NFC Division Champions: Dallas, Green Bay, New Orleans, and San Francisco
AFC Division Champions: Baltimore, Indianapolis, New England, San Diego

NFC Wildcards: Atlanta, Minnesota
AFC Wildcards: Houston, NY Jets

I didn’t save my final standings, but they’re no surprise. Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, St. Louis, and Tampa Bay will be picking early in the 2011 NFL Draft. The New Orleans Saints repeat as Super Bowl Champions in an overtime win against the Baltimore Ravens in Dallas.

If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? (James 2:15-16)

I prayed. Amy said, “come with me, let’s go get something to eat,” and took off with him across the street to Bubba Gump’s. Tiffany yelled after her, “don’t go, he’s trouble!” and I rushed after Amy so she wouldn’t be alone. Clint followed a few steps behind. We stood in line at Bubba Gump’s and then just as we sat down, they kicked us out because of Bobby. They said he had come around a lot and bothered everybody all day long. So Clint got food though, courtesy of the folks at Bubba Gump, as Amy and I stood outside and Bobby went back to his corner.

Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins. (James 4:17)

Clint brought half his meal out to Bobby, who didn’t eat it. But on that corner we met Ali from Ghana, his friend in a wheelchair. We learned that Bobby was from Liberia. Later we met Testimony, his East African friend. They all sat on that corner and talked to us for a few minutes. Close to two hours after we got there, we hadn’t traveled more than three blocks from the car, and had done zero interviews.

I was looking forward to the interviews, because I have this whole personal philosophy of “anyone, anywhere, anytime.” I stole it from Southern Miss’s football slogan, but it works. Or, it did. But as I stood there in front of Bubba Gump, watching the people as they walked by- the guy who had the walker and seemed to have cerebral palsy, looking sheepishly like he wanted to cross the road; or the Bobby on his corner; or any one of the other random people walking by- I thought about that slogan. I thought about how that’s all it was- some pumped up slogan about evangelism or whatever.

And it’s like this. I can talk to rational, everyday, normal people… all day long. Seriously- anyone, anywhere, anytime. But then there are those who I can’t hear well, can’t understand, who aren’t rational, who go on and on about some random political issue native only to Liberia or Ghana or something, who rant and rave and get real good at it. And I freeze up. And I pray for them and wish them well, and tell them God Bless, and walk off. Sometimes I even feel good about it. (Not usually though; I’m a naturally melancholy and reflective kind of person.)

So Clint reminds me tonight of what Dr. Ortiz told us in Encountering the Biblical World. After he reconciles the gospel accounts of the disciples and Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and the healing of the blind men, Ortiz explains: “That’s not even the point. The point is that we get so busy doing God’s work that we forget to DO God’s work. We completely miss the folks standing right there asking for our help.”

A refugee crosses the ocean to stay in the land of the free and begs for food. One night he meets a disciple of Christ, and says he is hungry. The disciple prays for the refugee and sends him on his way. “Be well fed and stay safe,” he says, but does nothing for him.

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:37-40)

In contrast, it is our responsibility as Christ-followers to be positive change agents- bent solely on the fulfillment of Jesus’ prayer to the Father: “YOUR KINGDOM COME, YOUR WILL BE DONE, ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.” We cannot do this alone, thus our desperate need for Christian community and cooperation. Thus, the Church.

Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. [2 Corinthians 4:1-6, ESV]

May I wake up tomorrow with the desire and ability to be a good servant of Jesus Christ to the world. To you.

In the end, many Haitians will profess Christ and turn to him. However, in this repentance, there is a turning to Christ in the sense of “adding on to the deities who can be called upon for favors and blessings” rather than “turning away from evil and false past beliefs and practices.” If there is to be spiritual maturity, if there is to be a movement to entrust spiritual formation to indigenous pastors, then there must be increased awareness of sin and the personal responsibility each person has for their sin as Scripture reflects. Missionaries who are concerned with the qualitative value of their evangelistic work as much as the quantitative value will do well to bear these issues in mind.

First, it is imperative each individual begins to see him/herself as culpable of sin. The Apostle Paul indicates in Galatians 3, as well as the rest of Pauline literature, that individuals are responsible for the choices they make. Prior to conversion, rural Haitians engaged themselves in sinful idolatry, removing God from the center of their thoughts and replacing him with selfish desires to manipulate lwa (supernatural spirits). The Haitian’s thinking needs modification in understanding him/herself as responsible for reprehensible or sinful behavior and not the lwa. The Christian Haitian experiences regeneration and indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The presence of the Spirit enables the new convert to choose to act in obedience to God. Although they view the lwa as the guilty party, it is commonplace to understand one is able to “sin” against another individual or the community. The biblical account of sin incorporates this dynamic into its description of sin, but ultimately all sin is seen as offending God. If Haitians are to come to a biblical view of sin, they must realize they not only are they responsible for their actions, but they are also responsible for their attitudes, thoughts, and unbelief as well.

