “servers” now, but who’s counting? It’s been a great job for a student like me or just for anybody who needs a flexible work schedule combined with quick cash inflow. It has also afforded me an excellent opportunity for people-watching. Some of this is the passive sort available only to those in the service industry since, for the most part, my customers barely notice that I exist. It’s amazing what sorts of things you hear about if people are completely ignoring you.

The more active, and more interesting, bit of observations comes from the way different people interact with me through the course of the meal and at its conclusion. The favorite type of people that servers like to deal with is businessmen. They don’t want to know all about your family and they certainly don’t want you to know all about theirs. This might make for nice conversation in other circumstances, but when you’ve got five other tables waiting for their waiter you might be thinking that this is information that you can live without knowing. Businessmen want their food in a reasonable amount of time, and if a problem comes up with their order, so long as you give them the explanation, they’re cool with it.

On the less pleasant end of the spectrum are the people who come in to eat at a nice sit-down restaurant, but then, after telling you they’re in a hurry, proceed to order appetizers, salads, and well-done steaks. If you have forty-five minutes until your movie starts, then now is not the time for a sit-down meal. Now is the time to take advantage of that oh-so-American invention – Fast Food! Please, do not go into a not-so-fast food joint and expect them to elongate the space-time continuum simply to enable you to get your three course meal in fifteen minutes. It just isn’t happening.

The opposite offense to the eating out code is what you might call “overstays.” These are folks who confuse restaurants with coffee shops and bars. If you are out at Starbucks or one of its clones, no one cares if you sit there for four hours catching up with old friends. That’s because you sitting at one of their tables doesn’t affect their income. The Barista has already gotten both your payment and her tip and your loitering doesn’t keep her from getting the next guy’s money or keeping her from going home. It isn’t the same at restaurants. If you are at my table significantly longer than it takes you to eat and chat for a moment, you are keeping me from getting the next table, and no new table translate to no new money. Or, if it’s the end of the night, you could well be keeping me from going home to my wife and son.

Here’s an easy way to avoid this problem. If you’re going to be sitting at your table for a while during the busy time (12:00 -1:00, 6:00-8:00) tell the server that it’s going to be a bit and that you’re going to add to the tip accordingly. DO NOT tell him this and then leave a token amount as the extra. This is known as a “verbal tip” and is frankly more offensive than not adding anything at all. If you’re going to stay the length of an additional dinner, pay him the tip-value of an additional dinner since that’s what it’s costing him for you to stay seated.

If it’s getting past the normal lunchtime or towards closing time and the restaurant is clearing out but you want to keep talking, that’s fine. However, be considerate of your server. Maybe she is there until closing and it doesn’t matter whether you stay or go, but maybe she’s been there since 10 am and would like to go home sometime before she needs to get up to do it all over again. Ask her about it. If she can leave once you’ve paid, hand over her money and keep on chatting. If she has to wait until you’ve left so she can clean up your mess, pay and leave so she can deal with those parts of her life that don’t involve tending to your whims. There’s bound to be a coffee shop around the corner where no one cares how long you stay.

Now you’re probably wondering at this point what on earth this has to do with Fractured Saints. After all, so far this has been nothing more than a peculiar (and rather self-serving) rant. Well here’s the tie-in. Restaurant etiquette is an area of life where the fractured nature of the saints seems to come to the fore all too often. Off all the socio-economic groups that seem the most prone to be rude, stingy, or otherwise inconsiderate, there are few, if any, that stand out in servers’ minds so much as “Church People.” In this situation, we are the bad guys.

If you are a waiter laboring on Sunday morning, you’re likely to be run off your feet with special orders, “I don’t care if you have customers, I need all my salad toppings served on individual plates” tipped miserly, “I gave all my extra money to the Lord’s work” and looked at self-righteously, “Decent people would be at church right now.” God have mercy on you if you happen to be taking care of a group of Christians! Like some dangerously radioactive material, Church People become more difficult the more of them come together. I once worked a shift during a break from the convention held by a prominent (and self-promoting) Christian leader. I have never dealt with such high-maintenance, short-tempered people. They couldn’t grasp the concept that two bus-loads of people cannot all be 1. Seated at the same time 2. Fed at the same time and 3. All be back to their conference in less than an hour. What impression of Christianity do you think my co-workers left with that day?

You cannot be responsible for the behavior of your brothers and sisters in Christ. They are going to do what they are going to do. You also cannot change the perceptions that service industry types have of Christians if they are determined to dislike us. You can, however, be responsible for the way you act. You can’t fix the problem, but you sure can avoid adding to it. Whether you always want to think about it or not, you, as the Bride of Christ, bear your Bridegroom’s name everywhere you go. We are the Body of Christ. Our behavior to the world and to this particular, invisible segment of the world, is the main image of Christ that anyone out there sees. Live your life accordingly.

By Timothy Padgett

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.” 1 Corinthians 12:5-6

This summer makes for my first break from seminary life since the fall of 2003. In these five-plus years of being a “professional Christian” I came to realize that seminary is a lot like high school. For every “focus of ministry” there is a clique with privileges for the in-group and a semi-respectful affection for those not so fortunate to be in the club. For some of these it has been a particular pleasure to witness the dance of a given calling as it works itself out in the life of a brother or sister. For others, it has been more akin to having a run-in with the head cheerleader and her minions. The trick is everybody thinks theirs is the cool group that patiently puts up with the chess club.

The worst of these is the “Social Justice” crowd. To this crew, if you are not living in [fill in the blank urban area], then you simply aren’t living out the gospel. Mostly hailing from the affluent suburbs, they now makes trips back home to rail at the apathy of the comfortable Christians, to remind themselves why it so good not to be self-righteous like the soccer moms, and to beg for money for their newest inner-city vegetable garden. If you suggest that you think God might be calling you to a small church in the countryside or that Jesus might be at work in, perish the thought, the SUBURBS!!!, then just be prepared to be met with pitying smiles most often reserved for those who’ve lost their marbles.

