B"H

I think it’s fair to say that there is a general consensus in this country right now, especially among Afro-Americans, that our country needs to engage in a deep and serious conversation about race. If anyone doubts it, just review the news headlines over the past 12 months; the racist tirade of Michael Richards, the racist and insensitive remarks of Don Imus, white church-goers singing hymns in blackface, the public question raised in the Presidential campaign, “Is Barack Obama ‘black’ enough?”, the double standard of punishment and justice for the Jena 6, and now the fallout over the remarks of Fox News TV host Bill O’Reilly.

I fear that perhaps it will take an event of greater catastrophic significance before we begin to take up this topic seriously. Time after time I’ve heard it said that now is the time to speak ‘heart to heart’ about race, and yet comments are still made like, “Can’t we give Bill O’Reilly a pass due to his ignorance?”

I’d like to address this last incident, and add my opinion to the mix. I think that we should not give Bill O’Reilly a pass precisely because this is a great opportunity to take our conversation about race a step deeper to the next level. In saying this, I am by no means suggesting we gang up on Mr. O’Reilly and seek his censure or worse in a manner similar to Don Imus. I think what Mr. O’Reilly said was very revealing and it could serve as an excellent object lesson without costing the gentleman his job.

Bill O’Reilly & Unintentional Racism

(First, a little background via some direct quotes of Bill O’Reilly’s remarks.)

Last week our brother Ed Gilbreath wrote a post on Racism vs. Gracism. In this piece Ed mentions a new book out by Pastor David Anderson entitled Gracism: The Art of Inclusion. You can read an interview Ed did with Dr. Anderson in the current edition of Today’s Christian magazine.  In this same post Ed mentions an article in the Chicago Tribune by columnist Clarence Page and he suggests that this is an example of gracism. Using the following definition of gracism given by Dr. Anderson in that interview, I tend to disagree with my brother on this point. You can read my comment on Ed’s blog here.

(Ed G.) What is Gracism?

(Dr. Anderson) Gracism is the positive extension of favor to people, both in spite of and because of color, class, or culture. It's not affirmative action but intentional actions of grace and affirmation. So whenever we see a racist act, instead of responding in a way that is punitive, gracism calls us to respond in the way that God—that Jesus— might respond.

 

The reason I mention this post by brother Ed and the article by Clarence Page is because the subject of Mr. Page’s article is the Bill O’Reilly incident. Here are a few quotes from that article.

Giving soft bigotry a break

Clarence Page

September 30, 2007

Does ignorance about race make you a racist? That boiling question bubbles at the heart of the controversy that Fox News star Bill O'Reilly's kicked up with his poorly received compliments of black diners in a New York restaurant. My answer is, no, ignorance about race does not always make you a racist, but it can make you sound like one.

That's O'Reilly's problem. O'Reilly has been vilified recently by the liberal-leaning Web site Media Matters for America for insinuating how surprised he was to discover how (Gasp!) civilized black folks behaved while dining in Sylvia's, one of (Double gasp!) Harlem's best-known restaurants.

"I couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia's restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City," he marveled. "I mean, it was exactly the same, even though it's run by blacks, primarily black patronship."

Yup, they had knives, forks and everything! Just like white folks!

"It was like going into an Italian restaurant in an all-white suburb in the sense of people [who] were sitting there," he said, "and they were ordering and having fun. And there wasn't any kind of craziness at all."

Nope, no lap dancing, either.

"There wasn't one person in Sylvia's who was screaming, 'M-F-er, I want more iced tea! ' " O'Reilly said, sounding almost disappointed.

I find these comments by Mr. O’Reilly quite appalling and in my comment on Ed’s blog I say that this is typical of a mindset of cultural imperialism. Many of our white brothers and sisters come to the table truly wanting to help our cause and offer their services. When they assume that the standards we should all strive to achieve are white standards, then we have a problem. This goes back, once again, to the issue of white people (and some people of color) learning the hard lesson of the unspoken assumption of white (cultural) supremacy.  When we come together we need to recognize that none of us has a monopoly on all the right answers. There are lots of positive things that we can learn from each other, but we must first adopt an attitude of humility and become teachable. The ignorance of white and black liberals and the condescension and patronizing attitudes that accompanied their participation in the Civil Rights movement is one prominent reason why many Afro-Americans today have resigned and moved towards affirming black nationalism and other forms of separatism.

