Hello all. I don't think I will be posting to this blog any more, or at least for a long while. My summer in the Czech is over. I've had all of the experiences, and my next step is process them and practice them. With a full course load in my second year in seminary and my first real job staring me in the face, I'll have a lot more thinking and wondering over the next year. If you would like to follow me in my next big adventure, you can tune into my new blog:
http://taxcollectorsandsinners.blogspot.com/
There's also a link on my profile page.
Thank you all for your support and thoughts this summer. I have enjoyed reading your comments and have been encouraged to know that my second family was keeping up with me across the pond :)
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Another question from an Atheist
My atheist friend from college sent me this message on facebook:
AF: i had this question last night. Do you find it hard being a christian and an american? What I mean by that is your particular brand of christianity, as opposed say [legalistic christians], seems to be about piety, being humble and putting everyone on a level playing field. Now Americans are not that way with resource use. We use a lot of stuff and dump our nasty trash in other countries? so does that bother you, or make it hard? This is not meant to be a douche question.
I've included this for two reasons:
1. This is a genuine, honest question from someone who is not a Christian. Even though he is asking kindly, he's asking what should be a tough question. Have you ever thought about this issue? Do you know what you would say if a non-Christian asked you? Is your opinion on this knee-jerk or partisan? Since Jesus is our reason for believing, how does he tie in?
2. My reply is really long and pretty rambling and summarizes my thoughts for the summer. What my friend unwittingly did was give me a way to spit out all of the thoughts that I've been having, wrapped around the central theme of consumption. This facebook exchange is my informal, disorganized capstone for the summer specifically as it applies to the life I'm returning to in the States:
ME: This is a really interesting question, particularly since you specified if it's American consumerism (AC) that gets in the way of being Christian.
This is a long response. You asked something that hit on things that have been going through my mind a lot this summer. Here's everything I'm thinking, with headings. Feel free to look at what you think is useful.
Discussion of why I AC bothers me:
Before this summer, I would say Yes, it totally does get in the way of being Christian. Sometimes, when I see the possessions that Christians have, I think 'can you look Jesus in the face and justify that purchase?' My pastoral voice says we're missing something by buying so many things (and the greek word for sin actually means 'miss the mark').
And now that I'm almost done with my assignment...AC has been on my mind a lot. CZ is doing very well financially (which a church in TX obviously didn't know when they sent 500 toothbrushes. They apparently thought Central Europe looks like this: http://www.restromania.ro/images/people/wm_mari/Olt_Radomiresti_Floarea.jpg), but they are still in a totally different place than us. For instance, most people wear the same outfit a couple days in a row, because clothes are too expensive to have lots. My hosts in Slovakia have no dishwasher or dryer and take the bus whenever they can, even thought they have a car. I felt really conspicuous when I mentioned anything that alluded to my wealth, like private college or studying abroad. And yes, I felt uncomfortable as a Christian, like something is wrong here.
I glanced at a book that Shane, one of my hosts, just bought about Christian responsibility in the world. There was a short story about the author returning from a long stay in Sudan and being completely disgusted with the amount of time, money and chemicals that his neighbor spent to make his teeny urban front yard look perfect, when that grass would never contribute anything other than aesthetics to offset its consumption. And now that I look around...Central Europeans really love growing roses, but generally, all available yard space is for growing food, not even luxury food, but staples, like potatoes and cabbage. People rent off-site gardens that they have to make a trip to get to, so that they can grow food. And my yard at home...has lots and lots of grass, with just two raised veggie beds in the back. We have a compost pile we never use, because it's annoying to bury smelly stuff. And meanwhile, foodbanks will accept fresh donations, my friend in TX has a nonprofit distributing garden supplies so that people can feed themselves, and my church is determined to put out processed donuts at every opportunity...yeah, there are some big things wrong here. It's like learning that most american kids are malnourished, because they don't consume any vitamins. We've got all this crap in America and none of it is from God.
So that's been my thoughts. And with the examples you gave...I forget that our consumerism actually making the world a worse place through climate change and resource depletion. You make a good point in bringing that up. It's something I need to think about more. Part of it relates to what I was upset about above--if we consume less, we aren't stealing from other, poor nations. But it's hard to see where something like the BP spill overlaps, because that can't really be blamed on careless consumers. It's a voting issue, which is certainly very important for Christians to care about, but that's another issue from how much processed corn you eat, you know?
