Dear friends,

I have struggled to think about what to write to you since last week. Especially after all your messages, expressing all the pain, anger, frustration, and questions you all had. I recieved more messages this last week than I have before. Please know that I care about each message that you send me and if you don’t end up getting a response from me, it isn’t because I don’t care. It’s only because I didn’t have the time to get to all of them. I carry all your burrdens with me and pray for you every day. I’m so thankful we are in this together.

So, if you’ll permit me, in response to all that I feel we are experiencing collectively, I want to invite us to just reflect on some things that I have been processing in my grief, my lament, and some practical steps to take in the weeks and months ahead together.

But before we get into that, here are some resources to consider:

The season of Advent began December 1st! This season extends an annual invitation for us to reorient our hearts toward Jesus as we approach Christmas. I have written a daily devotional for this season in hopes of stoking greater hope, peace, joy, and love in our hearts as we journey together toward Jesus from Advent to Christmas. Details: What: An "ebook" of 25 daily scripture-based devotionals, designed to conclude on Christmas Day, to be downloaded and read on your favorite device. When: It is available to download now. How: Purchase access to this daily devotional by clicking the button below. $20.00 Arrival: Daily Reflections For The Season of Advent Crafted to begin on December 1st and end on Christmas Day, each of these 25 daily readings will focus on a passage from... Read more Download here! ​

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​-Top 5 most misused Bible verses, with Rev. Benjamin Cremer on The Zeitcast with Jonathan Martin. This conversation was so good for my soul. I spoke with my new friend Jonathan about some issues I'm very passionate about. I hope it is encouraging to your soul as well.

​-Ben Cremer: How to be a Christian Post-Election on Becoming Church with Kristen Young. This conversation was also very helpful for me to have with my friend Kristen about processing the election as pastors and advice we have been giving to fellow Christians. I hope you find this helpful as well.

​-A PASTORAL LETTER FROM THE COUNCIL OF BISHOPS OF THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH As you all may know, I am a Christian within the Wesleyan tradition and a Methodist. So many of you have asked me what you should do about "church." Especially those of you who no longer feel they are welcomed or safe attending their previous church. I would encourage you to read this statement from the UMC council of bishops and perhaps consider checking out a UM church in your local area. I am sure some of my other followers will recommend churches they have found welcoming as well.

​-Balance App My therapist recently turned me onto this amazing resource that has been such a positive addition to my daily routine. It is a meditation resource that adapts to you. Taking those times to recenter and maintain calm in my day has been crucial in managing my stress and anxiety lately. I am doing the one year free trial and thought that if you might benefit from this resource for at least the one free year, I'd recommend it to you as well.

Okay, now onto today's content.

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​Learn The Unforced Rhythms of Grace.

I want to begin by telling you a story.

As many of you know, Conservative Christianity raised me. It taught me about Jesus, what it meant to “be a man,” and the importance of traditional values. It affirmed my call to ministry, gave me my theological education, and ordained me as a pastor.

As I pursued my theological education, Christian history was one of my most passionate areas of interest. It is also the area of academic study that has had the most significant impact on how I view my relationship with Jesus today.

So, as I stepped into my first little Nazarene church as a senior pastor right out of seminary, I wanted to be “traditional.” But what I would soon find out is that "traditional" meant something different to me than it did to others.

I thought "traditional" meant doing things like confessing the creeds of our ancient faith and receiving communion every week during our worship services. I thought it meant writing liturgies and prayers every week, which were guided by the lectionary and liturgical calendar, allowing us to read through the entire Bible in three years time together while we celebrated the seasons of advent, lent, and pentecost. This would all be joined by songs and hymns that best fit the liturgical theme on Sundays, doing my best to blend contemporary music with hymns too. Much like many in the early Christians did, faithfully practicing their Jewish traditions while also creating new traditions around Jesus Christ.

Yet the very people who wanted me to be more “traditional” in our worship services were the same ones who complained the most about how I conducted our worship services. With this confusing me deeply, I brought the elders together for a meeting and asked them to explain what they meant by “traditional.” As they did, I realized that what they meant by "traditional" was hymns and service styles more from Christianity in 1950s America.

I’ll never forget what I said to myself in that moment: “I guess ancient Christianity is just too old to be considered “traditional.”’

This was actually at the core of how my love for Christian history changed how I understood the “traditional values” of the Christianity I grew up in.

For example, when I discovered that the early church was very opposed to military service, war, and violence, this deeply challenged by “traditional values” where military service and warfare were seen as being one with my Christian faith.

Another example was when I discovered how the early church supported the teaching and leadership of women, ordaining them as pastors, priests, and even bishops. This challenged my “traditional values” in which women had distinct roles within society and in the home and being church leaders was not part of those roles.

