#64 Power and Perversion

Lately the news has been filled with people stepping forward with stories of sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, and sexual assault. These stories are repulsive and horrifying. However, I think it is good that they come to light to keep us from ignoring the sin and evil in our midst. These stories of improper sexual behavior should lead us to some honest reflection.

First, I think we need to take these accusations seriously. When it comes to the courts, a person is rightfully considered innocent until proven guilty. We must remember that when dealing with the alleged perpetrators. But we must be especially careful not to dismiss those who come forward as victims with accusations. We should respect their courage to report deeply painful and often embarrassing stories, even if these reports come many years after the fact. Such serious accusations deserve careful investigation. Such terrible violations of privacy and intimacy should have consequences. Sexual aggression and misbehavior are not unforgivable, but we can't forget or ignore the great harm caused by these actions.

Second, I think we need to take a close look at how we think about, talk about, teach, and practice sex. Again and again these stories tell of powerful people exploiting their power for their own pleasure. I certainly don't have all the answers, but I think a big part of problem is that our society believes that sex is something we need and something we deserve. We—maybe especially we males—are taught that we have the right to have sex. Sex is treated as something to be taken or gotten or won—whenever, however, and with whomever we want. So we think it's a sign of our power to have go farther sexually or to be sexually intimate with more people. We think power can and should be used to satisfy our sexual desires.

But those ideas are perversions. They're wrong, plain and simple. Sex is not about power or right. When sexual activity arises out of a power imbalance, we've done wrong because someone is being mistreated and used. Sex is supposed to be given and shared. Sex is about intimacy. Sex really involves weakness; it's a gift of being able to be naked and vulnerable with someone else. We don't need sex to live, and we sure don't have the right to it. When it comes to sex, God wants us to be concerned for our partner's well-being before our own, just as God wants us to put others before ourselves in everything else. We need to stop believing lies about sex. Outside of God's instructions, we only hurt each other and get hurt ourselves. We need to stop turning a blind eye toward sexual misbehavior and violence. With God's help we need to control ourselves before anyone else experiences awful trauma, pain, and shame.

Grace and peace,
BMH

#63 The Death of Superman

I'm going to talk about superheroes this week. If you're not interested in reading about comic books and comic book movies, feel free to skip this post and come back next week. I won't be offended.

On Saturday Tess and I went to see Justice League. I told Tess that I have been waiting to see this movie since we walked out of the theater after seeing Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice on March 26, 2016. Even with the crushing weight of my anticipation and expectations, I really enjoyed the movie. I thought all the heroes were great and the action sequences were really cool. Most of all, I loved that Superman (to steal from Batman Begins) was "more than just a man" but rather a "legend." Superman was an inspiration, an ideal. As a Superman fan, I loved it. If you're at all interested in this sort of movie, check it out. The fact that I liked Justice League doesn't mean you will or have to like it, but I think you'll have fun.

Saturday was also the 25th anniversary of the release of Superman #75—the issue where Superman dies at the conclusion of his fight with the monster Doomsday. This story was a HUGE deal. It sold a ridiculous number of copies. Personally, I have a special connection to The Death of Superman storyline. As far as I can remember, I've always liked Superman, but The Death of Superman played a big role in making me a true Superman fan. When I was a teenager, I came across a trade paperback that collected the seven issues of the storyline, and I bought it almost on a whim. It was the first comic I'd ever owned, and I absolutely loved it. The action was intense and fast-paced, and there were also great emotional character moments, highlighting Superman's determination and Lois Lane's fear. Here was a true hero, a man who cared so much about the world that he would die to protect other people. (Side note: This heroic idea is also a big part of why I enjoy Batman v Superman so much.) I developed a ton of respect and admiration for the character of Superman. I wanted to know more and more about his adventures. The Death of Superman was my first real taste of Superman, and I was hooked. Thanks to some birthday money, my collection of Superman stories grows by a couple volumes each year. I've since found other stories that I enjoy even more than The Death of Superman, but that storyline will always be special to me because it showed me a whole new world. For a while now, Superman comics have been one of my favorite ways to unwind and recharge. So, twenty-five years later, I'm thankful for "the day that a Superman died."

Grace and peace,
BMH

#62 The Cranky Mathematician Strikes Again

I've covered some heavy topics in my blog over the past few weeks, so I think it's time for a shorter and lighter post. As a mathematics major, I am quite particular about using numbers in an appropriate and accurate way. So occasionally I use this blog to rant about some little thing that really bothers me, even though most people probably never consider it. This is the third installment in this series.

