Lust for Power and Control backfires on us

Lust for Power

 

… comes from within, but is focused outward…

 

… takes our focus off self-control and puts it on control or power over others…

 

… comes, not from a place of humility, but one of arrogant hubris…

 

… sets up win/lose and above/below, we (I) /they dichotomies…

 

… is an illusion – a costly, hurtful and divisive illusion…

 

… does not draw people together toward a common good, but alienates people from one another out of frustration and defensiveness…

 

… seems to work for others, to get them what they want, but never to work for ourselves fully, which allure draws us into the illusory trap…

 

… takes us out of the realm of equal interaction, cooperation and community…

 

… eventually alienates us from the affection, admiration, cooperation and respect of others around us…

 

Greed will own us...

GREED

 

… comes from within and forces us further inward…

 

… causes us to de-value relationships, because –

That for which we are greedy demands our total devotion…

 

… makes us believe that it is serving us well,

But in actuality demands that we fully serve it…

 

… deceptively makes us believe it can be a force for good,

But it always hurts those around us – there is always

A cost to be paid by those exploited by it…

 

… puts enmity between us and god, others and self –

Because it alone must be served…

… renders us un-thankful, un-grateful and dissatisfied…

… eventually consumes us and everyone around us…

 

COMMUNITY

It is sad, really, what passes for community. I have been present when people came together powerfully to benefit EVERYONE, equally. I have gathered with groups that honored everyone's opinion, where there were no "outsiders" or "insiders", because people were gathered for a common purpose... where people did not see theirs as the only "valid" opinion, but listened to all present in order to come to a concensus that would work well for everyone, equally... I have been with folk who truly believed that the wealthiest and poorest neighbors were equal in value, and that the voices of those who were newest and oldest were ALL of equal value. But I have lately seen a different world, in which some have decided that they are better than others based on one thing or another, and then vilify others in an attempt to discredit them, so that they can get what they want at their expense. I have seen the new group in power, same as the old group in power... the freshman class of the same old clique... run roughshod over the rest of the community, deciding before the public discourse and limiting the public discourse in order to get what they want... bad talking whoever stands in "their way" of benefitting themselves and their personal interests. I went to a neighborhood meeting, not too long ago, at which the people came together "with one heart and one mind" and decided to purchase a piece of land on which a bank had bulldozed their community garden. Eight people put up the almost $10k to buy this land, not for themselves, but so that EVERYONE in the neighborhood could have a garden plot. It astonished me, the SPIRIT in that room when it was discussed... how those who were not of the same opinion were heard with respect, how people verbally offered their respect for folk who did not see it the same way, and how the people rallied to support an effort. That is COMMUNITY. Often today, people want to "be" the best, in whatever terms that means for them. They find like-minded folks who see themselves as being "better" than others, and convince themselves that they are "the best". Others strive to DO THE BEST for everyone, equally, to BE COMMUNITY. My dear friends, it is noticed. People see the dynamic at play. People smell the something rotten going on. People recognize it when they see TRUE community, and see what ulterior motives drive others to set up "fake" communities in order to benefit themselves. The soul of a community gets lost when the selfish, falsely "elite", greedy and power hungry take control over others. Unfortunately it is not only they who are affected by the death of the community's soul. It is the children, elderly, most vulnerable and average folk who want to BE COMMUNITY who are hurt by it most. Pastor Jamie

Pastors of the Word

I believe that clergy who value the Word as inspired and authoritative, and particularly the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as the revealed will of God in the New Covenant of Grace, need to stand up, speak out and directly address injustice, speaking truth to power.

 

Ezekiel 3:18-21 has always been a powerful passage for me, in informing me of the seriousness of my prophetic role of speaking God’s Will with God’s people, especially when addressing injustice.

 

When you stand with the oppressed, you inevitably stand against oppression.  It may seem “radical” or even risky to speak out about issues of injustice and oppression, but it is just as risky to be a pastor of the Word and leave it irrelevant in the face of injustice, and just as risky to be a prophet and NOT speak the truth of God to power.

 

We are called to lend our power to the powerless and voices to the voiceless.  Somebody’s got to stand with them, for THEIR sake!  That is a part of living Jesus’ commanded Agape Love (active commitment on behalf of the other)!!!!

 

It is also for the sake of the oppressors that we speak, in order that they might find or rediscover God’s Grace and Jesus’ command to live Agape Love in the world without judgement.  It may be critical for them to hear or hear again of God’s will that the most vulnerable not be exploited, but necessarily given aid by any who would claim to be people of God.  Somebody’s got to tell them, for THEIR sake!  That is a part of living Jesus’ commanded Agape Love!!!!!

 

Being commissioned with the sharing of the Good News, and as people who responsibly value the contexts of language, literary critique, history and culture in understanding it, it is vital that WE share openly and boldly a FAITHFUL understanding of what God’s Word says and does not say to us. When other believers or pastors selectively use God’s Word to hurt others not like them (i.e. homosexuality, abortion), when they use it to exploit others and get more for themselves at their expense (i.e. church growth strategies, prosperity theology) or ignore very numerous and clear admonishments regarding hurtful behaviors (i.e. Greed, lust for power, hatred), then out of Agape Love, somebody’s got to speak out! 

 

When government, business or church discriminate against children of God or hurt them, especially the most vulnerable among us, out of Agape Love, somebody’s got to speak out!

 

It is the call of people who follow Jesus to live and share the Good News in the world around us, in THIS PART of God’s Kingdom, so…

 

The time for trying to please all of your “constituents” is over, and the time to speak truth to the people of God is here.

The time for disassociating the Good News of Jesus from political, economic and ecclesiastical practices is over, and the time to address them with the Gospel is here!

