Daniel Darling's Blog, page 81

Chick-fil-A and the Mosque

There has been so much written, said, posted, and preached about Chick-fil-A, most of which occurred while I was out of the country, missing the entire phenomenon. As I watched the pictures of people lining up to support Chick-fil-A and as I read the way the media slanted the story, I was struck by two things: the loyalty many Americans have to this very good, well-run, admirable American business and the tendency on the left to demonize those with whom they disagree. The charge of bigotry is too loosely employed.

But, for Christians, I think this is an important moment. I sense that most Americans who went to Chick-fil-A on Appreciation Day did so, not necessarily out of support for traditional marriage values, but to support the right of a businesses owner to express his views and not suffer retribution from the government. Freedom of religion, of speech is a vital aspect of the American experiment. It was not a demonstration of hate against homosexuals. There were even many Christians who decided to use this as an opportunity to make friends with those in the gay community as a way of showing the love of Christ.

But there is an aspect of this that I’m not sure many Christians are thinking through. If Chick-Fil-A is a moment where Christians stand up and say, “boycotts are wrong” and more importantly, “freedom of religion matters,” then we need to ask ourselves if we’re being consistent.

For instance, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, there is a lot of controversy over the building of a mosque. Many Christians in that area oppose it and implore the federal government to disallow it. It looks as if their attempts will be in vain and the mosque will open. There was similar uproar when a mosque was proposed near Ground Zero in New York City.

I’m not sure if the anti-mosque Christians in Tennessee are pro-Chick-fil-A or not, but this is a moment for Christians to pause and consider the consistency of our message and the real cultural battles worth waging.I think the real battle is for religious freedom. Will we have a society that allows us to express our religious views without fear of retribution? It is my view that Christians should actively fight for this. But we must not only fight for the right of Chick-fil-A to open for business in places like Boston, Chicago, and elsewhere, but we should fight for the rights of Muslims or any other religious group to worship freely.

I don’t think we realize that when we push the government to shut down a religion we don’t like, we’re also giving them the power to do the same thing to a religion we do like. I believe, as do most evangelicals, that Christianity is the truth and that all other religions are false paths to God. But I believe that those other religions, however false, should have the right to express themselves freely in our society. I also believe that the gospel is more powerful than a mosque and that God is not threatened by the presence of other religions. We should win the argument, not with the force of government power, but by the strength of our arguments, by the testimony of our changed lives, and ultimately, by the moving of the Spirit in the hearts of those who don’t yet know Jesus.

In other words, if we fight for the rights of the Muslims to build a mosque today, we’re also fighting for the rights of Bible-believing churches to preach the gospel, however culturally unacceptable, tomorrow. We’re fighting for Christians businessmen like Dan Cathy to express his views on marriage.

This is the very freedom that many around the world don’t enjoy. This is the freedom that brought the Pilgrims to our shores hundreds of years ago. This is the freedom that made America unique.

Whether its Chick-Fil-A or a mosque in Murfreesboro, I think religious freedom is a fight worth waging.

Reflections on Europe

Last Thursday I returned from an eleven-day trip to Eastern Europe. The main purpose of my trip was to attend the wedding of my brother, Tim, and his lovely bride, Anetta. But I also had a second purpose, to visit with the Rice Family, our missionaries to Slovakia.

It was a magnificent trip, one whose memories will stay with me for a lifetime. And so, having finally cleared all the jetlagged fog from my brain, I’d like to share some reflections:

Some Serious Reflections:

There is a wide sweep of history in Europe that you just can’t get in America. I love America and am proud to be a citizen. I think our story is unique in human history. But, let’s be honest here. We have nothing in our country quite like the history in Europe. Thousand-year old castles, historic, beautiful, ancient churches. Identity rooted in thousands of years of history. I loved walking down the city streets in places like Krakow and Budapest and Bratislavia and taking in the old buildings, the historic architecture, and the camera-ready shots at every intersection. I thoroughly enjoyed walking the town square of Krakow, touring the vast and beautiful city of Budapest, and climbing Bratislavia’s Navi Most bridge and viewing Slovakia, Hungary, and Austria.
Europe is different than the Europe we envision as Americans. Granted, I’m not suddenly Rick Steves. I visited three European capitals out of many. But . . . in American we typically disparage Europe as old, indebted, liberal, sensual, pacififist–whatever. Some of those lablels might be true, but the caricature didn’t quite fit. At least where I was, I found thriving cities and people with the same wants and needs and desires as Americans. For one thing, at least where I was, there was no hatred for Americans. There was appreciation. And I found that the people who live in Europe seem to want the same things all humans long for: peace, prosperity, a good job, a stable family.
In Poland, where I spent the majority of my time, there is a certain rootedness in faith and family. Poland has only enjoyed freedom and independence since 1989. For most of the 20th Century, they were victims of two equally evil regimes that swept across Europe: Naziism and Communism. Both Hitler and Stalin committed unspeakable evils against the good Polish people. It was only until 1989 that they threw off the chains of tyranny, birthed by the Solidarity movement led by Lech Walensa and championed by Pope John Paul and Ronald Reagan. Poland was just one of many dominoes that fell across Europe, ultimately leading to the downfall of Communism. But unlike some other previously communist countries, Poland has handled its freedom well, boasting one of the most robust economies. Even in the current Europe crisis, Poland’s economy is ticking right along. Much of the credit is given to the embrace of free-market principles, but you can also point to Poland’s strong culture of family and faith. As an evangelical, I have significant theological differences with Catholicism, but I can’t help but admire how the Catholic Church has held Poland together. It does reaffirm the idea that culture matters in a country. There is an admirable ethic among the Poles that values hard work, strong families, and faith. You see it in the communities that are held together generation upon generation.
You can’t underestimate the evil of both Nazism and Communism. Both Hungary and Slovakia were helpless countries battered by both Hitler and Stalin. We unfortunately didn’t have time to tour Auschwitz or the Schindler Museum in Krakow, but I was able to tour the House of Terror in Budapest. This building was first a central station for the Nazi’s as they arrested, tortured, and killed many Hungarian Jews. Over 600,000 Jews were killed from Hungary alone. This was a house of terror, a place were the apex of evil was carried out on innocent people. The tour included video testimonies of survivors and relics saved from that era. When the Soviets “liberated” Hungary from the Nazi’s, they ironically used this same building as a station to carry out very similar acts. The Soviets were no liberators. Though ideological opposites, they were just as brutal to the Hungarians, indiscriminately killing, displacing, and pillaging. The Soviets preached the beauty of the state, a sort of sameness that killed individualism. People were cogs in their wheel, disposable and lifeless. This soul-less, lifeless style of government ravaged much of Europe for many decades. It was a sober reminder of the danger of absolute power, totalitarian leadership, and an “ends-justifies-the-means” approach. As an American, it gave me a great sense of pride to know that we helped liberate Europe from the Nazis and we hastened the fall of communism. In downtown Budapest, there is a tribute to Ronald Reagan, thanking him for his tireless work in defeating communism.
There is something interesting about being an evangelical in Europe. In America, it’s still pretty acceptable to be an evangelical. Christians are kind of “cool” here. We have bumper stickers and t-shirts, and other such stuff. We almost have a “cultural” evangelicalism. In Europe, no such thing exists. Evangelicals are rare and the Church is pretty small. But in a way, there is a greater sense of mission and purpose for those who serve there. There is none of the cultural baggage of American evangelicalism. And I sense that pastors and missionaries have a more clarified purpose: preach the Word, love their neighbors, build the church
God gave me a great love for Europe. The last few years I’ve prayed that God would give me a love for a particular mission field. I believe that love is now for Europe, especially Eastern Europe. These countries, finally finding freedom and independence from years of oppression and tyranny, now have an opportunity to rise. I’m thrilled to see countries like Hungary and Poland doing well. But I also think there is a great opportunity for gospel penetration here. I sense that the younger generations might be open to biblical Christianity. I have no way of knowing that, other than just getting that sense. Many evangelicals like to point to Europe as spiritually “dead” or unreachable. But in talking to missionaries over there, I sense that there is a great opportunity for revival in Eastern Europe. I pray for this. With their infrastructure, perhaps the big cities in Europe could be hubs for gospel proclamation. I hope churches sieze the day and “flood the zone” with missionaries, church planters, and others.

Some Lighter Reflections:

I liked the food of Europe. I purposely only ate one American thing while in Europe: a “McFarm” from McDonalds. It was an interesting sausage sandwich. But mostly I ate the local fair and loved it. Seems meat and potatoes are a staple here. I’m not sure why, but I like it. As a bonus, must of the meat is breaded and fried. I guess it’s okay because in Europe you walk a lot, so it sort of balances out the carbs and calories.I also love the coffee and tea of Europe. I love outdoor cafes
Europe definitely has the best airports. These are the airports I passed through: Helsinki, Finland, Budapest, Hungary, Krakow, Poland, Warsaw, Poland, Vienna, Austria. I was impressed at how nice each of these airports were. They were clean, the people were friendly, and there was great restaurants. Each of them also had special play areas for kids. I’ve never seen that in a U.S. Airport. Also, there seemed to be less of a hustle/rush aspect in Europe. But maybe that was just me.
Two luxuries I really missed from the States: Air conditioning and ice. I’m sitting now in my basement office, loving the ice-cold air-conditioning. In Europe, there is little A/C. It don’t think it’s because people can’t afford it, it’s just that A/C doesn’t seem as important to them as us. Also, it’s hard to find ice for your drinks. So call me a spoiled American, but I like those two luxuries.
I rarely used my cell-phone, but when I did it was clearer than here in the states. Go figure, but the one call I had to make home was at 11:30 at night in downtown Krakow to Lake County, IL. And I had perfectly clear reception. (It also cost me $10-ouch!).
There is wifi nearly everywhere in Europe, even on city streets. I liked this. I was able to check email, etc with my iPhone.