Either way, AC is a problem for the Church, because it 1. distracts us from the beautiful gifts that God has given to us (like apples from a tree, no a mcdonalds minimum wage pie) and 2. is actively hurting people (if corn subsidy were a person, i'd punch them in the face. do you know how many problems that subsidy causes? you probably do, ben 'n jerries hippy)
So above is why AC bothers me. But is it harder for me personally to be Christian?
Because of where I am in school/life, it's really hard to think of my faith in isolation. I'm in the Church and it's made of people like me...we're all in it together, even if we can't get along. When I think of faults I have, I think of how those faults are encouraged/supported by the Christian establishment (like gluttony...that is a highly permissible sin, particularly in Baptist life, definitely in Southern Baptist Life) or alternately, how I would do better to be more involved in the Church, because I would have support to be better.
So when I think about AC, I think about how the whole church would be closer to God's plan if we spent less and used less. Like Roma camp this week...we didn't have official VBS supplies and the kids still had a great time. But since Christians really are dependent on each other, even if they don't realize it, that means that we are all dragging each other down by focusing on newer buildings instead of helping people.
But I'm still speaking in generalities, not for me personally. You know AF, I'll have to see when I go back. I really want to leverage my time here to get my church pumped about broadening its horizons. If there is absolutely no interest in learning from the Christians here...I'll be very disappointed and say yes, it's hard to be Christian and American, because we have old habits. The Christians in CZ are all adult converts, so they have decide on things issue by issue, and they can't be choosy about who they let in. Things are more informal, because they don't have a lot of church professionals, but things are also much more deliberate and serious, because people are taking a status blow to be Christian, so they aren't doing it flippantly. I really, really, really want to be able to convey the urgent love I have felt here, because we could use it in America.
BUT ON THE OTHER HAND:
It's easier for me to be Christian in the US, because I don't have to fight for a place to belong. The support for women in ministry is strong and keeps growing. Even Catholics are for it. I wouldn't have the support to be a pastor here, for instance.
And I'm really excited about working with MCC (Metropolitan Community Church) and very aware that I am not a trailblazer in this ministry--I'm inheriting a lot of other people's hard work. Most places with emerging Christianity (CZ is a small example, it's still overwhelmingly atheist, but Africa, for instance) are conservative, which I don't reject out of hand, but it does limit the inclusive options.
And from what I've seen here...there is something that American style efficiency can contribute.
So it's not all bad being Christian in America. It has its own limitations and challenges, like anywhere. Unfortunately, we don't seem to be very aware that these limitations actually exist and are holding us back. I hope I can help change that.
And sorry again for spewing two pages at you. This is what I think about most of the time, so I have a lot of thoughts about it, and I obviously threw a lot of them at you.
Kendall
AF: i had this question last night. Do you find it hard being a christian and an american? What I mean by that is your particular brand of christianity, as opposed say [legalistic christians], seems to be about piety, being humble and putting everyone on a level playing field. Now Americans are not that way with resource use. We use a lot of stuff and dump our nasty trash in other countries? so does that bother you, or make it hard? This is not meant to be a douche question.
I've included this for two reasons:
1. This is a genuine, honest question from someone who is not a Christian. Even though he is asking kindly, he's asking what should be a tough question. Have you ever thought about this issue? Do you know what you would say if a non-Christian asked you? Is your opinion on this knee-jerk or partisan? Since Jesus is our reason for believing, how does he tie in?
2. My reply is really long and pretty rambling and summarizes my thoughts for the summer. What my friend unwittingly did was give me a way to spit out all of the thoughts that I've been having, wrapped around the central theme of consumption. This facebook exchange is my informal, disorganized capstone for the summer specifically as it applies to the life I'm returning to in the States:
ME: This is a really interesting question, particularly since you specified if it's American consumerism (AC) that gets in the way of being Christian.
This is a long response. You asked something that hit on things that have been going through my mind a lot this summer. Here's everything I'm thinking, with headings. Feel free to look at what you think is useful.
Discussion of why I AC bothers me:
Before this summer, I would say Yes, it totally does get in the way of being Christian. Sometimes, when I see the possessions that Christians have, I think 'can you look Jesus in the face and justify that purchase?' My pastoral voice says we're missing something by buying so many things (and the greek word for sin actually means 'miss the mark').
And now that I'm almost done with my assignment...AC has been on my mind a lot. CZ is doing very well financially (which a church in TX obviously didn't know when they sent 500 toothbrushes. They apparently thought Central Europe looks like this: http://www.restromania.ro/images/people/wm_mari/Olt_Radomiresti_Floarea.jpg), but they are still in a totally different place than us. For instance, most people wear the same outfit a couple days in a row, because clothes are too expensive to have lots. My hosts in Slovakia have no dishwasher or dryer and take the bus whenever they can, even thought they have a car. I felt really conspicuous when I mentioned anything that alluded to my wealth, like private college or studying abroad. And yes, I felt uncomfortable as a Christian, like something is wrong here.
