Three Torches Together

Am I a Man?

threetorchestogether — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 08:32:10 +0000

Hello, and welcome to our first series. As of late within christianity in America, there has been much discussion sorrounding manhood and men’s and women’s roles in marriage. Recently, a Seattle pastor by the name of Mark Driscoll preached a sermon based on 1 Peter 3.7 concerning men and marriage. The type of theology presented in his message is part of a larger type of growing theology, and as a way of examining these issues, we will examine mark Driscoll’s latest sermon. In hopes of presenting another voice of truth, and expressing our frustrations with this type of theology, we will be closely picking apart this sermon, using biblical exegesis, personal narrative, fictional narrative, opinionated exposition, and other genres. We plan on engaging many of the issues and claims that he makes within his sermon, refuting many of them, and picking out any grains of truth that we find present. Lastly, we will offer up what we see as useful alternatives to his ideals. At the conclusion of each post, we will invite our friends and acquaintances who attend Mars Hill to read and critique our positions. It is with these posts that we hope to form a growing Church movement that does not blindly accept what they are told, but sees the folly of this type of theology that is present within many churches, and especially within Mars Hill. We hope that we will be able to show G_d’s call for diversity over homogeneity. We also hope to show that following Christ entails a little more danger, excitement, radical love, and equality than the Jesus portrayed by Mark, among other pastors. As a way of getting acquanted with these ideas, I encourage you to watch the message. Here it is: http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/trial/marriage-and-men

Sincerely,
ben adam, David, and Trif (it’s alphabetical)

Turn Neither to the Left nor Right

threetorchestogether — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 06:50:49 +0000

Today, the Iowa Supreme Court handed down a decision declaring that a previous law which established marriage as strictly between one man and one woman was unconstitutional. Six same-sex couples had been in a legal battle in Iowa for four years concerning the law, and this is the final verdict of the court-system. The verdict has thus far been met with anger and celebration.
While we are going to be focusing on the conditions of the Church, we will be forced to discuss societal, cultural, and governmental issues due to Christians’ immersion in the government and culture. First we would like to address the root of the problem. Both sides (left and right) claim G_d’s approval when the state acts in their favor. The Religious Right believes that when their views on marriage lose out to liberal legislation marriage and family values are being attacked. Similarly, when who we call the Pious Progressives lose, they claim the Constitution is being violated. Therefore, both left and right omit G_d when losing, yet claim G_d’s favor when winning. We see this similarity between the two as the real problem. That is, Christians only recognize the favor of G_d within the self-beneficial activity of the state.
The Church is not facing a legal, doctrinal, political, or national issue. It is facing an identity crisis. Instead of choosing to react with love, we choose to react with human constructs of correct policy. By identifying ourselves with these policies rather than self-sacrificial love, we divide ourselves over political affiliations. More importantly, we turn G_d into a tool of the state, approving and disapproving of different laws. We should be able to talk to one another; what we have done is sought power over one another through coercive government practices. Rather than submitting to the governing authorities as we are called to in Romans 13, we want to make the governing authorities submit to us by either banning or permitting same-sex marriage. Power over government is a bi-partisan issue within the Christian Church in the U.S.
As we move forward, our purpose is not to offer moral approximations concerning same-sex marriage, neither approving nor condemning. As an alternative, we would like to recognize that the state of the Christian Church’s situation can only change with the lamenting of its present shortfalls. We lament that the Church seeks political power on both sides of the issue of same-sex marriage. We lament that we cannot begin to imagine a world in which the Church does not seek to take power and that people require laws of commission and assent from the state in order to determine what can and cannot be done. In a world in which Christians no longer take power, we would certainly suffer. Nevertheless, we would have to be unified or else endure the destruction of our faith. Petty differences would serve as times of growth rather than destruction. We pray the Church can once again look to the Cross as both salvation and destiny.
-ben adam and Trif

Our Reading List:
http://www.wfn.org/2009/04/msg00036.html
This is the United Church of Christ’s statement concerning Iowa’s Supreme Court ruling. We were surprised with how explicitly they ascribed G_d’s blessing to same-sex marriage based on the ruling.

http://www.citizenlink.org/clspecialalert/A000009751.cfm
This is Focus on the Family’s explicitly biased report on what went on in Iowa. While never once mentioning G_d, they make clear that they perceive same-sex marriage is detrimental to values they hold and therefore should be illegal.

http://www.ucc.org/news/religious-bodies-issue-legal.html
This UCC report chronicles how churches were taking legal action against California’s Proposition 8.

http://www.cbn.com/media/browse_videos_info.aspx?s=/vod/HSE128v1
CBN issues here a similar statement as UCC except from the other side of the issue. They claim churches are the key to passing Prop 8.