At worst, O'Reilly appears to be afflicted with what President Bush calls "the soft bigotry of low expectations."

But that's OK. How else will O'Reilly, I or anybody else learn anything if we don't make a few boneheaded mistakes once in a while? My greater fear than hearing O'Reilly talk himself into a politically incorrect hole is the silence of those afraid to say anything about race for fear of offending someone. We need more candid talk about race and class, not less.

Here is where I whole heartily agree with Mr. Page and why I insist that we NOT give Bill O’Reilly a pass. Should he be tarred and feathered? I say no, but I feel that he must be confronted and if this is done in a gracious manner (gracism in action), then perhaps our conversation and dialogue can move us forward.

Blessings,

Shlomo

B"H

Well, last week was extremely busy for our family. On Sunday morning at around 6 AM we arrived back in town after an 11 day vacation/road trip. For 7 of those 11 days the outside temperature was over 100 degrees F. Since our van doesn't have any freon in the a/c unit we rented a Mazda 3 for this trip and what a blessing that was. For hours on end as we drove through Georgia, North Carolina and Kentucky the temperature registered around 104. Although this car was sort of small, we managed to fit all our bags and a cooler in and still ride in relative comfort. Good thing it was only the three of us traveling I guess.

After being home only a few hours, I dropped Mim off at LHOC (Living Hope of Calvary), then ran a few errands and returned with Penninah to partake in the monthly pot-luck. By 6 PM of course, I was back here at my post in the NOC (network operations center).

On Monday, Haley and Monroe called and said that they would be in our area and asked if they could stay with us a few days.

I am blessed to be a real part of their lives, so it was a pleasure to host them and to see baby Zadok in person too.

On Thursday, just after Haley, Monroe and Zadok departed, we spent the day cleaning and preparing for a visit from Marlene and her son Peter.

They are friends we met at a Messianic Jewish congregation back on Long Island in the late 90's. Ha ha ha, instead of receiving Marlene and Peter on Thursday, we got pounded by several severe thunderstorms and a tornado warning. Because of the massive storms, our friends were delayed at JFK airport for nearly 17 hours! On Friday morning, instead of Thursday night, we picked Marlene and Peter up and thus began another wild day in the life of Shlomo, Penninah et al. We stopped at an IHOP (ha ha ha, the pancake place NOT the Int'l House of Prayer) and ate a nice breakfast. After that we came back to the hacienda and let Marlene and Peter meet Sophie and Mandy and unload their bags. Shortly after that I drove the group down to the Shedd Aquarium for a few hours. Later that night our friends Sandy and Dick joined us for a wonderful Shabbat meal.

On Saturday, after a somewhat late start, we went as a group to the Museum of Science and Industry. Unfortunately, when we got there it was too late to see hardly anything that interested us, other than the general exhibits. After a short discussion we decided to leave rather than just settle and we spent the rest of the day and night at Navy Pier and downtown Chicago. Although Chicago is a mere dwarf compared to NYC, this very fact enhances its appeal. There are lots of fun and attractive places to eat and sightsee, and there are far less crowds and hassles to deal with here. I think that we all had a great time, just being together, and the lovely sights and night life of the city made it all the more wonderful.

On Sunday afternoon, right around 2 PM, we dropped Marlene and Peter off at O'Hare airport and said our last goodbyes. At 6 PM, as usual, I was back here in the NOC, answering calls and monitoring the phone systems and the data network. Thus, the beat goes on.

So, I hope that I'm now making a new start on writing. I have been saying this over and over for several months I know, but I think I will prove things are truly different this time.