I glanced at a book that Shane, one of my hosts, just bought about Christian responsibility in the world. There was a short story about the author returning from a long stay in Sudan and being completely disgusted with the amount of time, money and chemicals that his neighbor spent to make his teeny urban front yard look perfect, when that grass would never contribute anything other than aesthetics to offset its consumption. And now that I look around...Central Europeans really love growing roses, but generally, all available yard space is for growing food, not even luxury food, but staples, like potatoes and cabbage. People rent off-site gardens that they have to make a trip to get to, so that they can grow food. And my yard at home...has lots and lots of grass, with just two raised veggie beds in the back. We have a compost pile we never use, because it's annoying to bury smelly stuff. And meanwhile, foodbanks will accept fresh donations, my friend in TX has a nonprofit distributing garden supplies so that people can feed themselves, and my church is determined to put out processed donuts at every opportunity...yeah, there are some big things wrong here. It's like learning that most american kids are malnourished, because they don't consume any vitamins. We've got all this crap in America and none of it is from God.
So that's been my thoughts. And with the examples you gave...I forget that our consumerism actually making the world a worse place through climate change and resource depletion. You make a good point in bringing that up. It's something I need to think about more. Part of it relates to what I was upset about above--if we consume less, we aren't stealing from other, poor nations. But it's hard to see where something like the BP spill overlaps, because that can't really be blamed on careless consumers. It's a voting issue, which is certainly very important for Christians to care about, but that's another issue from how much processed corn you eat, you know?
Either way, AC is a problem for the Church, because it 1. distracts us from the beautiful gifts that God has given to us (like apples from a tree, no a mcdonalds minimum wage pie) and 2. is actively hurting people (if corn subsidy were a person, i'd punch them in the face. do you know how many problems that subsidy causes? you probably do, ben 'n jerries hippy)
So above is why AC bothers me. But is it harder for me personally to be Christian?
Because of where I am in school/life, it's really hard to think of my faith in isolation. I'm in the Church and it's made of people like me...we're all in it together, even if we can't get along. When I think of faults I have, I think of how those faults are encouraged/supported by the Christian establishment (like gluttony...that is a highly permissible sin, particularly in Baptist life, definitely in Southern Baptist Life) or alternately, how I would do better to be more involved in the Church, because I would have support to be better.
So when I think about AC, I think about how the whole church would be closer to God's plan if we spent less and used less. Like Roma camp this week...we didn't have official VBS supplies and the kids still had a great time. But since Christians really are dependent on each other, even if they don't realize it, that means that we are all dragging each other down by focusing on newer buildings instead of helping people.
But I'm still speaking in generalities, not for me personally. You know AF, I'll have to see when I go back. I really want to leverage my time here to get my church pumped about broadening its horizons. If there is absolutely no interest in learning from the Christians here...I'll be very disappointed and say yes, it's hard to be Christian and American, because we have old habits. The Christians in CZ are all adult converts, so they have decide on things issue by issue, and they can't be choosy about who they let in. Things are more informal, because they don't have a lot of church professionals, but things are also much more deliberate and serious, because people are taking a status blow to be Christian, so they aren't doing it flippantly. I really, really, really want to be able to convey the urgent love I have felt here, because we could use it in America.
BUT ON THE OTHER HAND:
It's easier for me to be Christian in the US, because I don't have to fight for a place to belong. The support for women in ministry is strong and keeps growing. Even Catholics are for it. I wouldn't have the support to be a pastor here, for instance.
And I'm really excited about working with MCC (Metropolitan Community Church) and very aware that I am not a trailblazer in this ministry--I'm inheriting a lot of other people's hard work. Most places with emerging Christianity (CZ is a small example, it's still overwhelmingly atheist, but Africa, for instance) are conservative, which I don't reject out of hand, but it does limit the inclusive options.
And from what I've seen here...there is something that American style efficiency can contribute.
So it's not all bad being Christian in America. It has its own limitations and challenges, like anywhere. Unfortunately, we don't seem to be very aware that these limitations actually exist and are holding us back. I hope I can help change that.
And sorry again for spewing two pages at you. This is what I think about most of the time, so I have a lot of thoughts about it, and I obviously threw a lot of them at you.
Kendall
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
