Even Your Doubts Are invited to the Party

Read the Article at Even Your Doubts Are Invited To The Party - Mockingbird (mbird.com)

The Nicene creed is something you may or may not have learned growing up. And if you did grow up with it, reciting it may feel like repeating the basic dinner prayer. Actually, quickly saying grace at the table so that you can shove mashed potatoes in your mouth is a lot like monotonously chanting the creed so that you can hurry on to post-church brunch. Either way, we have memorized many phrases at church.

A Penny and God's Goodness by Martin Luther

For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last” (Matt 20:1-16).

The substance of the parable consists not in the penny, what it is, nor in the different hours; but in earning and acquiring, or how one can earn the penny; that as here the first presumed to obtain the penny and even more by their own merit, and yet the last received the same amount because of the goodness of the householder. Thus God will show it is nothing but mercy that he gives and no one is to arrogate to himself more than another. Therefore, he says I do you no wrong, is not the money mine and not yours; if I had given away your property, then you would have reason to murmur; is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?

Now in this way Christ strikes a blow first against the presumption of those who would storm their way into heaven by their good works. These all labor for definite wages, that is, they take the law of God in no other sense than that they should fulfill it by certain defined works for a specified reward, and they never understand it correctly, and know not that before God all is pure grace. This signifies that they hire themselves, out for wages, and agree with the householder for a penny a day; consequently, their lives are bitter and they lead a life that is indeed hard.

Christ strikes a blow first against the presumption of those who would storm their way into heaven by their good works.

Now when the gospel comes and makes all alike, as Paul teaches in Romans 3:23, so that they who have done great works are no more than public sinners, and must also become sinners and tolerate the saying: All have sinned, and that no one is justified before God by his works; then they look around and despise those who have done nothing at all. Then they murmur against the householder, they imagine it is not right; they blaspheme the gospel, and become hardened in their ways; then they lose the favor and grace of God, and are obliged to take their temporal reward and trot from him with their penny and be condemned; for they served not for the sake of mercy but for the sake of reward, and they will receive that and nothing more, the others, however, must confess that they have merited neither the penny nor the grace, but more is given to them than they had ever thought was promised to them.

Therefore, if one were to interpret it critically, the penny would have to signify temporal good, and the favor of the householder, eternal life. But the day and the heat we transfer from temporal things to the conscience, so that work-righteous persons do labor long and hard, that is, they do all with a heavy conscience and an unwilling heart, forced and coerced by the law; but the short time or last hours are the light consciences that live blessed lives, led by grace, and that willingly and without being driven by the law.

Therefore, we clearly see, if we look into their hearts, that the last had no regard for their own merit, but enjoyed the goodness of the householder. The first however did not esteem the goodness of the householder, but looked to their own merits, and thought it was theirs by right and murmured about it.

The substance of this gospel is that no mortal is so high, nor will ever ascend so high, who will not have occasion to fear what may become the very lowest. On the other hand, no mortal lies so low or can fall so low, to whom the hope is not extended that he may become the highest; because here all human merit is abolished and God's goodness alone is praised.

God is on the Bathroom Floor

Read the whole Article at https://www.nightbirde.co/blog/blog-post-title-three-2rjnk

I don’t remember most of Autumn, because I lost my mind late in the summer and for a long time after that, I wasn’t in my body. I was a lightbulb buzzing somewhere far.

After the doctor told me I was dying, and after the man I married said he didn’t love me anymore, I chased a miracle in California and sixteen weeks later, I got it. The cancer was gone. But when my brain caught up with it all, something broke. I later found out that all the tragedy at once had caused a physical head trauma, and my brain was sending false signals of excruciating pain and panic.

Gospel of the Old Testament - Video Chad Bird

https://www.1517.org/videos/chad-bird-the-old-testament-gospel

Love Beyond Efficiency

Read the whole article at https://mbird.com/family/love-beyond-efficiency/

The drop-off for the elementary school is precisely at 8:30am, and there remains just five minutes to walk the three blocks. Still enough time, though only just. “It’s time! Let’s goooo.” But then a second breakfast item is requested, all the masks have gone missing, and no one has any shoes on. With a “No, too late,” a “Shoes, please!” and a “Hurry up!” walking commences down the street as the sound of crying signals yet another scraped knee. “Come on! Almost there …” Arriving at 8:34, school has successfully happened yet again, but it’s not a victory worth celebrating.