I have voiced my disappointment at times over the fact that I get very few substantial comments in response to my posts. One friend, Pastor Chris Brooks, has been prompting me to abandon Xanga and focus more on e-blogger, blogspot or wordpress. I visit the sites of a lot of cyber-friends who are regulars there, but for the most part I like the look and feel of my Xanga site better. One simple solution to this dilemma is to follow the lead of Pastor Steve L. He has both a blogger account and a Xanga site and he posts to both of them. I also have both accounts, so this may soon be the course that I will take.

During the days of our traveling and visiting, I have had some very interesting conversations. One topic that came up several times recently was the distinction between a community and a congregation. I plan to share some of my thoughts and "odd ideas" on this topic in near future post.

GOD's blessing on you all, in the mighty name of Yeshua our Messiah,

Shlomo

B"H

This year the UMJC (Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations) is holding its annual conference here in the Chicagoland area. Tomorrow, Thursday, I am going with some friends to visit and hang out. Right now I don't have any firm plans for attending any of the teaching seminars. Instead, I plan to see some old friends and check out the merchandize tables. Since the conference goes through Saturday, I may return and participate in some of the early morning prayer sessions, but being faced with nearly an hour's drive from here I won't promise to make it there by 7:45 AM.

Although I often engage topics here like race relations and unity in the Body of believers, many of you may know that I spent 15 years (1976 - 1989) in a limbo place, being involved in various churches and visiting several different Messianic Synagogues, mostly on Long Island, NY. Starting in 1990, Penninah and I made a deliberate decision to join a Messianic congregation and become formal members of the movement. For the next 13 years or so (1990 - 2003), we visited various churches, but kept closer ties and memberships in a number of Messianic Synagogues both on Long Island and here in Illinois. Ever since the Summer of 2003 I have been only loosely connected to the Messianic movement. To make things even more complicated and confusing, last August I started attending a local Baptist (GBC) congregation and sometime this November we may actually join.

Well, in the words of Jerry Garcia, "What a long strange trip it's been." As many of you may or may not know, I do a lot of reading and research. The Emerging Church and its many streams and tributaries has been high on my list for several years now. While I don't agree with all of the assertions of post-modernism, I recognize that the modern mind is woefully out of touch with our current culture. I wish I could draw all of my many friends from these varied and diverse subcultures together and cause them to see how we desparately need each other.

As I write this post I think back to this same theme that I addressed last year (May 19, 2006). For those of you who didn't read it then I am going to repost here now. I hope this isn't too boring to my friends who have known me longer.

May 19, 2006

I have learned to appreciate and love believers from all sorts of backgrounds and traditions. I like to share a teaching from 1 Cor chapters 1 - 3. In that passage Paul berates the believers for being carnal or worldly in their thinking because they allowed themselves to be divided according to who their teachers were. Some were followers of Cephas (Peter), some followed Apollos and others were disciples of Paul or Barnabas. Paul clearly rebukes them saying that by dividing along these lines they are showing the evidence that they are not really mature and are walking after human or worldly thinking. He wanted to teach them many other spiritual lessons, but he couldn't, because they weren't mature enough to handle it. (Check out the Bible passages yourself and see if I'm correct in my interpretation.) Who is Cephas? Who is Apollos or Paul? They are merely the servants of GOD through whom the Word was preached. One plants and another waters, but GOD causes the growth and increase according to His own purposes. 1 Cor 3: 1 - 7 

Suppose we change these names and then consider how it might sound.

For while one says, I am of Luther; and another, I am of Calvin or Wesley; are you not carnal? Who then is Luther and who is Calvin or Wesley, etc and etc except ministers by whom you have believed?   1 Cor 3: 4 - 5

Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; Whether Finney or Moody or Billy Graham, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And you belong to the Messiah; and the Messiah belongs to GOD.

1 Cor 3: 21 - 23  .

Our past as believers is filled with heartache and tragedy. Exclusion and hatred were visited by one group on another even to the point of violence and death. All in the name of GOD, Who is love and ever compassionate.

