Welcome?

If you had to summarize in single word the vision and message of Jesus -- the ethos of his Kingdom -- what word would you choose? Here's a choice I saw the other day:

Welcome.

In recent years, many theologians have begun to speak of Jesus' vision of radical hospitality, his culture-defying openness and acceptance of the other, of the outcast, of the marginalized, of the abused, of the stranger.

This is not an original idea; it is one that I have seen mentioned several places (and my thanks to Richard Beck for assisting my thinking on this). But, still, let me share my enthusiasm over the idea of Christian welcome.

Here's why I think the word welcome works as a summary.

First, welcome is more of an action word. Most, when I have asked the above summary question use the word love. But love, as a word, has been very distorted and diluted by overuse and misuse -- epsecially in American / Western culture. Generally, love is now mostly associated with feelings. But welcome seems to be more behavioral. To welcome is to do something. In this, I think the vision of welcome is better than the more common, but less concrete, notion of love. (True, the idea of agape love is probably the best descriptor of the Christian ethic, but it takes a lot of words to specify the kind of love you mean when you say "love." Thus, the single word "love" isn't a great one-word summary of the Kingdom vision.)

Second, welcome affects the minutiae of life. It should affect how I treat my wife, my boys, my colleagues, and the strangers I meet today. Do my words, my face, and my actions truly welcome these people? Do they feel acceptance and openness in my presence? As Christine Pohl of Asbury Seminary points out, welcome and hospitality are about recognizing the fundamental humanity of the person. Do I convey this to those who encounter me?

I think about the people I come across when I travel. When I see them, do I welcome them? Do I smile and radiate warmth and joy toward them?

Finally, although welcome affects the details of life, it also scales up to encompass the larger issues of social justice. Welcome isn't just about my encounter with you in a supermarket. It is also sociological and global. How does my larger city of Seattle welcome the poor (or the small community of Mill Creek where I live)? How does the world welcome the newborn child? Social justice, to me, is about welcome on the global scale.

If you had to capture the best of Jesus' teaching, the parts that captured the essence of his "Good News," I think it would reduce to two stories he told: The parables of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son. And both stories are about welcome. The father of the Prodigal Son welcomes his wayward son home and thus informs us that the very heart of God is one of welcome. And the Samaritan is the ultimate display of hospitality to the stranger, the exemplar of the radical openness of welcome.

So, when people ask me what it means to be a Christian, what it means to follow Jesus of Nazareth, I now have an answer: Welcome.

Welcome to my office, my home, my time, my attention, my life. As a Christian I am called extend the welcome of Jesus. That was his vision.

Welcome.

The NOOMA Story

Several of you have seen a few of the NOOMA DVDs I have and wondered about them. Though produced independently, most are cool and innovative 10 minute videos that address life issues and leave you wanting more or at least to talk about what was being presented. Rob Bell from Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, MI (www.mhbcmi.org) is the primary story teller of the DVDs.

The name NOOMA is the English phonetic spelling of the Greek word pneuma, which is commonly translated to “spirit” or “breath”. Pneumatology refers to the study of spiritual beings, particularly the interactions between humans and God.

You can sample a few of them at their website: www.nooma.com and I encourage you to do so. They are worth the $10 it costs to get them. Many churches and small groups (which often are the same thing) have shown them at their gatherings.

Lebanon, Israel and the Middle East

Please pray for the conflict in Lebanon. If you think this is just another little skirmish between Israel and one of its Arab neighbors, be warned. This is serious stuff with Syria, Iran and others alreasy involved. As often is the case, innocent civilians are in the middle.

Israel -- not noted for its restraint, probably needs to take a small step back (and not go forward with troops as they did today) before the escalation gets to the point of no return. It may already be there. Yes, they have the right to defend themselves, but they need to show leadership and support the more moderate governemnt in Lebanon.

Hezbollah attacks are indefensible; Syria and Iran support of those attacks are inappropriate; but only Israel has the sanity to keep this conflict from becoming out of control. May the US be one of the voices of reason in the mix.

County All-Stars Win State Championship

John and Joe's Big League all-star baseball team made of 17-18 year olds from all over our county, won the state championship over the weekend! Both Joe and John played well, with John getting two doubles and a home run. The picture is him gearing up to hit a two-run homer -- Joe was on second base.

They now participate this coming weekend (first game on Thursday) in the Western Regional tournament with teams from California, Arizona, Hawaii, Montana and Oregon. Needless to say, (especially since I am one of the coaches), we are are excited to be playing! Since most of these teams are much better than we are (several are select teams that play year round), being there is the most fun.

Head Butts

Everyone believes that the head butt that the French soccer star, Zidane, gave at the World Cup is one of the all time poorest examples of expressing anger in sports. And yes, perhaps it was.

The question I have however, is "Who have I headbutted today? Who might be receiving headbutts from my anger?" No, thankfully mine don't receive the attention of 2 billion people watching on television -- just God. Of course, some of my most special headbutts are saved for God.

In addition, from whom am I receiving headbutts? Can I try and give them some grace since perhaps they might be aberations from their normal behaviour, too, like Zedane's.

For a fun game adventure with Zedane go to this website:
http://peyman.free.fr/peyman_org_divers/zidane.html

Spending time with family

I've lost track of the times I've heard high-profile Christian leaders (and other people) say, "I didn't spend as much time with my family as I wanted to." It is perhaps true that given the vast amount of travel that I've had over the past 18 years, I might reflect that as well. Still, I remember the words of a colleague and friend in Washington DC many years ago. In the midst of the Dan Quayle "family values" debate (some of you might remember that), he said that "the most important thing is spending quality time with your family(epecially kids). Unfortunately," he went on to say, "quality comes directly out of quantity time."

I've tried to live that. Spending as much time as I could with my two boys as they grew up. This picture is of us over the Fourth of July weekend (Joe on left; John on right). This calendar year alone, between soccer games of theirs I've photographed, baseball games I've managed, college basketball games we've watched together, and, of course, the World Cup -- we've had great experiences and cool conversations. Times that I'll treasure just as in other years.

Later next month, they go off to college to be mostly on their own and give me and Christine much less access to them. Have I spent as much quantity time with them over the years as I wanted. Probably not. Did I spend a lot of quality time with them? A lot, but never enough.