5 Ways We Lie in Advancing the Truth

Christians are supposed be about the truth. We are to proclaim the truth, live the truth, and love the truth. But sometimes, in advancing the truth, we tell ourselves lies.  In other words, there is a way to actually hold a biblical position on an issue and sin in the way we make the argument. Here are five common ways:

1) We conflate principled activism with vitriolic words.

How often have you prolonged an argument with your wife, knowing you are right in substance? How has that worked out for you? Likely you did serious damage to your relationship. This plays out in every kind of relationship, whether it’s family, business, and in the culture. Most often I see this in the political arena. Simply having  the right, biblical views doesn’t excuse us from Christ-exalting speech. Paul reminds us that the weapons of our warfare are not “carnal” (2 Corinthians 10:4). For followers of Christ, it’s not enough to be on the right side of an issue. We must also honor God with the way we make our arguments. Colossians 4:6 says we should let our speech be always with grace. Even on Facebook. Even when talking about someone with whom we disagree.

2) We assume we’re the only “true” believers 

When you’re passionate about a particular issue, whether it’s a cultural and moral issue or a theological issue, it can seem like you’re standing alone. Sometimes you may be the only one, but usually that’s a deceptive lie of the enemy. I think of Elijah in 1 Kings 19. He was convinced he was the only one in Israel who cared about the wickedness and idolatry of the monarch. But he wasn’t. God reminded him that there were 7,000 other true believers. This lie, that we’re the only ones, can be especially destructive. It can lead us to distrust anyone and everyone. It can destroy friendships because we see enemies even in friends who may not completely agree with our methodology. I’ve seen this in churches, in civic activities, in politics. But all this does is create a Messiah complex, burns bridges with would-be allies, and hurts the cause we are championing.

3) We justify treating others around us poorly. 

Being on the right side of an issue, adhering to a proper theological position, and a heartbeat for evangelism is often used as a cover for poor and ungodly leadership styles. But as much as the New Testament affirms proper doctrine, it informs loving treatment of our fellow man. In fact, our understanding of the gospel should make us more inclined to treat others well, not less. “Getting results” is not the goal of leadership, according to Jesus. Servanthood is (Matthew 20:25). And in every single list for spiritual leadership, you will see words like “gentleness” “not a brawler”, “kind.” (1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9). Look at the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness (Galatians 5:22-23). Sadly, even many Christian leadership models would consider these as weaknesses. Leaders have to remind themselves that the work they are doing God doesn’t exempt them from becoming a spirit-filled man of God. Nobody is so valuable to the Kingdom that He is justified in being a tyrant.

4) We think it’s okay to ignore our families.

This one hits home to me. It’s easy to get so caught up in the work of God, that we ignore our families. Finding the balance isn’t that easy, but we must never forget that our families are our first ministry. The family was the first institution God ordained, thousands of years before He began the Church. I’m amazed, though, how easy it is for us to justify cheating the family to serve God, as if the family and the church are in competition. They are not. Churches need healthy cultures where key leaders feel okay to tend to their families without being made to feel like they are abandoning God’s mission.

5) We fight with the wrong weapons

Lot of the lies we tell ourselves in advancing the truth come from bad theology. We assume that God has put on this earth to do all His work, by ourselves and without His power. But that’s impossible. We tell ourselves that we are the only ones, we have to resort to worldly tactics, we have to abandon our families–because the mission of God is so important. A sense of holy, gospel urgency is important, but God never leads us to do something contrary to His Word. And in His Word we are told that we are engaged in spiritual warfare, that without God’s power, we’ll be able to do “nothing.” Oh, we’ll make a lot of noise, but we’ll do nothing of value to the Kingdom. Our most potent weapons are not mailing lists or technological advancements or cutting edge strategies. Our  greatest weapon is the Holy Spirit, God in us. We’re most powerful when we are on our knees in prayer, storming the gates of Heaven for God’s divine blessing and mercy. The enemy minds little if we’re advancing truth, as long as we believe his lie that we can do this ourselves.