We desperately need each other. GOD has purposely not given all of His fullness to any one group or individual. If we are ever going to progress and begin to reflect GOD's glory, then we need to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit as He speaks through the many different movements within Church History. Is GOD at work among the Jesus Freaks and left over Christian Hippies? What about the Crusts and those who are Emergent and Emerging? Is GOD interested in healing the rift between Blacks and Whites? And now, as we move beyond a mere binary understanding, what about our Asian, Latin, Native American brethren and others? What about the chasm between the Jewish and non-Jewish disciples? Catholics, Anglicans, Orthodox (Russian, Greek, Eastern, Antiochian, etc.). How can we ever overcome the centuries of mistreatment and misunderstanding? Will Jesus' prayer in JN 17 ever be fulfilled? "Father I pray that they may be one as we are one in order that the world may believe that You have sent me."

I pray that we might soon learn to love one another in deed and in truth, not just with our words. I see many believers exploring paths from the past in an attempt to gain greater depth to their faith and I think this is good. While I may not be personally interested in some of the aspects of high church traditions, I certainly recognize that there is so much that I don't know that I am therefore hesitant to be critical of things I have little or no knowledge of.

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The Hebrew phrase tikkun olam is generally used in the sense of healing or restoring this present world or the relationships between mankind and his environment. Consider this following description taken from the website of the UMJC:

Blessings in the name of Yeshua Adonaynu (Jesus our Lord),

Shlomo

B"H

Today, July 9, 2007, the NAACP is holding its national convention in Detroit. As part of the kick-off ceremonies a mock funeral is being held at the Hart Plaza. Prompted in part, by several recent national events, (the Michael Richards tirade at the Comedy Club and the radio remarks of shock jock Don Imus), the NAACP is calling for a cessation of the use of the word nigger. While there is still much debate over the effectiveness of such an event, this writer extends loud applause in that the conversation on race is being kept alive in the public forum.

Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, who is the President of Spelman College in Atlanta, Ga., recently authored a new book entitled, Can We Talk About Race? The assumption of the book is that America is greatly suffering still from the wounds of her racial past and that part of our healing is contained in our ability to face that past and find forgiveness. To simply try to move on and ignore the ugliness of our earlier history only causes our problems to grow under the surface. Like a wound which isn’t properly cleaned and dressed, our past is becoming infected and spreading to other parts of our national body often disguised and unrecognized.

B"H

It's 5:55 AM. I am just finishing a short shift (4 hours 2AM - 6AM) as a favor to my co-worker Mike. He needed to take off early so he could rest up and then get together with his family for Father's Day. I don't mind helping him out like this, and right now we could really use the extra money.

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In case anyone is wondering about the title of this post, it's a pun based on yesterday's events. “What happened?” you may ask. Well, it all started as I was on my way to the Men's Bible Study at our congregation. Since we only live about a mile away from the church building, Penninah suggested, and I agreed, that it would be the responsible thing to do, to use my bike rather than take the car. It was also my turn to pick up the pastries for the group. I set out from our house on my bike at about 7:55 carrying a plastic bag with my Bible and a notebook in it. Just about 2 blocks down the road my cell phone rang.

• ring ring ..... ring ring
• "Hello, Shlomo speaking."
• "Hey, this is Nevin. Johnny is here and he already brought a bunch of donuts, so you don't have to stop for them unless you're already in the store."
• "No, I didn't get there yet, but I'm on my way."
• "Oh ok, see you then."
• "Yep, see you ........."
• "AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
• "Oh my! Hey are you alright?"
• "Can you move or get up?"
• "Etc & etc ....."

What took place just as I was ending my call with Nevin is the plastic bag with my Bible and notebook got caught in the spokes of the front tire and suddenly I went crashing into the road. A few people passing by and then several other neighbors who knew me then came over to check things out and try to help me. I got banged up a bit and have multiple cuts and scratches on both hands, but most notable is the bruises on my face. My teeth were hurting and I was immediately afraid that I may have lost or broken one or more. My upper lip was raw and bleeding as was also my right elbow.

