Some things that caught my eye this week…
+ Since we have entered the Easter season (yes, that’s right, it’s not over!), it’s good to be mindful that once again, the so-called “Jesus-tomb” theory has been firmly debunked. Remember the big splash from last Easter, when James Cameron ( director of Titanic) and a lay archaeologist produced a special for the Discovery Channel in which they claimed to have found the tomb of Jesus, which would shake Christian belief to its very foundations? Well, turns out within weeks of that broadcast most real archaeologists weren’t buying. Ben Witherington of Asbury Seminary has links to a final set of reports from a recent conference at Princeton University that was woefully underreported in the mainstream media. (Shocked?) He concludes, “It’s time to roll the stone in front of that tomb theory once and for all, as it has been tried, and found wanting over and over again in various ways.”
+ Interesting commentary over at Slate.com: Happy Crossmas! : Why Easter Stubbornly Resists the Commercialism that Swallowed Christmas. Catch this quote: Even the resurrection, the joyful end of the Easter story, resists domestication as it resists banalization. Unlike Christmas, it also resists a noncommittal response. Even agnostics and atheists who don’t accept Christ’s divinity can accept the general outlines of the Christmas story with little danger to their worldview. But Easter demands a response. It’s hard for a non-Christian believer to say, “Yes, I believe that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified, died, was buried, and rose from the dead.” That’s not something you can believe without some serious ramifications: If you believe that Jesus rose from the dead, this has profound implications for your spiritual and religious life-really, for your whole life. If you believe the story, then you believe that Jesus is God, or at least God’s son. What he says about the world and the way we live in that world then has a real claim on you. Easter is an event that demands a “yes” or a “no.” There is no “whatever.”
+ I have avoided getting involved with the discussion raised by the comments of Rev. Jeremiah Wright and the resulting speech on race in America made by Sen. Barack Obama. I think the “More Perfect Union” speech is worth reading or watching-and then thinking about carefully. Obama casts a compelling vision and frames the discussion with valid observations, though I do think it is important to remember that the speech comes from his context and experience; it is not as objective as the media wants us to believe. (Of course all of us would approach such a speech from out of our own stories, too.) Also, consider that a speech as an act of political courage and a speech as an act of political necessity are not the same thing. African-American pastor Thabiti Anabwile has two interesting posts on this, here and here. Also, check out David Anderson on “Racism vs. Gracism”.
It is important for us to consider race relations honestly, lovingly and Biblically, especially from a gospel perspective. It’s important because we have a responsibility as Christians to express the heart of Christ in our culture. It’s also important because the Lord is bringing more and more African- Americans to Victory, and a multi-ethnic church has a unique opportunity to model a way of relating to each other that can be a sign of hope to the world.
+ “Now it is comparatively easy to be faithful if we do not care about being contemporary, and easy also to be contemporary if we do not bother to be faithful. It is the search for a combination of truth and relevance which is exacting.”-John Stott, Christian Mission in the Modern World, page 43 (HT: Josh Harris) Yes! That quest is exacting, exasperating-and at the core of the adventure of living as Christ-followers in our world.
Posted in Monday Meanderings