REAL MEN DROP L-BOMBS

Read Full Article at https://mbird.com/2021/05/real-men-drop-l-bombs/

You’ve heard the confession countless times before. “My father never said ‘I love you’ to me growing up.” I heard it from a friend yesterday, while we were running together. He explained, “It wasn’t that he didn’t love me or was cold, just that, like most men of his generation, he expressed his love non-verbally, through provision and presence and maybe the occasional hug.”

Read Full Article at https://mbird.com/2021/05/real-men-drop-l-bombs/

ORDINARY FORGIVENESS AND THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

Read the whole article here: https://mbird.com/2021/05/ordinary-forgiveness-and-the-christian-life/

Some have described the Easter season as a journey. And indeed, one can’t help but notice a shift in the trajectory of the Sunday readings. From Easter Sunday to just before Pentecost, the readings slowly move out away from the initial joy of the empty tomb, and especially as we move closer to and beyond the Ascension, the readings return to the Upper Room Discourses in John’s Gospel, the place where we began our journey through the Lord’s Passion and Resurrection on Maundy Thursday.

We’ve turned from the initial Easter Joy to a consideration of what it’s like for us as we live within what Paul Zahl calls the presence of the absence of the Risen Lord. And this Gospel arc will culminate next week with Pentecost Sunday, the birthday of the Church, the beginning of our life as Christians.

AN ODE TO CURIOSITY

Read the whole article here https://mbird.com/2021/05/an-ode-to-curiosity/

One of the best scenes in the opening season of the surprise-hit show Ted Lasso is during a darts match in a sports bar. As the game is heating up and a crowd is clustering around him and his opponent, Lasso tells a story in parabolic fashion. While driving his son to school one day, he sees a quote painted on a wall: “Be curious, not judgmental.” The quote reminds him of the people who used to belittle him when he was young. “Not a single one of them was curious,” he recalls. “They thought they had it figured out. They judged.” Little did they know that Lasso did have something to offer (and little does his opponent know that Lasso is a master at darts). The moral here is that curiosity is the opposite of judgment. Where judgment decides, curiosity searches; where judgment closes a door, curiosity leaves it open.

A Fresh Breath of Hope

Read the Whole article Here. https://mbird.com/2021/05/a-fresh-breath-of-hope/

Last year, there was a stunning spring, and I definitely noticed it. The blossoming and blooming of Capitol Hill is always beautiful, but spending my days working from home made for more walks, more gazing out the window, more noticing.

My office told us we’d begin teleworking. I nodded. “Two weeks at most,” I thought. Two weeks would be nice to be home. A little breather from my normal chaotic job. But it wasn’t two weeks, and from my house I watched spring unfold, but not with the normal ease and pleasure.

It was a mercy that while everything else shuttered up, the blossoms still opened themselves to bring our world color and life. As the two weeks wore on, I began to realize this wouldn’t go away. The normal hustle and bustle of the city slowed to a sudden, abrupt stop. The same words were on everyone’s lips: “the pandemic,” “restrictions,” “case numbers.” But amidst the frenzy, a trip to the grocery store delivered the same mercy to me the spring blossoms offered to our scared and shaky world. 

Read the Whole article Here. https://mbird.com/2021/05/a-fresh-breath-of-hope/

On Controversy

Read the Article here https://www.ligonier.org/blog/oncontroversy/

Dear Sir,

As you are likely to be engaged in controversy, and your love of truth is joined with a natural warmth of temper, my friendship makes me solicitous on your behalf. You are of the strongest side; for truth is great, and must prevail; so that a person of abilities inferior to yours might take the field with a confidence of victory. I am not therefore anxious for the event of the battle; but I would have you more than a conqueror, and to triumph, not only over your adversary, but over yourself. If you cannot be vanquished, you may be wounded. To preserve you from such wounds as might give you cause of weeping over your conquests, I would present you with some considerations, which, if duly attended to, will do you the service of a great coat of mail; such armor, that you need not complain, as David did of Saul’s, that it will be more cumbersome than useful; for you will easily perceive it is taken from that great magazine provided for the Christian soldier, the Word of God. I take it for granted that you will not expect any apology for my freedom, and therefore I shall not offer one. For method’s sake, I may reduce my advice to three heads, respecting your opponent, the public, and yourself.

Consider Your Opponent

As to your opponent, I wish that before you set pen to paper against him, and during the whole time you are preparing your answer, you may commend him by earnest prayer to the Lord’s teaching and blessing. This practice will have a direct tendency to conciliate your heart to love and pity him; and such a disposition will have a good influence upon every page you write.