Secondly, this new insight into personal responsibility will lead to an evolved idea of confession and forgiveness of sins. The view of confession and forgiveness of sin as some type of ritual leading to accessing the power of Christ does not evidence a proper understanding of repentance. Genuine confession and repentance results in the forgiveness of sins and demonstrates an understanding of personal blameworthiness on the part of the repentant sinner. In addition to teaching biblical principles regarding sin, confession and forgiveness, missionaries would also strengthen the Haitian Christian’s understanding of sin if the missionary would be vulnerable enough to discuss battles with sin in their personal lives. Too often missionary workers are unwilling to confess their sins and shortcomings for fear the indigenous people will lose confidence in them and reject the Gospel. Instead, missionaries try to maintain the status of a type of “saint” in the eyes of the Haitians rather than a “saved sinner.” This mentality exacerbates problems of failing to be accountable for one’s sins. While there are certain limitations, missionaries would serve their populations well to model confession and forgiveness of sin to the believers in Haiti.

While basing claims of the Gospel of Christ upon Scripture, the missionary fails to consider what presuppositions he/ she might bring to the Biblical text. In addition, the missionary, as well as the recipient Haitian listener, make assumptions that one another categorize and conceptualize ideas about sin and salvation in similar ways, which leads to more frustration and confusion. The Protestant church is growing in rural Haiti, but not without significant problems. Many appear to be converting for the purposes of gaining more power and adding Jesus to a list of other deities they can manipulate to appease the spirit world. Even individuals who renounce voodoo after conversion find themselves rooted and based in voodoo beliefs and thinking. A fatalistic outlook dominates their view of reality as they attribute everything that transpires to the control of the spirit world. This attitude leads to a severe lack of understanding concerning personal moral responsibility. In order to move towards a more Biblical understanding of sin and moral responsibility, missionaries must attempt to fix these mistaken ideas about sin by overcoming many cultural presuppositions as well as teaching the Haitian about the true nature of repentance and acceptance of responsibility for one’s actions.

Throughout the history of Haiti, there has been an economic and social aspect to these religions as well. On a macro level, Catholicism thrived in urban areas because the majority of the education available was through Catholic schools and typically served the elite and wealthier populations, as well as their agendas. On the contrary, Protestants failed to gain much ground in urban areas, and thus focused their energies and attentions on poorer rural areas with remarkable success. Despite this success, it is troubling that Voodoo has remained the dominant world view and lens through which the majority of Haitians view all aspects of life.

Because of these factors, Protestantism gained momentum toward the last half of the 20th century, especially in rural Haiti. On the one hand, being a pastor/ clergy is one of the few jobs for men in rural areas other than agriculture. Association with a Protestant mission signifies upward mobility, both figuratively and literally. Another reason for success in rural Haiti has been the support of using the common language of Creole in literacy (Scriptures) and sermons rather than French. In addition, Pentecostals were effective because they systematically covered the entire country and covered the poorest segments of the population. Furthermore, there has been a mass exodus from the Catholic Church because of a perceived lack of spiritual power. This dynamic power was evidenced in some Protestant churches, namely Charismatic/ Pentecostal churches, and has resulted in a substantial growth in rural Haiti.

A note from Joe: I met Casey in New Orleans while attending seminary. We both were a part of Edgewater Baptist Church, and we were in the same small group. Casey’s wife Briana was in medical school and now they live in Seattle where she does doctor stuff at a hospital. Casey is a self-described stay-at-home pop, but I think he’s more than that. He spent a lot of his younger years in Haiti with his family, who run the Real Hope for Haiti Rescue Center. He’s my Haiti expert. I asked him to write a guest post on Haiti, and he shot me some in-depth, yet brief documents that I’m now sharing with you. Instead of one or two posts, I’ve broken his two papers into six posts that will go live over the next two weeks. Casey’s understanding of the Haitian culture stands as a gleaming example of how every missionary should understand the culture around him. You can find Casey on Twitter here.

