Day 8, Canada, eh!
Crossing that border was fun! The border patrol had a good time with us. A fully armed and sunglass-shaded officer came onto the bus and said, “what’s going on here?” We proceeded to explain our shady business with this dirty-record organization called church. He then asked, “have any of you been arrested for anything?” We all went silent, squinted our mental eyes, and stared at each other: “Uh…what do you mean by ‘arrested’?” we all seemed to be thinking. We realized he was asking that question to a suspicious crew. Shane said with far too much careful judiciousness, “I do not have a criminal record”–it sounded like he was saying, “I have good lawyers.” “Judging from that careful statement, our awkward silence, and gauging stares at each other, the officer reasserted, “if any of you have been arrested you need to tell me or you will be considered lying to a federal officer and put in jail.” Ok, so the issue was settled. Cassie started with her leadership skills: “I’ve been arrested.” Scott: “I’ve been arrested.” Chris: “Yea, I”ve been arrested too.“ Shane: ”Yea, me too.“ Dang: we’re a mess! We tried to reassure him that they were good arrests! Civil disobedience! Jay, the most suspiciously criminal looking among us is ostensibly the only one to have kept his nose clean.
The officer proceeded to search the bus. He noted how we’re running off veggie oil–seemed happy. He giggled at our buttons–Amish for Homeland Security, etc. “I’m glad you’re against the war in Iraq because its all about oil,” he said. He brought us into the customs building and handed our passports over to another officer, saying, “uh, these guys are advocating Jesus for President.”
Not far from the border was Niagra Falls! We hit that up!
We packed out an old Anglican church building in downtown Toronto – our one-and-only Jesus for Prime Minister stop. Hundreds of dollars were raised by the organizers and distributed to three great “local revolutions” there in Toronto. It was fun to contextualize a few of our thoughts to a non-US audience. Incidently, our presentation stood on the eve of Canada Day so it was a great time to step back and contemplate our central identity as the transnational Body of Christ. And it was fascinating to see one of the stained-glass windows there in the Anglican cathedral doting a British flag with a soldier… right next to Jesus hanging on his cross. It was great to connect with our friends at the Toronto Catholic Worker, Empire Remixed, and spend some time with one of our favorite activist theologians, Brian Walsh. And… great music — the half-time show was a talented and well-respected Canadian songwriter. We even scored some Canadian grease to get us back over the border.
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June 30th, 2008 at 11:36 am
From the CNN article you mentioned yesterday:
“Trading lines back and forth from a script with Haw, they save the most wrath for Christians who they say have missed the point of the cross.
“‘We’ve profaned the blood at the foot of the cross and turned it into Kool-Aid and marketed it all over the world. We’ll make an art and a business out of taking the Lord’s name in vain,’ Claiborne says as images of Christ on the cross and the American flag flash behind him.
“…Claiborne is touring the country, packing churches and community centers, in support of the book he and Chris Haw co-authored, ‘Jesus for President.’”
You know, guys, some of us Christians feel much the same way about what you’re doing. Maybe you’re not turning the cross into Kool-Aid… more like Jolt Cola. Flashy and hip–with an edge–and still a big seller.
Jesus drew crowds because of his miracles, but he didn’t make use of the social (or economic) power of the crowd. He wouldn’t let them make him king, and he spoke the hard perfect truth to them even when it meant his followers would leave (or betray him). John 6 is a good example of this. He had no use for the power of a movement. He was not proclaiming that “together we are strong and can change the world.” Jesus proclaimed only God’s power to deliver us from every kind of bondage, we who are helpless to save ourselves. And the way he proclaimed that was in human weakness, without the power of the multitude, their money or their political might. His rejection of these put him on the cross.
You have repeatedly spoken of “doing small things with great love” and letting God make great good of it. That’s a good message. But a different message comes through when you think it is necessary to choose wealthy and powerful corporations (and skirt around touchy political topics, like voting) to “get the message out there” and attract lots of people to the movement. Making use of such human powers of money and mass organization simply reinforces the worldly message that these are the powers we depend on to make the world a better place. God is not glorified; We, the People are glorified.
A good sign that our message has been compromised for the sake of gathering social power is when we become attractive to big powers (like Zondervan). They know what sells and they want that. Jesus got crucified for his speaking and living of the gospel. How can we think we’re proclaiming the same gospel when we’re getting interviews on national radio, covers of magazines, and signed to multiple book deals for what we’re speaking and living?
Really, my biggest motivation for writing is to let you know that your work is becoming something of a stumbling block for a few of us who are trying to follow Jesus. Some of your brothers and sisters are trying to avoid the temptation of thinking success means media attention, book deals, and a big popular following. And you’re making it harder. The way of the cross is not nearly as hip as you’re making it sound.
Please give this a little thought and prayer. (And for God’s sake, please tell Zondervan where they can stick their money!)