If you account him a believer, though greatly mistaken in the subject of debate between you, the words of David to Joab concerning Absalom, are very applicable: “Deal gently with him for my sake.” The Lord loves him and bears with him; therefore you must not despise him, or treat him harshly. The Lord bears with you likewise, and expects that you should show tenderness to others, from a sense of the much forgiveness you need yourself. In a little while you will meet in heaven; he will then be dearer to you than the nearest friend you have upon earth is to you now. Anticipate that period in your thoughts; and though you may find it necessary to oppose his errors, view him personally as a kindred soul, with whom you are to be happy in Christ forever.

But if you look upon him as an unconverted person, in a state of enmity against God and his grace (a supposition which, without good evidence, you should be very unwilling to admit), he is a more proper object of your compassion than of your anger. Alas! “He knows not what he does.” But you know who has made you to differ. If God, in his sovereign pleasure, had so appointed, you might have been as he is now; and he, instead of you, might have been set for the defense of the gospel. You were both equally blind by nature. If you attend to this, you will not reproach or hate him, because the Lord has been pleased to open your eyes, and not his.

Of all people who engage in controversy, we, who are called Calvinists, are most expressly bound by our own principles to the exercise of gentleness and moderation. If, indeed, they who differ from us have a power of changing themselves, if they can open their own eyes, and soften their own hearts, then we might with less inconsistency be offended at their obstinacy: but if we believe the very contrary to this, our part is, not to strive, but in meekness to instruct those who oppose. “If peradventure God will give them repentance to the acknowledgment of the truth.” If you write with a desire of being an instrument of correcting mistakes, you will of course be cautious of laying stumbling blocks in the way of the blind or of using any expressions that may exasperate their passions, confirm them in their principles, and thereby make their conviction, humanly speaking, more impracticable.

Consider the Public

By printing, you will appeal to the public; where your readers may be ranged under three divisions: First, such as differ from you in principle. Concerning these I may refer you to what I have already said. Though you have your eye upon one person chiefly, there are many like-minded with him; and the same reasoning will hold, whether as to one or to a million.

There will be likewise many who pay too little regard to religion, to have any settled system of their own, and yet are preengaged in favor of those sentiments which are at least repugnant to the good opinion men naturally have of themselves. These are very incompetent judges of doctrine; but they can form a tolerable judgment of a writer’s spirit. They know that meekness, humility, and love are the characteristics of a Christian temper; and though they affect to treat the doctrines of grace as mere notions and speculations, which, supposing they adopted them, would have no salutary influence upon their conduct; yet from us, who profess these principles, they always expect such dispositions as correspond with the precepts of the gospel. They are quick-sighted to discern when we deviate from such a spirit, and avail themselves of it to justify their contempt of our arguments. The scriptural maxim, that “the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God,” is verified by daily observation. If our zeal is embittered by expressions of anger, invective, or scorn, we may think we are doing service of the cause of truth, when in reality we shall only bring it into discredit. The weapons of our warfare, and which alone are powerful to break down the strongholds of error, are not carnal, but spiritual; arguments fairly drawn from Scripture and experience, and enforced by such a mild address, as may persuade our readers, that, whether we can convince them or not, we wish well to their souls, and contend only for the truth’s sake; if we can satisfy them that we act upon these motives, our point is half gained; they will be more disposed to consider calmly what we offer; and if they should still dissent from our opinions, they will be constrained to approve our intentions.

You will have a third class of readers, who, being of your own sentiments, will readily approve of what you advance, and may be further established and confirmed in their views of the Scripture doctrines, by a clear and masterly elucidation of your subject. You may be instrumental to their edification if the law of kindness as well as of truth regulates your pen, otherwise you may do them harm. There is a principle of self, which disposes us to despise those who differ from us; and we are often under its influence, when we think we are only showing a becoming zeal in the cause of God.

I readily believe that the leading points of Arminianism spring from and are nourished by the pride of the human heart; but I should be glad if the reverse were always true; and that to embrace what are called the Calvinistic doctrines was an infallible token of a humble mind. I think I have known some Arminians, that is, persons who for want of a clearer light, have been afraid of receiving the doctrines of free grace, who yet have given evidence that their hearts were in a degree humbled before the Lord.