Paul, one of our friends and neighbors, ran the two blocks back to our house and rang the bell to inform Penninah that I had been hurt. Shortly, Penninah and Miriam came in the car with ice, wet towels and worried looks. Another friend, Mary, gave me ice and water so I could rinse my mouth and try to see just how badly I was injured. The Police were on the scene quickly, as well as an ambulance. There's a street festival in our neighborhood this weekend so I wasn't surprised to see the Police arrive so soon. The ambulance on the other hand only caused me to see $$$ signs before my eyes. I told the driver that I didn't think I would be needing his services, but thanks for the concern anyway.

Penninah, Miriam and I went home and then started to weigh our options for what to do next - go to the clinic, go to the county hospital, see a dentist, etc. Since we don't have any health insurance, all medical decisions have to include financial concerns. We decided to go to the dental clinic, but on the way out of the neighborhood, we tried to find one of the several nurses we know who might give some advice as to whether I might need stitches in my lip or not. After driving around the corner and waiting just a few short minutes, Susan came over and told me that she thought I would need stitches. With that news, Penninah and I headed off to Lawndale, a neighborhood on the west side of Chicago. This is about a 35 - 40 minute ride from our house.

At the clinic, Dr. Mangram was very gracious and gentle. He took a bunch of X-rays and poked around in my mouth, looking for any indications of trouble beyond what was obvious. The report from his manual inspection and the X-rays was negative. There doesn't appear to be any cracks or breaks in the roots of my teeth, so I should heal up pretty well in about a week or so. The cuts and tears on the inside of my mouth will heal the fastest, but all of it should mend itself in time.

Besides talking about me and my condition, we informed Dr. Mangram that Ezra had joined the Navy last week. He, like all of us, had a mixed response of joy and pride, as well as a concern for his safety. At present, the US is involved in active fighting in both Iraq and Afghanistan. If it weren't for those two facts, I would think that going into the military is a great thing. Anyway, for those of you reading this who didn't previously know, now you too have been informed of some of the changes going on in our lives lately.

Last night, around 6:15 or so as scheduled, we had a send-off party for our upstairs neighbor Clare. I am going to write a separate post about new neighbors soon, but right now all I'm going to say is "Praise GOD for His faithfulness and loving-kindness!"

(In a nutshell I would compare our current living situation to the guy who went off in search of true love around the world. He met this girl and that girl, but none of them were quite right for him. After having exhausted his money and resources, he came back home and fell in love with the girl next door. We, as a family, have been looking for fellow travelers to build a community with for many years. Now, when we had basically given up, the LORD has sent this lovely couple to live in this house with us and things are progressing just fine.)

So, Clare is going away for 7 weeks while she takes classes towards her MFA (Master of Fine Arts) in dance. We will miss her, so we decided to throw a small party as a send-off for her. Even though the day started with my injury and then proceeded with visits to both the dentist and the medical clinic, all went well in the evening as everyone had a great time. Clare’s husband, Dan, is a local Pastor in a Lutheran church. He often describes himself as the Sinister Minister, or the Pastor of Disaster. These are all puns generated by his real name Ruen. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to introduce to you our singer for the evening, Rev. Ruen.” When people hear this for the first time, they surely think it’s a schtick, an act. Once Pastor Dan tells people that he really is a minister though, he has had many wonderful opportunities to listen and pray with folks who are in various ways estranged from GOD.

B"H

Recently I was “tagged” by Shanny. In my brief reply to her I said that I generally don’t participate in these things, but because it was her I would do it. In agreeing to do this though I stated one limitation, I am not going to be “tagging” anyone else – sorry.

8 Odd Things Most People Don’t Know About Me

1.    I am a fussy eater. I only write this because of the opinions of my family and friends. My own personal assessment is different, but that is also a part of who I am.

2.    I don’t like spicy foods of any type. Mostly I just  like standard American dishes, but the few foreign foods I eat must be as bland and plain as possible.