Paul
June 30th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
p.s. I was reminded of this passage from Ellul’s “The Politics of God and the Politics of Man”:
The action we attempt will always be regarded by the world as a failure, and the more so the more it is authentically faithful. We cannot be successful or show the church to be effective in the world unless we adopt the world’s criterion of efficacy, which means adopting its means as well.
As the world sees it, action which is faithful to God will always fail, just as Jesus Christ necessarily went to the cross. Such action always leads to a dead end. It is always a fiasco from the standpoint of worldly power. But this should not worry us. It does not mean that our action is in truth ineffectual. Efficacy measured in terms of faithfulness cannot be compared at any point with efficacy measured in terms of success.
…These successes, this efficacy as it would be called from man’s standpoint, and especially in our own society, will never amount to anything more than the approval given by the world, by society, to certain acts and means. It is the stamp of a group of men, a social body. But if we do not believe that society is good and right, this approval proves nothing except that the action is in conformity with the world. It does not mean that the world has changed; quite the contrary. Each time the people of God becomes effective according to the world’s criteria, this only implies that society has absorbed our action and is using it for its own ends and for its own profit.
…The efficacy we think we have is simply a power in the world’s service, for the perfecting of its own being, for its better organization….
There can be no question of securing the approval of the world or its conformity to us. …We have simply to be, and we can only be a question put within the world, a question invincibly confronting it. This is our efficacy. It is the efficacy of the question, a question which society and sociological movements cannot assimilate. Israel and the church have never been efficacious except to the degree that the world has been unable to assimilate them. This is the vocation of the people of God incomparably more authentic than “service” or “works.”
It is not at the level of works and their results that this efficacy may be seen; it is at the level of inassimilability.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
I just read about you on CNN and am intrigued. Your tour reminds me of the Hemp Bus tour in the early 90’s. Congratualtions on turning conventional Christianity on its head and calling for a new understanding that is indeed “radical” in the capitalist/commercial/material world in which we live. As a fellow radical theologian, I thank you for calling attention to the need for emphasis on the Sermon on the Mount attitude, a New Testament understanding of agape, selfless love without fear or expectation of reward. The words of a Grateful Dead tune come to mind:
“There comes a Redeemer and he slowly too fades away.
There follows a wagon behind him that’s loaded with clay.
And the seeds that were silent all burst into bloom and decay.
Night comes so quiet, its close on the heels of the day.”
I will try to get to Raleigh on the tour. It is time for seeds to be planted and bloom again.
From deep in the Bible belt where narrow, literal interpretation distorts the Gospel on a daily basis and ultimately controls political outcomes, I thank you. The Kingdom is at hand, all it takes is a change of heart and the Son will shine again.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Paul,
Saw this article on CNN.com
Sense your frustration. If we believe that we are the workmanship of God created in Christ Jesus to do good works which He prepared for us in advance, there is something to be said about the Creators’ imagination in this Jesus 4 Prez campaign. I only remember Jesus one time getting violent in the Scripture. What provoked this reaction in Him? That is likewise, where our anger, should lie. I’ve been trying to get in touch with Brian M. ever since I took my Christmas gift card into Barnes & Nobles and bought his expensive book, Everything Must Change. Brian’s handlers apparently think my financial investment into his writings does not qualify me to communicate with him. The Spirit will do His work. We have been invited along for the ride…veggie oil maybe a part of that in a modern culture where the profits of oil have diminished the sanctity of life.
The message of the cross never changes in a culturally shifting climate. It is beautiful and confounding, and it is life for all of us.
felicia j
June 30th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Hi Chris and Shane:
Debate going on on the JR forums about your tour and such. The CNN article co-opted you-all. Turning your message into what it does for “voting blocs” and all that nonsense. Jesus for President is coming across in the media as Jesus for Obama.
Another discussion turns on Jim Wallis and Brian McClaren being called radicals and elders. I am of the opinion that these two guys are nothing of the sort.
You should know about these debates:
http://forums.jesusradicals.com/showthread.php?t=3139
and
http://forums.jesusradicals.com/showthread.php?t=3106&page=4
Anyhow…I support what you are up to, have some questions about being co-opted and about Wallis and company using your work for their own purposes, perhaps with your endorsement even.
Grace and peace
Andy
June 30th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Oh and there are some questions in the latter link about why a non-voting session proposal was rejected for PAPA…I have nothing to do with that…but it was an interesting thing to bring up. Sounds to me like it would have been a session right in line with your tour.
July 6th, 2008 at 11:55 am
Thank you Paul for your reminder.
July 25th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
[...] July 25, 2008 · No Comments I found the Jesus For President Blog, which gives a day-by-day report on the Jesus for President book tour. Here is the funniest entry I found - about crossing the Canadian border [...]