And I am afraid there are Calvinists, who, while they account it a proof of their humility, that they are willing in words to debase the creature and to give all the glory of salvation to the Lord, yet know not what manner of spirit they are of. Whatever it be that makes us trust in ourselves that we are comparatively wise or good, so as to treat those with contempt who do not subscribe to our doctrines, or follow our party, is a proof and fruit of a self-righteous spirit. Self-righteousness can feed upon doctrines as well as upon works; and a man may have the heart of a Pharisee, while his head is stored with orthodox notions of the unworthiness of the creature and the riches of free grace. Yea, I would add, the best of men are not wholly free from this leaven; and therefore are too apt to be pleased with such representations as hold up our adversaries to ridicule, and by consequence flatter our own superior judgments. Controversies, for the most part, are so managed as to indulge rather than to repress his wrong disposition; and therefore, generally speaking, they are productive of little good. They provoke those whom they should convince, and puff up those whom they should edify. I hope your performance will savor of a spirit of true humility, and be a means of promoting it in others.

Consider Yourself

This leads me, in the last place, to consider your own concern in your present undertaking. It seems a laudable service to defend the faith once delivered to the saints; we are commanded to contend earnestly for it, and to convince gainsayers. If ever such defenses were seasonable and expedient they appear to be so in our own day, when errors abound on all sides and every truth of the gospel is either directly denied or grossly misrepresented.

And yet we find but very few writers of controversy who have not been manifestly hurt by it. Either they grow in a sense of their own importance, or imbibe an angry, contentious spirit, or they insensibly withdraw their attention from those things which are the food and immediate support of the life of faith, and spend their time and strength upon matters which are at most but of a secondary value. This shows, that if the service is honorable, it is dangerous. What will it profit a man if he gains his cause and silences his adversary, if at the same time he loses that humble, tender frame of spirit in which the Lord delights, and to which the promise of his presence is made?

Your aim, I doubt not, is good; but you have need to watch and pray for you will find Satan at your right hand to resist you; he will try to debase your views; and though you set out in defense of the cause of God, if you are not continually looking to the Lord to keep you, it may become your own cause, and awaken in you those tempers which are inconsistent with true peace of mind, and will surely obstruct communion with God.

Be upon your guard against admitting anything personal into the debate. If you think you have been ill treated, you will have an opportunity of showing that you are a disciple of Jesus, who “when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not.” This is our pattern, thus we are to speak and write for God, “not rendering railing for railing, but contrariwise blessing; knowing that hereunto we are called.” The wisdom that is from above is not only pure, but peaceable and gentle; and the want of these qualifications, like the dead fly in the pot of ointment, will spoil the savor and efficacy of our labors.

If we act in a wrong spirit, we shall bring little glory to God, do little good to our fellow creatures, and procure neither honor nor comfort to ourselves. If you can be content with showing your wit, and gaining the laugh on your side, you have an easy task; but I hope you have a far nobler aim, and that, sensible of the solemn importance of gospel truths, and the compassion due to the souls of men, you would rather be a means of removing prejudices in a single instance, than obtain the empty applause of thousands. Go forth, therefore, in the name and strength of the Lord of hosts, speaking the truth in love; and may he give you a witness in many hearts that you are taught of God, and favored with the unction of his Holy Spirit.

How to Stop Making Gospel into Law

Read the full article at https://mbird.com/2021/04/how-to-stop-making-gospel-into-law/

1. God gave the law to creatures, but God is not the law.

The dream of finding Law [that inspires and gives life] imagines the theological project to be equating God and law, … to claim that God’s eternal, objective, righteous essence is none other than a graceful, nonthreatening, ordered, beautiful, eternal law as the thing that unites the complicated contradictory attributes of mercy and justice. […]

The law is taken to be the form of the will or mind of God … and so we mold our god into the shape of our happy life. […]

[Luther] knew that if one tried to describe God’s essence apart from forgiveness, what he got was God = law, which is God naked in majesty without any gospel, and that the end of that quest was death.

2. The law has two “uses,” but used by God. One use fosters and preserves life in the old world, and the other makes a person run from God’s threat/wrath to the mercy of Christ’s promise.

The law is not there to give ears [of faith], but to take them away. It does not give, but removes faith in God’s word. Worse, the law is there to kill sinners wherever it finds them.

3. The law always accuses, in both its uses, which is the essential or constant voice of the law.

The problem Paul had with the law is the same that you and I have: it kills us in whatever form it comes — ceremonial or moral — and we don’t want to die. It does not make us righteous; it condemns.  … God gave the law for this one and only purpose: to threaten us with death, and carry out the death wherever there is sin.