Church history also taught me how dangerous it is to have a set of “traditional values” that are not allowed to be questioned. Because by the time Christianity came to the Americas, racism, slavery, patriarchy, and imperialism had all become part of Christian “tradition.” This is why we can see so many Christians on the wrong side of history when it came to things like slavery, violence towards indigenous peoples, women’s rights, and the civil rights movement. Many Christians where on the wrong side of history on these issues in the name of “upholding traditional values.”

This kind of "Christian tradition" is what led Frederick Douglass to say about American Christianity in the late 1800s, “I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ; I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial, and hypocritical Christianity of this land. Indeed, I can see no reason, but the most deceitful one, for calling the religion of this land Christianity. I look upon it as the climax of all misnomers, the boldest of all frauds, and the grossest of all libels.”

Discovering these things left me to vow never to cling so tightly to my “traditional values” to avoid finding myself on the wrong side of human rights issues. Interestingly, this left me wanting to uphold the “tradition” of the ancient Christian faith, where human dignity and flourishing was at the center of its identity.

One of my favorite church historians, Jaroslav Pelikan put it well when he said, “Tradition is the living faith of the dead and traditionalism is the dead faith of the living. And, I suppose I should add, it is traditionalism that gives tradition such a bad name.”

Traditionalism is what causes us Christians to be on the wrong side of history, clinging to what we think is right that should never change rather than embodying the living faith of our Christian ancestors, and doing what is right by championing change that upholds human dignity, flourishing, and rights.

I just wish many American Christians understood Christian history well enough to not repeat our most horrific mistakes but embody our beautiful faith instead. I guess I just wish many American Christians were self aware and humble enough to admit when we were (and are) on the wrong side of history.

For as Blaise Pascal said, "Men never commit evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious convictions"

Our outrage as Christians is a window into who we are and where our priorities stand.

As I said before, I grew up as a conservative Christian. Pastored for the majority of my adult life in conservative churches. I have always heard staunch advocacy for the lives of the unborn, yet such advocacy seems to stop with the unborn alone.

Then I watched with great embarrassment and shame as my former faith tradition made its outrage go viral over such trivial things.

Things like Starbucks red cups, Easter eggs, green M&Ms, people saying “happy holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas,” and so on. As a pastor within this movement, I just couldn’t believe that this was the kind of thing that we wanted to be known for in the world.

It seemed as though we wanted the reputation of being outraged over symbolism rather than actual injustice and hate against the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the immigrant, and the oppressed. The very people Jesus talked about when he said, “whatever you do for these, my brothers and sisters, you do for me.” (Matt 25)

Then I saw my faith tradition be so easily beguiled by politicians who simply paid performative lip service to God and the Bible, yet lived lives and treated others in such demonizing ways that couldn’t be more opposite from the Jesus I learned about growing up.

I saw my faith tradition become more offended by the Ten Commandments and the Bible not being in public schools than it did about how kids were going to school hungry and had to go to school wondering if they might be the next victims of mass shootings.

I saw my faith tradition get more outraged over Black athletes kneeling during the national anthem at football games than it was about the reasons why those athletes were kneeling in peaceful protest in the first place.

I saw my faith tradition become more offended by the idea of abortion than it was over poverty, the lack of education, the lack of paid family leave, affordable childcare, domestic abuse, maternal and infant mortality rates, lack of living wages, misogyny, and the erosion of women’s rights, all of which cause abortion rates to increase. Tragically, abortion rates have only increased since my faith tradition finally got what it wanted, the overturning of Roe. Now women are dying due to harsh and vague laws, but there’s no outrage over that.

It will never makes sense to me how we can claim to be “pro life” yet seem so ambivalent about the lives and rights of women, let alone so resistant to consider the unjust use of the death penalty, or war, or guns.

I saw as my faith tradition got more outraged over how our society defined gender roles than it did over how women and children were being abused in our own churches.

I saw as my faith tradition would get more outraged over the idea of a poor person misusing the welfare system than it did about how billionaires might be using their wealth to sway policies over our entire nation in their favor.

I saw my faith tradition get more outraged over how rainbows were being used than they were about how the people who were waving rainbow flags were being treated by many.

I saw my faith tradition become more offended by ideas about illegal immigrants it has come to believe than over why someone would risk their lives and the lives of their children to come here.

I saw my faith tradition get more outraged over messages that called for opposing climate change than it did about policies and economic practices that are literally destroying God’s creation and causing great suffering.

I saw my faith tradition get more offended over the idea that God was mocked by choreography at the Olympic Games than it was about supporting prominent people who claim to be Christian who have mocked entire people groups, all of whom are created in God’s image, since 2016.

I saw my faith tradition get caught up in a political movement that is solely based on outrage, political grievance, and vengeance, advocating the politics of “hate your enemies” rather than the theology of “love your neighbor.”

I saw my faith tradition become more outraged over people “deconstructing” Christianity and possibly even leaving the church than it did over the reasons that caused such a crisis of faith in the first place, like all the reasons mentioned above.