Like the spoken language Creole, which is a mixture of the languages of the African slaves and the French Colonialists, religion in Haiti is also a mixture of sorts. Because of the ritualistic nature of Catholicism, voodoo has absorbed it well. In fact, voodoo temples are typically adorned with crucifixes, statues of Mary, the paintings of saints, and altars similar to those found in a Catholic Church setting. In similar fashion, Catholicism has been profoundly impacted by voodoo in Haiti as well. After gaining independence, the newly founded republic was isolated politically and religiously from the rest of the world. Early leaders feared that voodoo would further alienate them from the developed world and thus named Catholicism its main religion. The Catholic churches that remained were immediately indigenized, as all foreign priests fled and Rome cut off all relations. This resulted in voodoo being pervasive in Haitian Catholicism and is why the two appear to co-exist so easily in a system of religious pluralism even today.

I know it’s no different than anyone else who converts to Christ-followerness. Supernaturally, through the blood sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus, we have become co-heirs and have responsibilities that go way beyond “take care of the earth” stuff. I mean, that’s a no brainer. Every one knows that if we don’t take care of the earth, we will suffer the consequences – we are suffering the consequences of wrong doing throughout the ages and what we do now will affect those who go behind us. Here in Vienna, the state has done a pretty impressive job of that. It’s nice to breath clean air and for many people to have jobs.

But, I’m starting to understand better about how God wants something more. More than good behavior here on earth. He wants heaven on earth. He wants to be reconciled to his creation. That’s why Jesus came: to make it possible for God to call his children home once and for all.

All Christians have something called a ministry. I used to think this meant official church good deeds, but I’m starting to get that it’s how Christ-followers act like Christ every day. We show and remind people what our God is like and how He wants the world to love Him as much as he loves us. Man, if we only understood…

I read the story of Jonah for the thousandth time Sunday night. I was praying for a two friends who have created a rift between each other, for A. because his mother died, for N. in Haiti, for a church going to South Africa, and for the people who came to my house on Friday… so I was only half reading. But then the end of the story caught me. You know, the end of the story that everyone forgets because it’s after the ticker-tape parades in the city that God spared.

Jonah’s sitting there expecting the city to be destroyed, even after they repented from their oppressive and corrupt ways, because Jonah didn’t like them and he wanted God to take them off the map. They were morally repugnant to him. Plus, he was really annoyed because there wasn’t much vegetation where he went to watch the show of Nineveh’s demise. God made a tree for Jonah’s comfort, but God sent a worm to take away the tree the next day so Jonah wasn’t comfortable. (I sometimes wonder why God did that – to give a tree for comfort and then a worm to destroy that comfort. There’s a tree motif throughout the scriptures that’s a little complex for me sometimes.)

But, then God asks his reluctant prophet, “‘Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?’ ‘Yes,’ he replied, ‘It is right. I’m angry enough to die.’”

“So the Lord said, ‘You cared about the plant, which you did no labor over and did not grow… Should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who cannot distinguish between their right and the left, as well as the animals?’” – End Book

God really cared about the people of Nineveh and he was annoyed by this guy who knew the scriptures, knew God and yet didn’t understand God’s heart. He wanted to spare them, but He also knows what evil can do to his world and was willing to do what it takes to bring balance in the world – even if that means ending lives. Sometimes, I want God to send a lightening bolt after the last sentence to teach Jonah a lesson about insensitivity, but then I realize that I’m a little like Jonah for thinking that.

God wants to show his mercy to the earth. The Bible says that, “creation waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed.” And it also says that we will be revealed by our love.

So, my job here on this earth is: to aid in the discipleship of people into sons and daughters of God who are known and tested by acting like Him. The best way to do this is to openly live out my own transformation and to explain the teaching of Christ that promoted the the changes and pray that this Spirit would indwell in our hearts and change us from the inside out. I think I’ll do that best by doing what I already do, but with a more defined underlying purpose, and take things to the next level when I get the opportunity. Like, I really what to start a new Bible study with some of the people I’ve met lately who are agnostic or whatever, but are interested in Jesus – and I think it’s because they get that creation is longing for Something.

—————

Am I becoming more:
loving
joyful
peaceful
Patient
kind
faithful
gentle
self-controlled?

Because of God’s work, I think I am. But after watching Francis Chan’s video about the persecuted church I am more than ever convinced that this is all that my life truly comes down to. My singing may be enjoyable, but only valuable if if points to joy in Christ. My writing may be enlightening, but only if it points to faithfulness and peace with Christ. I want my life to be a reflection of Christ, the redeemer of the world, so that others will come to him and be spared from the falling apart of this world and come to God now and for eternity.