Here, so now what?: December 2006

Ask anyone very close to me and they'll tell you I'm a reader. I come from a family of readers. In fact, one of the basic ideas I grew up with was, "Never leave the house without a book." You'll never know when you're going to be stuck someplace with nothing to do, so it seems like a pretty good idea. There's a problem though: one of those pesky little details about being in school is that the professors have their own ideas about what I should be spending my time reading; unfortunately their list and mine rarely line up and there's almost never enough time for everything. So I enjoy the summer and winter breaks since I have a chance to read what I want.

On occasion I allow myself the pleasure of reading fiction. I started a lengthy series a few weeks ago by George RR Martin called The Song of Fire and Ice. The first book (of 7) is A Game of Thrones and has been quite good--good, but not exactly relaxing. It's a medieval fantasy book that many people claim is as good as Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. I'm not quite convinced, but it can be worse than Tolkien and still be excellent. I've been avoiding starting it for a couple years now since starting these 6000+ page stories is such a huge commitment.

Dallas Willard is an author I can't recommend high enough. A friend and I have been slowly working through The Divine Conspiracy for the better part of a year now, and I just picked it back up after an extended break. He truly has a gift in making the most common and simple ideas amazingly profound. This book is an extended look at Jesus' sermon on the mount from Mathew 5-7. The paraphrase of Jesus' model prayer (previous post) is from his book. I had almost developed a bit of disdain for "The Lord's Prayer"--I had let it become perfunctory--but his discussion and explanation have changed my attitude. Amazingly Jesus (who Willard points out was the absolute smartest person who ever lived--a fact I need to remember) included in these few sentences everything that we should include in our petitions to God: our relationship with God, his nearness and love for us, our praise and a desire for everyone and everything to give him his due respect, requests that every institution and individual surrender themselves to becoming a willing part of God's kingdom, asking for our daily needs, a recognition and request for forgiveness (along with a realization that once we've grasped how great the grace given to us is that it'll be impossible to not extend it to those who offend or wrong us), and pleading that everything evil, unpleasant, and tempting be kept far from us (unless, of course, our Father has bigger and better plans for us that involve suffering). Willard's discussion is great, but the true genius is found in the timeless and terse words of Jesus.

I started a book yesterday and finished it this morning. I can't remember the last time I finished a book in a dozen hours, but this is one I've been wanting to read and am glad I finally picked it up. Under the Overpass by Mike Yankoski is a first hand exploration of the plight of America's homeless. Mike tells his story of how he was convicted to go and experience homelessness, so he took a break from getting his BS in computer science and spent 5 months with a friend living on the streets of Denver, Washington DC, Portland, San Francisco, Phoenix, and San Diego with only the cloths on their back and a guitar each. The stories and faith found within these 200 pages are amazing. By far the best and worst interactions they had were with those who claim the name of Christ. They were shooed away like stray dogs from most of the churches they slept near. On Sunday mornings multiple pews around them were usually left empty, even in an otherwise packed auditorium. One church in Portland even has a posted sign saying "No Loitering. Church Business Only. Police Enforced." On one day (most days, in fact) Mike and Sam (his companion) hadn't eaten anything but a 99 cent hamburger during the past day when they saw a feast being taken into this church. Two well dressed men came over and angrily tried to remove these two bums (who happened to be reading their Bibles at the time). Mike's question sticks with me: "What is the Church's business?"

However, some of the Christians that Mike and Sam encountered surprised them with their generosity and faith, but very few of these were working with a church. In fact, many of them were homeless themselves. One homeless man in Portland known only as Sugar Man upon discovering that Mike and Sam were Christians exclaimed

You guys are my brothers in Christ. I know it. The Bible tells me to love my neighbor as myself. Not even my brother, but simply my neighbor. You share more with a brother than simply with a neighbor and I'm supposed to love a neighbor more than myself. So, brothers, those I love more than neighbors, more than myself in fact, what do you need? Anything I have is yours because you call Christ Lord same as I do. You need a car? I've got one. It's yours. You need cash? I'll give you everything I've got. Place to stay? We'll work that out. So tell me, how can I serve you?

While waiting for a response he accepted a marijuana pipe being passed around by the other homeless around him. This left Mike questioning.

What do you do when a good tree bears bad fruit or a bad tree bears good fruit? Look harder.
What's your definition of a Christian? Is it broad enough to encompass the drug dealers, pimps, prostitutes, and broken people of the world? Jesus said that he came to heal the sick. Drug addicts are messed up just the same as liars are messed up, just the same as all humans are messed up. We all need Jesus. we all struggle with personal ways in which sin plays itself out in our lives.
What's worse? To not do dope or to not love your brother? Why do we kick drug users out of the church while quietly ignoring those who aren't dealing with other, equally destructive sins? Why do we reject the loving, self-sacrificing, giving, encouraging, Jesus-pursuing drug addict but recruit the clean, self-interested, gossiping, loveless churchgoer?

Tough questions. The same ones could be asked regarding homosexuals or gossips or any number of other "taboo" or "acceptable" sins. We're all sinners separated from God and redeemed by His son. We all struggle daily with our own demons. Of course, some sin have worse consequences than others and some are less culturally acceptable, but they all have the same eternal effect--and they are all forgivable. . . . . Things to think about.

That's a sampling of what I've been reading over break; well, that and an Introduction to Wave Phenomena and a book on Photonics, but we won't talk about those.

Labels: books, homeless, the good news