fires not quenched

It's the fourth – or the end of it, anyway. (Timezones can be tricky.) People are still letting off the occasional firework, legal (stays on the ground) and illegal (shoots into the air and explodes). There's a wild kind of permissiveness in the air; the heady aroma of booze, barbeques, fireworks and patriotism. Hell of a combination. America ... is a strange place. And sometimes I feel very strange in it.

Here in Bend, they let fireworks off a butte which is kind of central to the town and surrounding suburbs. However, what people really look forward to is the butte catching fire, which it does almost every year. Tonight was no exception; I was with a bunch of other interns at a host's house, right at the foot of the butte, and we spotted (and cheered) two blazes before they were put out by the fire department, standing by.

My friends, what more could you ask for entertainment?

In fact, there was something today that simply made my heart soar. I was almost moved to tears, in fact. And fell in love with God's truth all over again.

Every now and then, someone will defy the world to be obedient to God's call. Every now and then, we are privileged to witness an event of total selling-out to his will. A lot of the time, these things are unobtrusive, lost in the bustle of the world, gathered up and kept safe until God chooses to reveal his glory of the faithfulness of his people. But sometimes, he will shine a spotlight on it in the here-and-now – and that happened at church today.

To understand, there needs to be context. This is America. Like it or not, the insular, self-satisfied, largely unquestioning patriotism is simply what is. It's the milieu conversation takes place in, and there isn't another; like the shortcomings of any culture, fixating on it is like complaining you have to get wet in order to swim with the dolphins. It's just the reality of the situation.

Having said that, there are ways to challenge the culture you're in, lovingly but truthfully. It takes courage and vulnerability, and Ken embodied all these things today with his message. In the midst of cultural pressure to cancel the service because of the holiday, and because of the annual pet parade through downtown (sorry, not kidding about that one either; however, he mentioned last week that someone from the church came up to him said that if they cancelled church, he'd punch Ken in the face, which Ken thought was awesome); in the midst of the single most patriotic day in America's calender; in the midst of a religious culture that often conflates love of God with love of country, he got up and talked about the abuse of rights by Americans.

He talked about how Americans used their rights to protect themselves and their affluence. He talked about how the bulk of the Declaration of Independence was about King George's failure to enact his responsibility to recognize and uphold the rights of the people of America. He talked about the land of the free built on the backs of slaves. He talked about the political expediency involved with Woodrow Wilson refusing to allow the charter of the League of Nations recognize equality of race. He talked about the delusion involved in imagining that because we have more, we deserve more; about hypocrisy, sacrifice, justice and responsibility.

And he talked about how Jesus came and did for us what we could not do for ourselves. How we are called to give away our rights and our power, not cling to them, to give them in the service of upholding the rights of others who are being trampled, who cannot do it themselves.

It was long, deep, heavy, and shockingly real, on a holiday that is supposed to be fun and parties and all about America's awesomeness. He spoke it all gently, and heartbrokenly, and without giving an inch. For me, struggling to know how to speak truth lovingly in this culture, it was a beautiful model, which I can only pray God helps me learn to emulate. He let God say what he wanted to say, and it moved palpably through the room. I don't know that all the responses will be positive, but that's never a guarantee with God's truth anyway. I am just thankful that God brought me here, now, to witness this, and that Ken let God rock his will and his words through him. And this flame will not soon go out.