Advent and Christmas hymns are part of some of my earliest memories, and probably yours too. This Christmas season, I’d like to linger over a few cherished hymns just long enough to hear the message that we might otherwise sing right past. (Last time, it was O Come, O Come Emmanuel.) If you want some background music for this post, here is a lovely vocal performance of today’s hymn; if like me, you prefer instrumental background, this is a wonderful... Read more
After half a century of evangelical Christian Christmases, I’m still finding my way through the season as an exvangetical. As a former choir director, my heart holds a special, often-conflicted place for the songs of Advent and Christmas. The lyrics resonate deep in my soul, since I learned many of them as a very young child – but I find some a bit unsettling. This Christmas season, I want to dig into a few well-known hymns to understand their traditional... Read more
Here’s a quick story about a recent White Savior Syndrome sighting: As my Arab-American husband and I enjoyed a scrumptious lunch in a Yemeni restaurant the other day, a small group entered the establishment and sat nearby. The place was not full, and no background music played, so I couldn’t help but overhear their conversation. It was a young married Mennonite couple with a baby and a single man – all (except the baby) in church leadership. They’d gotten together... Read more
Some of the Christian women in Congress are a real piece of work. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) is cheerful, engaging and bold. She stands her ground; she packs heat and tells us she is not afraid to pull the trigger. And she self-describes as a “strong Christian woman.” Boebert has been caught several times recently, making Islamophobic comments about Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) – suggesting Omar is a terrorist and using deliberately provocative language – including “black-hearted” and “evil” (she... Read more
In a recent post, we began our discussion, “will the unreached go to heaven?” with a look at the standard evangelical answer: according to so-called proof texts, no, they won’t. The billions who have never heard of Jesus are hell-bound. Supposedly, God has revealed himself to all people, everywhere, in one way or another. Because we are sinners by nature, all people are by default in a state of rejection of whatever revelation they have received of God. Those who... Read more
When Jesus began his earthly ministry, he made clear who he came to help and how he intended to help them: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18-19 If we want to... Read more
As an evangelical, I was taught that, come Judgment Day, the billions of people who never heard about Jesus will need to throw themselves on God’s mercy and just see what happens. My teachers were reluctant to guess the outcome. They always shrugged and said, “God will know what to do.” In the next couple of posts, we’ll spend some time on the subject of the “unreached” – today we’ll see what is apparently the conventional evangelical position. (Full disclosure:... Read more
Following Israel’s announcement that six respected Palestinian human rights groups are now considered “terrorist groups,” Christian organizations all over the world are saying No. For starters, ten well-known Christian organizations based in Palestine (several of which I have personal experience with) put out a statement calling on the international community, and Christian institutions in particular, to condemn the move by Israel – a move that is “arbitrary and illegitimate [and] in violation of international laws.” The Christian presence in Israel... Read more
Jesus said, “the poor you will always have with you” (John 12:8). Were you taught, as I was (continuing the thought from my last post), that when Jesus said this, he was merely stating a tragic fact? – maybe not to discourage us from helping the poor, but to spare us from false hope that we can eradicate poverty. According to a Washington Post poll, 53% of white evangelical Protestants blame poverty on lack of individual effort, vs. only about... Read more
Panhandlers, homeless folks, beggars – they are a tragically common sight in every city. Growing up as an evangelical, I was taught – maybe not explicitly, but taught nonetheless – that: Beggars are lazy and don’t want to work. AND/OR, They have lived irresponsibly and are now getting their just desserts. AND, If we help them, we will be encouraging them to keep begging, and they’ll never contribute to society. AND/OR, If we give them money, they’ll probably spend it... Read more
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