I can't stand it when people make up large numbers, such as "zillion" or "bajillion." (Wikipedia helpfully refers to such terms as "indefinite and fictitious numbers" or "non-numerical vague quantifiers.") What, is the literally infinite amount of numbers that exist in our world not enough for you? Are you too lazy to come up with a real number? If you tell me that you baked 17 bajillion cookies, I'll roll my eyes at you. If you tell me that you baked 17,452,739,214,805 (that's 17 trillion, 452 billion, 739 million, 214 thousand, 805) cookies, I will be very, very impressed. We're not running out of numbers, kids. Let's be creative!

Grace and peace,
BMH

P.S. Despite my crankiness, I am feeling a bit generous, so I will tolerate the use of the smaller fictitious number "umpteen." Don't push it, though.

#61 Refugees

This week I think we need to talk about refugees. I realize that many of you may consider this a controversial topic. However, I don't think refugees should be controversial at all for Christians, at least when we think in broad terms. My goal in this post is to clearly explain why.

First, I want to focus specifically on refugees, not on immigration in general. A refugee, according to the United Nations, is a person who, "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his [or her] nationality and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself [or herself] of the protection of that country." The U.N. estimates that there are 22.5 million refugees in the world today, and an additional 43 million people who have been forcibly displaced from their homes. (These additional people are still in their home countries.) As Christians we believe that every single human being is created in the image of God. God calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves, and Jesus makes it clear that God's definition of neighbor is broad enough to include everyone. So we must care for and care about refugees.

Second, there is a lot of misinformation and lies that are spread about refugees. We as Christians must speak the truth in love. So here is the truth. Under the U.S.'s current refugee screening system, refugees are not realistically a threat to the security of this nation. The Christian Reformed Church's Office of Social Justice says, "Refugees are the most intensely screened group of individuals to enter the United States. The U.S. resettlement process is the lengthiest and most robust in the world, taking from 18 months to three years and involving five governmental agencies with each case." You can read about the process here and here and here. The CATO Institute published an article two years ago that found that at that time, out of the 859,629 refugees the U.S. admitted since 2001, exactly 0 were convicted of murder. (For the sake of reference, that article notes that 1 in 22,541 Americans committed murder in 2014.) A 2016 CATO institute study concluded that between 1975 and 2015, the chance that a refugee would kill an American in a terrorist attack was 1 in 3,638,587,094 a year. And it makes sense that refugees wouldn't be a threat. If you waited years to find safety in a new country after fleeing from your own homeland, why in the world would you put that safety at risk by committing murder?

I'll try to wrap this up quickly. There are 22.5 million refugees without homes today, and the U.N. says the majority of these people are children. Refugees are fleeing for the lives, and many refugee camps and nearby countries are overwhelmed. I can't see how a loving, Christian response would not include supporting the resettlement of these well-screened refugees. I try to be careful as a pastor when it comes to politics. Here I feel the morals are clear: we should vote in favor of supporting as many refugees as we can. (By the way, when it comes to money, refugees only receive funding from the federal government for eight months. The Department of Health and Human Services says that over time refugees actually contribute more to our economy than they receive.) As part of the U.S.'s work in the United Nations, our government has agreed to take in refugees. We should urge our government to keep that promise. The government may decide not to do that. But we can still keep loving refugees. We can speak well about refugees and even advocate for them. We can work with organizations such as Bethany Christian Services to help settle refugees in the U.S. We can support organizations such as World Renew, which work to help refugees around the world. And finally, we can pray for refugees. We should never forget the suffering of our fellow human beings. We pray that God will bring safety, healing, and restoration soon.

Grace and peace,
BMH

#60 Remembering the Reformation

Happy Reformation Day! It's been 500 years since Martin Luther kicked off the Reformation. Obviously those of us who belong to the Protestant denominations that developed out of the teaching of Luther and the other Reformers have been greatly affected by the Reformation. The Roman Catholic Church, too, has changed much in the past five centuries, and those changes are at least partly due to the Reformation. We can and should be grateful for the assurance of salvation that comes from being justified by grace through faith. We also can and should be grateful for easy access to the Bible, for worship in our own language, and for the ability to participate in worship through singing.

But over the past 500 years, Jesus Christ's church has become more and more divided. We've reformed quite a bit, but there's a lot of reforming to do. After 500 years, I think it's time to shift our focus. Let's stop using our theology to divide; let's not treat our fellow Christians as strangers. And, Protestants, please, please, please, stop talking about "Christians" and "Catholics." Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, and Reformed Christians have all signed a wonderful document that describes our shared belief that we are made right with God through faith, not works. (Learn more here!) Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant Christians all affirm some version of the Nicene Creed. I sincerely hope that Jesus doesn't wait nearly 500 more years to return, but assuming that He doesn't, let's spend the next 500 years working together more and more. Let's make it our goal that in 500 years that are many, many fewer denominations than there are now.