3.   I don’t like any type of hot drinks. No coffee, tea or cocoa. It could be the dead of Winter, but I never want anything hot to drink.

4.   I don’t swim or dance. These two items are basically unrelated, but in my early teen years together they served to define me as a general ‘stick in the mud.’ I was no fun either in Summer or Winter.

5.    I am a true non-conformist in terms of how I dress. This is my own self-description of course. Some others would choose to say that I am hopelessly out of style because I resist embracing the current fashion trends.

6.    I am not addicted to variety, or in other words, I hate changes. Whether it’s the way the furniture is arranged, or the route I take in going to work, I generally like to keep things the way they are unless things aren’t working too well in the first place. I once heard a rather snide definition of liberalism as ‘change for the sake of change.’ In this sense I am no liberal.

7.   I am a very moody person and sometimes I can even be outright depressing to others around me. I try to encourage others with my understanding of GOD’s character as a loving and caring Father, but I also know that sometimes GOD calls us to suffer according to His purposes and He shows His care for us through discipline and correction.

8.               I am a contrarian of the highest order. As much as I truly yearn for unity and peace, I can always see another side to every conversation or argument.

These traits or characteristics are not all positive and I am by no means proud of most of them. It wasn’t my understanding that I should just list some odd or funny things about myself, but rather I have sought to pull back the curtain a bit and let my cyber-friends see a side of me they may have never known.

Shlomo

B"H

Master of all worlds! It is not on account of our righteousness that we offer our supplications before Thee, but on account of Thy great compassion. What are we? What is our life? What is our goodness? What our righteousness? What our helpfulness? What our strength? What our might? What can we say in Thy presence, LORD our GOD and GOD of our fathers? Indeed, all the heroes are as nothing before Thee, the men of renown as though they never existed, the wise as if they were without knowledge, the intelligent as though they lacked understanding; for most of their doings are worthless, and the days of their life are vain in Thy sight; man is not far above beast, for all is vanity.

However, we are Thy people, Thy people of the covenant, the children of Abraham Thy friend, to whom Thou didst make a promise on Mount Moriah; we are the descendants of his only son Isaac, who was bound on the altar; we are the community of Jacob Thy first-born, whom Thou didst name Israel and Jeshurun because of Thy love for him and Thy delight in him.

Therefore, it is our duty to give thanks to Thee, to praise and glorify Thee, to bless and hallow Thy name, and to offer many thanksgivings to Thee. Happy are we! How good is our destiny, how pleasant our lot, how beautiful our heritage! Happy are we who, early and late, morning and evening, twice every day proclaim:

Hear, O Israel, the LORD is our GOD, the LORD is One.

Blessed be the name of His glorious majesty forever and ever.

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The preceding excerpt was taken from the Preliminary Morning Service in the Sidur. As I have mentioned before, the Sidur is the standard prayer book of the Jewish people. The root of the word sidur is the same as the word seder and it means to set in order. This Monday evening is the start of Pesach (Passover) and in most Jewish homes the event is known as a Seder. There is a definite order to the holiday with certain ritual elements of food and song and storytelling. Pesach is the first of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. Shavuot (Pentecost) and Sukkot (Tabernacles) are the other two. The theme of Passover is one of deliverance and redemption therefore it is also known as Zeman Cherutanu (The Season of Our Freedom). The LORD our GOD has delivered and redeemed us from slavery in the house of bondage (Egypt) so that we might go forth and serve Him in the wilderness.

Passover ushers in the start of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For eight days we put away all foods with yeast or any type of leaven and eat matzah, the bread of affliction. Matzah is made of just flour and water. No yeast is allowed as a reminder that our forefathers left Egypt in haste with their staff in their hand and their sandals on their feet. Yeast and leaven have come to be recognized as symbols of sin and corruption, but only during this season. It’s perfectly ok to eat leavened items throughout the rest of the year. By participating in the act of Jewish Spring Cleaning, that is, removing all yeast and leavened items from our homes, we create a very powerful object lesson wherein we see the degree of diligence that GOD requires of us concerning sin and corruption in our lives. We need to take care regarding our own personal thoughts and actions as well as our corporate and collective behavior. I Cor 5: 7 – 8

Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Messiah our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep The Feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

For those of my friends and brethren here who are not Jewish I would encourage you to read the story of the deliverance from Egypt in the Book of Exodus chapters 1 – 15. The LORD has deposited a rich heritage for His people in the Story of Israel and the themes of deliverance and redemption make the most sense when not separated from their original context.