4. Christ alone fulfills the law, and so is the point, the “thing” that law wants, needs, and demands — and which sinners cannot give.

Luther is very precise on this matter. Christ’s crucifixion and ministry do not abolish the law; he fulfills the law. But fulfilling is not the moment the law hands out its prize. Christ’s unexpected fulfillment of the law on the cross has a most dramatic effect on the law, evacuating or emptying it.

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Read the Rest at

Read the full article at https://mbird.com/2021/04/how-to-stop-making-gospel-into-law/

Relax, It's Me: How Jesus Saves Us From Doubt and Despair

Read the Article Here https://www.1517.org/articles/relax-its-me-how-jesus-saves-us-from-doubt-and-despair

One of the finest sinners who ever lived was Thomas, the doubting one. The risen Jesus breaks in on him and his fellow disciples shaking in their boots, wondering if the religious leaders’ goons would get them like they did their crucified rabbi. Our Lord, on that day and today, has to deal with the first two moves of a sinful heart: doubt and despair.

These guys had spent the past three years with Jesus. They were witnesses to the signs and wonders that John relates in his gospel. They’d seen the signs, but they couldn’t read ‘em very well. Not even Mary Magdalene’s first sermon to them about Christ’s resurrection did them much good. They just couldn’t see it. “Okay, fine; he’s not dead. That’s not going to help us when we have the same folks breathing down our necks who killed him.”

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Read the Article Here https://www.1517.org/articles/relax-its-me-how-jesus-saves-us-from-doubt-and-despair

O Lord, Have Mercy Upon Us, Internet Sinners

Read article At https://mbird.com/2021/04/o-lord-have-mercy-upon-us-internet-sinners/

Recently, the Internet has made me aware of an interesting fact about myself: I’m wrong about everything! The books I read, the music I listen to, the type of credit card I use to pay for the aforementioned books and music, even having a credit card — it’s all bad! Wrong! “NO! How dare you consider this!?!” shouts the Internet as I read the two-hundredth review on Amazon for a new bike helmet so I can protect my (ignorant) brain. “Should I even be buying things from Amazon?” I wonder, reading a tweet about the latest controversy surrounding the corporate giant. 

If Dr. Suess (another recently controversial person on the Internet) were to write a rhyme about what it’s like to be an Internet user in 2021, it might go something like this:  

Your dog, your bike,
Your God, your likes;
You’ve chosen bad
And made me mad! 
You were wrong,
You don’t belong!
So long, goodbye!
xoxo, Internet Guy 

I have read articles telling me it’s wrong to “own” my golden retriever (I should’ve adopted from a shelter) or that the bike I bought actually sucks (I should’ve bought that more expensive, “better” one). I’m a bad person for believing in God. I’m a bad person for not believing the right things about God. Even the choices I didn’t know could be controversial, like what can of beans I buy at the grocery store, was brought to my attention by the Internet as a matter of great social, political, and ethical importance. Choose wrong and I’m bad. But choose right, and … I’m still bad, according to Internet Guy. 

The Doctrine of Grace vs. the Disposition of Grace

read the rest at https://mbird.com/2021/03/the-doctrine-of-grace-vs-the-disposition-of-grace/

The way you hold a position is oftentimes just as important as the position you hold.

My brother John said that to me recently in reference to what he’d learned from 20 years of public ministry. I’ve heard myself repeating it ever since. And not just as it relates to religion.

His words reminded me of a hot July day ten years ago, sitting in stand-still traffic outside New York City and watching in amazement as a church van a few lanes over decided to “redeem the time” by getting out a megaphone and reciting scripture to the rest of us. As you might imagine, there were no sudden conversions or hallelujahs; people were annoyed and, this being New York, they made their feelings known in a colorful way.

read the rest at https://mbird.com/2021/03/the-doctrine-of-grace-vs-the-disposition-of-grace/

A Short Theology of Busted Brackets

Read it all here at https://mbird.com/2021/03/a-short-theology-of-busted-brackets/

If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results, March Madness is a tradition that lives up to its name. Every year, we try to determine the fate of 68 college basketball teams. Despite the odds (1 in 120.2 billion), we daydream of being the first person in history to fill out a perfect bracket. We guess the rise and fall of underdogs and the success of our hometown teams based on a lucky feeling. By the end of the first day of the tournament, our brackets are shadows of their former selves. Like the year before, we are reminded that there are powers at work that are far beyond our control. By the time the next year rolls around, however, we do it all over again in the hopes that the outcome will somehow be different.