The next pesky group is the missions clique. Having gone on domestic missions is okay, but if you really want to stand out/fit in, you’ll arrange to have been a real Christian and spent time overseas. Not just a little bit, mind you, but you really need to have been “in the field” long enough to become more than an American. You see, the best way to get beyond your Ameri-centric view of the world is point out how much better [fill in the blank with a foreign culture] does things. If anyone questions how being knee-jerk anti-American is superior to being knee-jerk pro-American, you can expect this to elicit from this former American to compassionately pat you on your shoulder in sympathy for your parochial ways of thinking.

Finally there is the outreach posse. With these guys you’d better have read your Camus with your black coffee at [fill in the blank independent coffee house] this morning or don’t even bother showing up. This crowd doesn’t fall for the elitism of the mass of Christians so focused on their Christian ways that they can’t relate to the non-Christians around them. Not only have they seen the latest movies, but they’ve written a lucid commentary about them on their edgy blogs. They have their finger on the pulse of the world so well that . . . wait a minute . . . this is my clique. My group isn’t like those other guys. Are they?

It’s annoying that the social justice fans conflate compassion and justice. They say we need to be like Jesus and work for those suffering but fail to note that what made Christ’s act amazing was that he died for the unjust. It gets on my nerves that the missions devotees think that a few years overseas puts them in a privileged vantage point from which to objectively judge the motivations of all critics. And it galls me that my own part of the Body acts like the key to the Christian life is to spend as little time around fellow Christians as possible. But these are not what bother the most.

The worst thing about these or any other sub-group within Christianity is that they don’t live like what they are: a sub-group of a larger body. Each of us has our attendant strengths. With all sincerity, I thank God for the compassion of the brothers and sisters who cry for the pain of poverty and injustice and for the passion of those who long to see the nations come to Christ. I even thank God for my cronies who long to build bridges to the lost and upend preconceptions about Christianity. For all this good it would be a tragedy for us to consider that our particular group is the one that most lives the gospel. The Bible could not be more plain about this. We retain our individual gifts and skills as given by God, but we must always remember that our gift is not the only gift. Our calling is not the only calling. No matter the intensity of our zeal, it is when we look to our own as the only way to be a Christian that we have failed to truly live out the gospel in our lives.

“Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, ‘Are you for us or for our enemies?’ ‘Neither’ he replied.” Joshua 5:13-14a

Back in the fall of 1994, some friends of mine and I had gathered to hang out one Tuesday evening. We interrupted our planned activities to check out how the mid-term congressional elections were going. I don’t think any of us was expecting anything significant to happen any more than we would expect the Yankees to get blown away by a little league team. The Democrats had controlled the Congress as long as any of us could remember and we all just assumed that this was the way things were.

We were all therefore quite surprised to see that not only were the Dems not walking away with the “big game” but that the Republicans had won the day. I’m not sure any of us conservative boys knew what to do once we found that “our team” was in power. We were happy to be sure. We really hoped that now the ridiculously large budgets could be cut and maybe some morality would be returned to politics. We hoped that America could now deal with some of the sins in our midst.

This is not to say that there were no words of caution. I overheard a conversation where a woman was gushing of the GOP’s victory and how God had blessed America with a new hope. To this her discussion partner simply replied that rather now instead of having godless Democrats running the show the country was in the hands of godless Republicans. Put this way it didn’t seem so rosy.

As we all well know this gloomy prediction was borne out in spades. After years of hearing loyalty to the Republican Party all be equated to faith in God, many of my erstwhile conservative friends have found themselves looking for something more. They looked in disgust at Christian leaders who publicly wondered if someone could be a Christian and not a Republican.

How, they asked, could pastors justify blaring conservative talk radio in their church offices? What kind of witness was it to hostile non-Christians when ministers littered their lawns with “Bush for President” placards? Seeing this genuine error my cohorts vowed to be different. With their “GOD IS NOT A REPUBLICAN! . . . or a democrat” bumper stickers firmly in place they sought never to live as though God could be contained within a single human political party.

They found their champion in the past few years in the person of Barack Obama. There was just something about him that told you he was a different sort of man. He spoke to the issues that they cared about and in a way that reached them deep in their hearts. It was not so much the issues that he had championed but the very core of the man that told them “Here is a way for hope.”

With a wholehearted sense of enthusiasm they have filled his rosters for getting out the vote and voting themselves. Since he was so clearly the right man for the job they looked with astonishment at those of us who just didn’t seem to get it. Those who were against him were written off as trapped by the old way of thinking. Christians who still voted Republican were plainly stuck in the group-think mentality that associated GOD and GOP. The clear way for us to avoid being lemmings for the Right-Wing machine was all to go vote for the Democrats in 2008.

They wondered how someone could be a Christian and not vote for Obama. They passionately defended their right as public Christians to decorate their lawns with Obama placards. My fellow seminarians who would have rebuked anyone for having a “W” bumper sticker now wore t-shirts emblazoned with Obama’s image. Christian leaders wrote articles saying how this election was a sign that America was finally dealing with the sins in her midst. They now have hope that some of the wasteful budgets could be cut and some morality could return to politics.

Let us imagine for a moment that we were able to step into our Delorean and race it up to 88 mph. Jumping ahead into the future a few years what will we see? Will today’s free-thinkers be the ones cursed as blinkered? Will the younger siblings or children of today’s Obama fans sport “GOD IS NOT A DEMOCRAT! . . . or a republican” stickers? What will the young Christian voters in the 2018 mid-term election think of all the effusive praise heaped upon our new President? Will they note the irony of it all?