Stuff sucks

threetorchestogether — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 00:21:15 +0000

While some of her conclusions about taking back the government and making consumption sustainable are a little helter-skelter, this is a useful, informative video. What’s more, it’s really too bad people hear this and say, “Yeah, let’s become social activists” when all they really ever needed to do was take the Sermon on the Mount or Jubilee Year or Acts 2 and 4 seriously. Why aren’t the Christians living in a way that is different than the consumer mentality, because they have been lied to. Watch and enjoy.

You spend your whole life…

threetorchestogether — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 21:22:04 +0000

You grow up your entire life thinking one thing. Everyone around you tells you this is the way it is, and you believe them. Why would they lie to you? You grow up believing homosexuality is a sin, abortion is rampant and evil, and war brings peace. Meanwhile, you hear your country, the United States, has been given the power by G_d to execute justice on the homosexuals, the pregnant teenagers, and the evildoers oppressing the impoverished masses. Eventually, as you grow older, you find out this just isn’t true. You find out that homosexual people are suffering, teen mothers have no one to care for them, and wars have only led to more wars against whoever the U.S. wants to own. So you do the logical thing: you change parties. Now, you are enlightened. No longer do you hate gays, you realize abortion is no fun for anyone but banning it solves nothing, and there is no way G_d wanted you to go to war in Iraq and probably not Afghanistan either. You join the revolt. What the Republicans do is evil. What the Democrats do is phenomenal. Suddenly, we need socialized medicine, the war in Iraq needs to end, stem cells are totally acceptable, big business is bad, and it is the U.S. government who has the burden to provide. You pledge your allegiance to the symbol of the freest, most prosperous, and most incredible nation on the planet. Without the Republican xenophobia, homophobia, sexism, and racism, you can affirm everything the U.S. does, as long as it’s not done by those bigoted conservatives.

You put a bumper sticker on your car or bike or binder that reads 01.20.09; the hope for a better world is all wrapped up in one day. On TV, the debates, the commercials, and the rhetoric woo you. The Religious Right is like a cornered dog or a kamikaze, ready to take any and all down with them. A shining knight in armor rides in for the rescue. He makes promise after promise. He will reverse everything, every problem. He incites the people; it will take every one of us to shape up and work hard to get the U.S. back on top. The economic engine is stalling, the three victories declared in Iraq have done little in the way of ending violence, and poor people everywhere are going without health care. There is so much to do; there are so many things that need to be done to solve this crisis, if only you had the money. At about the instant you thought it, the shining knight forks trillions of dollars over. At this moment, you look back and see how far you have come from those few bigoted ideas. Now, you care about the economy and the poor. You care about so much; you barely have time to think anymore. You learn the party rhetoric and recite it without remorse. This is it. Now that you are a Democrat, there is hope. You say to yourself, “Think of all the good that there is to be done. Think about all the people who can be saved!”

That’s when you stop yourself. Did you just say, “Think about all the people who can be saved”? After this, the questions start flying. Do you even want the U.S. to be back on top? Can prosperity really be measured by the stock market? How did all those poor people the government promises to help become poor in the first place? Why aren’t the Democrats ending the wars? Why aren’t they creating socialized medicine? Why are they acting suspiciously like Republicans when it comes to spending money in order to “stimulate” the economy? Why do they offer change you can “believe in”? Does believing in this change, this promise of hope, interfere with your belief in G_d? Does your hope in Obama interfere with your hope in Christ? Can you really serve a kingdom that does so many un-Christ-like things, whether it is led by Bush or Obama, and call yourself a citizen in the kingdom of G_d? Have you been serving two masters this entire time, hating G_d and loving the U.S.?

As you begin to answer these questions, you begin to see the way the system works and the way it has fooled you for years. You realize the parties exist to give people piece of mind. Like some kind of bizarre “choose your own ending” children’s book, the conclusion (American foreign and domestic dominance) has been written. Now it’s our turn to choose which way we get to this end, yet you wonder if Jesus meant what he said when he instructed his disciples to be servants. You wonder if Jesus meant what he said when he told us to love our enemies. You wonder if Jesus meant anything. He must have, but the people who claim to follow him don’t act like he did. War, stratification, gentrification, the American Dream, these are bipartisan goals. What do you do? You cannot follow G_d and the opulence of American culture. To join one party is to deny Christ; to join the other already did you no good. Should you try to reform what seems like the most reformable party? No, for that would only be taking power when you were told to serve. What should you do?

If the kingdoms of this world are no longer sufficient, if they lie, steal, and kill for the sake of power, what can you do that would change the world for the better? Do the opposite. Take up your cross, daily. Give up your life, your political affiliation, your nationalism, and remember the Kingdom of G_d is among us. Leave behind everything. Believe in a new earth; believe not only that a new world is possible but necessary. The earth cannot afford the American Dream, the hope of Obama and Bush alike. However, it can afford the simplicity, self-sacrifice, and love of Jesus. Hopefully, we will learn that before it’s too late.

-ben adam