There is something irresistible about the NCAA tournament. More brackets were filled out than votes cast for either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump in 2016. Part of the reason why the tournament is so inviting is because there are no prerequisites. One need not be a super-fan to participate. All it takes is five dollars for the office pool buy-in. Part of what makes the tournament so inviting is the single-elimination factor, so even the heavy favorites can fall unexpectedly. When chaos reigns, it’s really anyone’s guess as to who will win it all. The stats nerd and the coin-flipper have equal footing.

Read it all here at https://mbird.com/2021/03/a-short-theology-of-busted-brackets/

Why Do Men Cry Watching Sports Movies?

Read the Whole Article Here https://mbird.com/2021/03/why-do-men-cry-watching-sports-movies/

It’s a cliché, I know. But it’s totally true. Men love sports (or at least 80% of us), and sports movies hit us in ways that rom-coms don’t. Watching two star-crossed lovers on the silver screen might provide its own comfort, but it doesn’t reliably incite waterworks like dramas of athletic glory. “Boy’s Don’t Cry,” as the saying goes. I wish it weren’t so, of course. I don’t get to make the rules. Masculinity is equated with strength — the kind that doesn’t permit public displays of emotion. Call it stoicism or sexism, men don’t often let their guard down to feel so obviously. Sports movies are something of an exception to the rule………………………………

Read the Whole Article Here https://mbird.com/2021/03/why-do-men-cry-watching-sports-movies/

When Weakness Is What Saves You

Read original Article here https://mbird.com/2021/03/when-weakness-is-what-saves-you/

In the very early days of health policy decisions, there was a not-so-straightforward debate. Should the vaccines be used to prevent deaths or slow the spread? Do you first give it to senior citizens who are far more likely to die from Covid, or do you give it to younger people and more urban residents who are far more likely to spread the disease? If you aim to slow the spread, “normal life” might return more quickly, but at the expense of higher mortality rates among the elderly.

The answer to this quandary might sound obvious now, but it’s a small window into a broader landscape of untraveled possibilities for how the vaccine might have been distributed. When former NBA player Charles Barkley suggested that higher taxpayers (like professional athletes) should get “preferential treatment” for the Covid vaccine — even if it meant that people would die — his comments were immediately dismissed, but such a possibility isn’t unimaginable. Drug companies could have been permitted to sell their drugs to corporations or individuals willing to pay a premium. The vaccine could have been first given to U.S. citizens, to those without criminal records, to Democratic-voting states over Republican- ones, or to people with longer life expectancies.

It’s been far from the dystopian future of apocalyptic movies. Going back to last fall, policy makers essentially chose to save lives, to value human life above all else. As much as it’s true that the country is divided across partisan, social, and economic lines, the unified approach to distribution thus far has been nothing short of astonishing. If the fear of death divided the nation, the hope promised by the vaccine seems to have largely united it. 

Which isn’t to say that mistakes haven’t been made. Or that there hasn’t been a debate about the rollout. A lot of people are justifiably upset about a myriad of policy details. But the tenor of the conversation has more to do with charity in ways that are worth appreciating. People have clearly disagreed about how to save lives, but the ideal is largely agreed upon: those at most risk should get their doses first. The outrage over line-jumpers reflects a belief that the existing guidelines are correct. The debate over whose occupation might be deemed essential has more to do with the risk of exposure than social stratification. 

There may be vaccine envy, but not to the point of demanding preferred treatment. There has been frustration at not getting an appointment, but not to the point of arguing that one life matters more than others. I know that many are still on waitlists, but my elderly neighbor got the vaccine before Jeff Goldblum, Tom Hanks, the Duke of Sussex, and Dolly Parton. 

Those who are most worthy to receive a dose have been deemed so by a genuinely paradoxical measure. The vulnerable and at risk go first. The rollout has been a far from perfect system, but its ideals aimed to place the needy at the front of the line. Like grace itself, weakness is the only qualification.

It’s easy to miss just how profoundly Christian this approach has at least tried to be. It could have been otherwise. In ancient Rome there was little regard for the weak. As Tom Holland wrote in his book Dominion:

The heroes of the Iliad, favorites of the gods, golden and predatory, had scorned the weak and downtrodden. So too […] had the philosophers. The starving deserved no sympathy. Beggars were best rounded up and deported. Pity risked undermining a wise man’s self-control.