Blessings for peace and love in the name of Yeshua (Jesus) our Messiah,

Shlomo

B"H

Getting back on track again.

Last week I wrote a few decent posts, but not here, obviously. I spend a good deal of time surfing the Net for interesting Blogsites as well as doing research on a variety of topics. This current post was originally drafted as a comment elsewhere, but after it failed to load due to a spam filter, I considered that it was much too long to post there anyway. If I have so much to say, then I should just post it here and not invade someone else’s turf.

I’d like to introduce an Afro-American theologian whom I “met” a few years ago via e-mail and over the phone. Being that I’m such a shy person, not. After I read an interesting article in CT (Christianity Today) I looked up the contact info for this author and gave him a call.

 

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Vincent Bacote is Associate Professor of Theology at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. He is the author of The Spirit in Public Theology: Appropriating the Legacy of Abraham Kuyper (2005). He is also co-editor with Dennis Okholm and Laura Miguelez of Scripture in the Evangelical Tradition (InterVarsity Press, 2004).

 

For those of you who are interested in deeper theological studies I highly recommend you check out Dr. Bacote. If anyone remembers, I wrote a post last year about our need to build upon the legacy of those who have gone before us. In 1 Cor 1 – 3 Paul admonishes the believers in Corinth saying that because they are carnally minded in The Faith, therefore he is unable to teach them some of the deeper things of The Spirit. Who is Apollos or Cephas or even Paul himself, but mere servants of the LORD through whom they have received the good news. All things are ours, whether it is Paul or Peter or Wesley or Calvin or Abraham Kuyper. We need the humility to allow ourselves to be taught and then to add to The Tradition as we are led by The Spirit.

Dr. Bacote has done, and continues to do, an excellent job in this regard by using the legacy of Abraham Kuyper. I like his approach in that he is not blind or unaware of Kuyper’s shortcomings, but neither is he willing to disregard his entire body of work because he was deficient in some areas.

On the subject of race relations I think the following excerpt from an article he wrote in September 2005 is a good introduction to some of the work that we,The Family of Faith, must engage in if we are serious about seeing the advance of GOD’s Kingdom in our time.

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“Fourth is the construction of theology that rectifies the deficiencies related to race and ethnicity. A friend once told me, "I don't think evangelical theology is sufficient" to address the challenges of racism and poverty. I was hesitant to believe him, but now I am convinced that he is correct. I admit that I still find myself perplexed when I read the comments on race from Kuyper and from evangelical stalwarts like E. J. Carnell. In both cases they were unable to surmount the cultural undertow of racism in spite of expressing theological statements which affirmed the humanity of every person. Remaining perplexed is not sufficient, so I and other theologians must do more than lament the imperfections of our predecessors as we appropriate their legacy. How might we move forward? First, we can regard "liberation" as an acceptable theological category. It need not be confined to the works of Cone, Ruether, Gutierrez, et al. Instead, we must find ways to articulate the intersection between the realities of everyday life and God's action in the world, without either collapsing the work of God into the exclusive interests of oppressed groups or limiting God's action to a generic application to the details of our existence.

One key methodological task is arriving at the awareness of ways in which western post-Enlightenment culture has permitted the myth that "normal" equates with "whiteness." This mythology influenced Kuyper, Carnell, and countless others, and led them to articulate theology that is quite good, but with blind spots that affect the doctrines of creation, anthropology, election, and many others. Raising the awareness that our context helps us to see some things well, and blinds us to others, is important lest we fail to see our own contextual imperfections and limitations as we engage in the theological task. To put this more positively, we need to focus on and employ the theological resources that are present in the great tradition of the church so that these blind spots are addressed.