Look, I know we have theological differences. I'm not saying we should relax our dedication to faithfully interpreting the Scriptures. But having differences in our beliefs shouldn't stop us from working together to serve our communities or from coming together for Bible studies or from meeting together for special worship services (even if we need to stay away from communion/Lord's Supper/eucharist/mass). And let's be honest. Some of our differences really aren't weighty enough to keep us separate. Revelation describes the church as the most diverse group of people ever assembled (see, e.g., Rev. 7:9). Think of the powerful witness it would be if we could belong to the same congregation even with our differences of opinion. There is one body and one Spirit, just as we were called to one hope when we were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Let's pray for the Spirit to bring us to more complete unity. Let's try our hardest to work together. By God's grace, let's keep reforming according to God's Word to be more like our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Grace and peace,
BMH

#59 I Got Guns in My Head and They Won't Go

It's been a few weeks since the horrible shooting in Las Vegas, but I can't get it completely out of my head. A single mass shooting is too many. But here in the U.S. mass shootings happen frequently enough that they hardly surprise me. They scare me; they sadden me; they disgust me. But I can't say I'm surprised any more. I just want to know how many people have died. Thankfully we haven't seen other shootings as deadly as Las Vegas.

I'm worried about the threat of more mass shootings. But I'm also worried that we're getting desensitized to this sort of violence. I'm worried that we'll soon accept that these shootings are part of life—if we haven't already begun to think that way. I think we need to stop and remind ourselves again and again that this is not the way things are supposed to be. This is not the way things have to be. We need to stop and empathize with those who are suffering from these shootings. We should lament the pain that such violence causes. We should cry out to God to ask why so many families are left mourning for a daughter or a son or a sister or a brother or a mother or a father who's died. We should ask how long God will allow our world to continue down this agonizing, violent path.

But I think we should also face the reality of human evil and human violence. We should also examine ourselves. Have we started believing the lies of the world? Have we confused violence with strength? Have we convinced ourselves that we need to be armed to be safe? Have we accepted that guns are a natural part of life? I think that if we follow the Prince of Peace, we need to pray for reformed vision to see the world that Jesus is bringing. When the disciples misunderstood our Lord Jesus and tried to defend Him with swords, He rebuked them. Our God gave Isaiah a vision of a world where swords are beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks, where all the garments of war are burned. God's Spirit scolded those who found their security in military might instead of God.

Now I know God commanded the Israelites to go to war under Joshua and wipe out the inhabitants of the land of Canaan. But that's a one-time thing. God was working out a specific purpose and a specific punishment on those peoples. And really all of the Israelites' wars through the time of David were the slow, full working out of God's special command. And I also know that Revelation describes Jesus returning as a warrior. But in both of these cases God Himself is taking specific action against specific groups. None of us can claim to have God's perspective or God's perfect judgment when it comes to violence. (Plus Jesus comes to fight what is the truly the war that ends all war.)

I'm not naive enough to think that we humans can eliminate violence. I'm not naive enough to think violence and weapons will disappear before Christ returns. But I refuse to believe that the only way to face the threat of guns is with more guns. I refuse to believe that I must arm myself in case violence breaks out around me. I refuse to believe that weapons can give me security. I won't tell you how to vote on gun issues. I won't tell you which position to take in the gun debate in the U.S. I won't tell you whether or not you can have guns or how many guns are too many guns. But I will ask you to reflect on this question: when it comes to guns, weapons, and violence, how can you and how can we live like people whose true citizenship is in heaven, who are journeying toward our home in the renewed world under the reign of the Prince of Peace?

Grace and peace,
BMH

#58 I Spent the Day with Superbabes

Today Lanie and I had quite the set of adventures. (You'll find this post much more enjoyable if you click on either of the videos below and listen to the theme from Superman [top] or Man of Steel [bottom] as you continue reading.)

We rescued a kitty stuck in a tree:

We did our best to recreate one of my favorite Superman covers (click here for the original):

We flew:

We lifted (and tossed) a huge elephant:

We examined the bottle city of Kandor:

We played with Krypto the Superdog:

We encountered and ran away from Kryptonite:

After saving the day, we were ready to pose for the front page of The Daily Planet:

Life is never boring with the Babes of Steel around!

Grace and peace,

BMH

P.S. One million bonus points if you know what the blog title is referencing.