When a particularly terrible plague hit the empire in 250 AD, those who began to show symptoms were thrown out into the street for dead, and it was the Christians who gave them water, baths, and food. It was Jesus who compared his ministry to that of a physician, providing blessing for the poor and health to the sick. The Christian care for those who could not afford doctors inspired a 4th-century bishop to found what is likely the first major hospital, with free treatment, bed, shelter, and food.

Taking our cue from our inheritance of the Christian virtue of charity, it’s been decided that the collective good is accomplished when the defenseless and at-risk are protected from the plague. Meritocracy, deserving, and survival-of-the-fittest this is not. Instead, there is a line that places the aged and endangered at the front.

When it was rumored in December that Bill Gates hadn’t been vaccinated, the conspiracy theory rumor mill suggested he thought the vaccine wasn’t safe. He had funded vaccine research with hundreds of millions of dollars. Surely, if he wanted the two jabs he would have gotten it. But it turns out the real answer was far more inspiring. He was waiting for his place in line — just like everyone else.

Read original Article here https://mbird.com/2021/03/when-weakness-is-what-saves-you/

The Narrow Door of the Cross

Read the Whole Article here https://mbird.com/2021/03/the-narrow-door-of-the-cross/

Leigh Stein is the author of the new novel Self-Care. It’s a satire of the wellness industry and social media influencer culture. In a recent op-ed for the New York Times, “The Empty Religions of Instagram,” Stein confesses that she too fell for the accessible combination of self-care, social justice activism, and tongue-in-cheek Christianity proclaimed by the charismatic “preachers” on platforms like Instagram. Acknowledging that almost a quarter of all millennials in America claim no religious affiliation at all, Stein nonetheless questions if such statistics reveal a reduced rate of religiosity or if instead “our belief systems [are] too bespoke to appear on a list of major religions in a Pew phone survey.” Stein suspects the latter is the case. She writes,

Our new belief system is a blend of left-wing political orthodoxy, intersectional feminism, self-optimization, therapy, wellness, astrology and Dolly Parton. And we’ve found a different kind of clergy: personal growth influencers. Women like Glennon Doyle, who offer nones like us permission, validation and community on demand at a time when it’s nearly impossible to share communion in person. We don’t even have to put down our phones………………………………………………….

Read the Whole Article here https://mbird.com/2021/03/the-narrow-door-of-the-cross/

The Useful Sinner: A Story of Grace in Practice

Read the complete article here https://mbird.com/2021/01/the-useful-sinner-a-story-of-grace-in-practice/

God’s chief agents have often been notoriously weak. Moses, a murderer, was chosen to deliver the tablets of law, which contained a prohibition against his crime. Peter, a liar and coward, became a great leader of the church. David, a murdering adulterer whose misdeeds were fully chronicled, was the greatest king of the chosen people and was frequently quoted by Jesus during his ministry. Jesus used David’s words as he was dying on a cross, and St. Paul described him as a man after God’s heart. While we cannot hope to avoid sin, we can take comfort in knowing that there is a marvelous collection of useful sinners who have gone before.

Read the complete article here https://mbird.com/2021/01/the-useful-sinner-a-story-of-grace-in-practice/

Why The Beatitudes Are Still So Revolutionary

Read the complete article here https://www.relevantmagazine.com/faith/why-the-beatitudes-are-still-so-revolutionary/

I’m sitting on a hillside overlooking Galilee, where tradition and scholars say that Jesus spoke his Sermon on the Mount.

It’s my third time here. I love it. Each time, there’s a sense of coming home.

To my right I can see the city of Tiberius, which was founded by Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great, and named after the Roman emperor Tiberius in the year AD 20. Beyond that into the distance is the land known as the West Bank, the Occupied Territories, or simply Palestine. Ahead of me is the Sea of Galilee, and on the horizon, the mouth of the Jordan River.

To my left I can see the hills of the Golan Heights, and beyond there is Syria with all its suffering and chaos.

If I walk a mile or two down the hillside, I will reach Capernaum, where Peter lived, the scene of so many stories from the Christian Scriptures.

I sit here in the Mediterranean sunshine, thinking and meditating and contemplating life with all its interweaving of people and stories and joy and pain.

Read the complete article here https://www.relevantmagazine.com/faith/why-the-beatitudes-are-still-so-revolutionary/