If we fail at this task, many ethnic minorities have no recourse except to the more typical forms of liberation theology, or to be happy with an evangelical theology that validates the status quo. As a person who regards the Kuyperian tradition as indispensable, I know that I continually have to do a lot of work to demonstrate, for example, that Kuyper's thought is not racist at its core. I can only do this by exposing the failures of the tradition and by providing a remedy that makes the best of Kuyper's legacy as one that unquestioningly includes all people (without using election as an excuse for why some people are beneath us). It is hardly neocalvinism alone that must do this. As noted above, evangelical theology is also deficient, perhaps more so.”

 

 

Recognizing the myth that "normal" equates with "whiteness" is an indispensable prerequisite in overthrowing the current assumptions that underly our contemporary worldview. “The fish doesn’t know he is in water” is an appropriate analogy for describing the condition of cultural blindness that many white people suffer from. Not only do white people need the healing that would come from a true sense of cultural connections, but the water which they presently inhabit is often toxic and in need of being purified.

 

 

Blessings,

 

Shlomo

 

B"H

B"H

Just about a year ago this time I happened upon the blogsite of Phil Sinitiere - the Bald Blogger. Phil is an instructor of World History in Houston Tx. He writes some very thought provoking posts from time to time that deal with a host of topics that I am interested in. When I first discovered Phil he was sort of posing a question to those who are interested and involved in the Emerging Church movement.

"Can the Emerging Church truly emerge without addressing racial reconciliation?"

At this time I'd like to ask a slightly different question:

"Can the modern community of believers truly grow to maturity without expressly renouncing the theology of anti-Judaism?"

For those who might be new here I'll mention the distinction between anti-Judaism and anti-semitism. Anti-semitism is the teaching of hatred and animosity of the Jewish people, while Anti-Judaism is the teaching of despising the Jewish religion. See here for more details on the distinction.

In today's church one can't easily find much support for the practice of anti-semitism. Especially since the Nazi holocaust of the last century, the Christian church has become quite outspoken about the horrors that anti-semitism produced. On the other hand however, Christian theology, going back to at least the 2nd century, has accepted and propagated the teaching that Christianity, and thus the Church, has surpassed and supplanted Judaism and the Jewish people.

From a Biblical standpoint, Jews and Gentiles were intended by GOD to coexist and display unity in diversity. In Ephesians chapter 2 we read of an entity called the One New Man which is comprised of both Jews and Gentiles. This vision of Biblical unity assumes a dynamic relationship where each group retains its individual identity and yet contributes to a mutual blessing of the other. Unfortunately, the record of Church history testifies of the experience of supersession on the part of the Gentile Church over the Jewish nation. Israel is seen as having lost favor with GOD due to their rejection of Jesus as the promised Messiah. The Hebrew roots of the faith have been neglected and denigrated and ultimately Judaism is cast as a dead religion which only produces a legalistic system of works righteousness. Jesus is said to have freed his followers from the burden of the Law and all those who seek to practice its commandments are considered as fallen from grace.

This view may seem perfectly logical to many, but its fruit has been a schism between the Church and the Synagogue which prevents the prayer of Jesus in John 17 from being fulfilled. Jesus prayed that his disciples would be one, just as he and the Father are one. Biblical oneness is a composite unity of the likeness of a marriage. A man and a woman are joined together and become one flesh, but their unique gender differences remain. We are called to a position of unity, not uniformity. Our sense of being one is not based on sameness.

At present there is a movement among Jewish believers which is advocating that Judaism is a valid religious expression apart from Christianity. Christians need to learn about their Jewish roots and understand that the essence of Jewish identity stems from the call of GOD for Israel to be a light to the nations.

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Coming soon, more thoughts and references along these lines. I'd be glad to interact with any of you on these and related topics.

Blessings,

Shlomo