The time of giving over the Word to those who misuse it for their own prejudices and personal gains is over, and the time to spread the truth of the Gospel is here!

The time of “having itching ears” and “being blown by every wind of doctrine” that pleases us, reflecting the world in the church is over, and the time for addressing the world with the Gospel of Jesus AS THE CHURCH, is here!

The time for pastors, who are also called to be prophetic, being silent and compliant is over, and the time to address this part of God’s Kingdom with the Gospel is here! 

Heritage of Hatred

My heritage is German and Dutch. I no doubt had some relatives who fought under the Nazi flag... I do not embrace THAT heritage... I do not fly a Swaztika flag, which was not a symbol of a nation, but of a normalized movement of economic, military power centered on bigotry and built on hatred and built on the backs of enslaved peoples and was expressed in the genocide of millions.
I am glad that we do not still fly the version of the American flag flown by Texicans who squatted on lands outside our territories and provoked through ramped up aggression a series of battles that created martyrs and ended in us forcing the treaty of Guadalupe hidalgo, so we could steal much of Mexico from that sovereign nation, and so that "our" citizens could steal the lands owned by generations of people who lived there, but who had no legal representation or "appropriate" legal documentation to prove it.
I am glad we do not fly the flag of 1848 also because it was the year that our FEDERAL GOVERNMENT reimbursed mining settlers $1million for BULLETS used to kill native Americans just in the Sacramento Valley... money they collected by producing the scalps of those "barbaric heathen"...
... and the Confederate flag, that is the banner of a movement, considered even a nation by some, a way of life based on an economy built on the enslavement of people, dehumanizing them to be considered chattel, kidnapped and sold... out of a false sense of superiority, entitlement and privilege... wealthy, white landowners getting wealthy for generations on the backs of black slaves through a white construct of race, and some share-croppers because they were easily exploited, who were also turned against others based on race to keep them under the boots of those who "owned them"... it was the banner of a movement, a hateful heritage, because the confederacy is gone... it no longer represents the CSA... but a movement in hearts and minds, where the heritage of hatred continues... a desperate holding on of false superiority, supremacy, entitlement and privilege... based on power over others... which brings memories and images of the "good ole days" for them, and the BAD OLD DAYS for those whose heritage was the victimization of these ruthless folk... I HAD to protest in Columbia on Saturday... we must rid ourselves of these banners of a hateful heritage that further embolden the bigots whose vehement contempt for our President is already unchecked, whose murders of unarmed young black men and women by the police go unchallenged, and whose voter suppression efforts go un-addressed... these are desperate attempts by desperate people to hold onto their false supremacy, privilege and entitlement... a hateful heritage... we necessarily need NOT to let that be displayed... particularly on ANY public land or property...
Pastors - we need to NOT BE IRRELEVANT to the time in which we live (rough quote of Rev. Al Sharpton), the circumstances in which we experience injustice, greed, unrest and gross abuses of power... our silence is compliance, and it SCREAMS of our irrelevance in these situations! The Gospel of Jesus addresses it, when we preach it, teach it and live it... Pastor Jamie

What is the GOOD news?

I rant and rave often in this blog about what is wrong. 
I believe that we need to expose the works of darkness, and
defend those who are hurt by them...
I believe that loving others means advocating them, standing
with them, lending them our power, our presence, our voices...
I believe that loving "the least of these" children of God is
our call as humans, and especially as people who claim to be
followers of Jesus... and loving them with the Agape Love
commanded by Jesus means ACTIVE commitment on their
behalf and not some warm, sympathetic feelings...
I prefer EMPATHY that does not distance, but rather draws
from within me an understanding and desire to closely
walk with those who God loves and positively affect their
well-being...
The GOOD NEWS of Jesus compels me to live that Agape
Love...
So, the Good News in all this is that when we expose the
works of darkness that hurt others, we ARE shedding LIGHT
on them... and when we clearly see what they are, we are
compelled by Agape Love to first, defend those who are being
victimized by them, and then eliminate them...
The Good News for you is that someone did that for YOU!
The Good News for others is that the someone who did that
for you, compels you to do that for OTHERS...
Instead of requesting supernatural interventions, why not pray
for the kind of strength, commitment, compassion and
endurance it takes to LIVE the Agape Love commanded in the
Good News of Jesus, and CHANGE THE WORLD AROUND
YOU?
That would be living the Good News, indeed!
Pastor Jamie

Part of Loving

It is a natural part of loving to defend those who you love.
It is a natural thing to stand with those who need support,
    to lend one's voice to those who have none,
    to use one's power for the powerless,
    and expose the works of those who would hurt them,
        shield them from lack or harm
        and work to assure their well-being.
If that means speaking truth to power,
    standing up against the prevailing, punishing powers
    standing WITH those who one loves, who God loves,
         voicing truth and justice to the lies and injustice of others...
    then that is what one who loves does.
Prophets love.
Activists love.
Followers of Jesus love.
So we ACT on that love on behalf of others.
   We speak, we write, we demonstrate, we demand, we work
         toward the day when all are treated with justice and
         equity, equality, peace and have well-being...
So when those who would want to profit off the exploitation
    of others complain about "class warfare", we continue to
    work against them.
And when those who hate ANYONE and discriminate against
    ANYONE for ANY reason complain that their religions
    or civic rights are violated when they are kept from doing
    so, we continue to work against them.
When equal education, affordable housing, transportation, food,
    jobs, livable wages, insurance, safety, clean air, water and
    land are withheld from any of God's people for the increased
    profit of a few, we continue to work against them...
because it is NOT what we are against that matters,
    but what we are FOR...
    that we LOVE them... THAT is what matters to us,
    because our protest, our insistence and our action is out of
    LOVE... and love never ends!
Pastor Jamie