I saw my faith tradition get outraged at people and even pastors like myself for speaking about these things, even moving to push us out rather than faithfully addressing the actual injustices and hypocrisy itself.

I could go on and on here, but my heart has been broken over this dynamic for almost a decade now. I just wish Christians were known for getting outraged over the right things.

I just wish love was our reputation.

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” -Jesus (John 13:35)

Steps Forward

I don’t know about you, but it has been very important for me to allow myself to process, lament, and rest this last week or so. I have found great comfort in The Message's translation of Jesus' words from Matthew 11:28-30:

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Taking Jesus' lead here, I have taken long breaks from social media and news consumption and replaced that time with reading, spending time with loved ones, doing acts of kindness for others, and being outside as I think and pray. I have found these activities, along with therapy, spiritual direction, and meditation, to not only give me personal balance, but give me space to consider how to move forward well. I’d encourage you to find similar practices that are helpful to you.

I have also been constantly asking myself, “what now?” As I reflect on this question a couple things, in no particular order, come to mind you might also find helpful.

First, I want to understand my mistakes. I want to see what kind of language or witness drove people away rather than brought people along if it had been more lovingly presented.

Second, I think the years ahead call for creative and new responses, especially from Jesus followers. The reality is, creative and new responses take time to imagine and cultivate. So I want to invite you to take that time to imagine and cultivate too. I’m thinking about inviting some local friends and community members over for a “what’s my role?” party sometime soon where we all ask that question together. Because we all won’t have the same job. While some may be called to advocate for women, others will be called to serve refugees. While some may be called to write, pastor, and spiritually support people, others will be called to teach and inform. We all have a unique role to play and I think it is important for all of us to start imagining creative solutions together with small groups of trusted people locally first.

Third, don’t let fear consume you. As I have shared with you before, this is a struggle for me because of my PTSD. I picture the worst case scenario around every issue and will have to conciously walk myself back from the canyon of fear and dispare in my mind. The reality is, this is what authoritarian movments depend on. Crushing people’s hope and leaving them in prison to their fear. To hope and to refuse to allow fear to consume you is the first line of defense against authoritarianism. The best way I have found to do this is to be active, choose compassion, and collaborate with like minded people. Being active helps your mood immensly. Choosing compassion helps you to understand those with whom you disagree better. And there are so many people who are doing inspiring things as we move forward. All you have to do is find them and join them. I assure you that your hope and courage will grow as you do.

Lastly, I wanted to recommend a Bible study.

I’m convinced that part of the reason we are in the moment we are in as Christians is because there is a deep lack of understanding the voice of the prophets from the Bible. We American Christians tend to read the Bible and elevate kings rather than all the prophets that constantly try to hold the kings accountable. We then get preoccupied with Jesus as “king” when the gospels clearly show him quoting the prophets over and over again and criticizing kings, like Herod and Solomon.

So with that, I want to encourage you to study the prophets. Many of the prophets are very short books. Read their criticism of the throne. Listen to their advocacy of the poor, the immigrant, the elderly, the marginalized, and the oppressed. Listen to their rebuke of unjust rulers and laws. Let their voices saturate your imagination.

Then, after you’ve read through the prophets, go read through the gospels and take notes on Jesus. Pay close attention to how he compares to the prophets. Pay close attention to how he treats the structures of power in his time and advocates for the vulnerable.

In doing this kind of study, I believe you will not only find the witness the church desperately needs to take in our country today, but you will find all the biblical grounding and vocabulary you need to speak out against the injustice and misuse of power in our time. Especially when those abuses come from those claiming to worship the same God we do, just like the kings did in Isreal’s past.

Our world doesn’t need a church obsessed with kings and the power it can share with them. We’ve seen the horror that causes our world throughout church history.

Our world needs a church well versed in the voice of the prophets and musters the courage to even hold kings accountable to the needs of the “least among us.”

Remember, Jesus didn’t say “whatever you do for the wealthy and powerful, you do unto me.”

No, Jesus said, “whatever you do to the least of these, my brothers and sisters, you do unto me.”

The poor, the hungry, the thirsty, the sick, the imprisoned, and the stranger.

I pray you’ll consider this study of the Bible and find hope, wisdom, encouragement, and strength as you do.

Isaiah 10:1-2: "Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the orphans."

Jeremiah 22:3 “God proclaims: Do what is just and right; rescue the oppressed from the power of the oppressor. Don’t exploit or mistreat the immigrant, the orphan, and the widow.”

Luke 4:18-19: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” -Jesus

Matthew 25:35: “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’” -Jesus (quoting the prophet Isaiah).

A good virtual companion to your study could be the Bible Project. They do wonderful short biblical commentary on each book of the Bible. Here is one of their fantastic videos on the Biblical theme of justice.​