american christianity ™

#NotAllEvangelicals

#NotAllEvangelicals

Frank

The jokes write themselves at this point, but I don’t like the punchline.  By now you’ve probably heard (for some media over, and over, and over) that 81% of white Evangelicals voted for Donald Trump in the last election.  You might have also heard that President Trump’s approval rating among the same demographic actually increased following news of the payoff to porn star Stormy Daniels.

We (royal we) rationalize such stats by saying that we didn’t vote for a “pastor in chief” and that moral failings are less important than political stances.  (Interestingly, a quick Google search to try and find the origin of that quote led me to Andy Stanley saying that to describe… wait for it… President Obama.)  Jerry Falwell Jr. describes Mr. Trump as Evangelical’s “dream president”.  The administration’s accomplishments so far have been the appointment of a Supreme Court Justice, numerous other federal judges, and moving the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.  In addition there has been a constant verbal assault against Planned Parenthood, vows to overturn the Johnson Amendment, and rallying cries for religious liberty.

You can’t have it both ways

Despite these victories in “bringing God back into the White House” there have been an alarming uptick in school shootings that the cultural right blame on the Godlessness of our culture.  Meanwhile the government has taken a hostile stance towards minorities, those relying on government subsistence, immigrants, and refugees.  When called out on this seeming hypocrisy, the same Christian leaders who most vocally support the president respond by saying that the law is the law and that it isn’t the government’s responsibility to be compassionate.  This attitude elevates the “rule of law” to the level of idolatry, using Romans 13 as justification.

The inconsistency of course is due to the emphasis the Religious Right has made since the 1980’s that the government should be the vehicle through which morality is reinforced in culture.  Abortion is a legal, Christian issue while immigration is not.  There is a systemic “agenda” against traditional family values but systemic racism is ignored.  It was argued one President should have been disqualified because of his immorality, the faith (and citizenship) of another was questioned because of his foreign policy, yet the current President is widely embraced despite his questionable ethics and morality.  Just because he tells right-leaning Evangelicals what they want to hear.

The punchline

So none of this comes as any surprise, but it grieves my heart nonetheless.  The latest headline read: “White Evangelicals are the Group Least Likely to Think the U.S. Should Help Refugees” citing the results of a recent study by Pew Research.  Policy arguments can be made about how to manage refugees in the face of global conflict.  But there is only one religious argument that can be made as the word of God makes clear in several passages.  “You must not mistreat or oppress foreigners in any way.  Remember, you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 22:21)  So when the news brings on a Christian leader to discuss policy, it needs to be recognized that they leave doctrine at the door.  When Franklin Graham said a year ago that our country’s policy towards immigrants and refugees is “not a Bible issue”, we must recognize he isn’t speaking from a position of religious leader, but from that of a politician. 

The sad stat cited above has been overshadowed by the abhorrent news of children as young as one year old being ripped from their families as they cross the border.  This was threatened months ago and reinforced by the Attorney General in a recent speech.  But be reassured, the President’s Chief of Staff tells us they’ll be placed in “foster care or whatever” and hope that they aren’t among the 1500 that have been “lost” in the system.  Thankfully, this news hasn’t yet been overcome by the ‘palace intrigue’ that typically consumes this White House.  These things need to be talked about; the disgusting policies need to be brought into the light.

PHOTO: THE CHRISTIAN POST / SAMUEL SMITH

#NotAllEvangelicals

Thankfully there is light shining in the darkness.  Last weekend while many were captivated by the royal wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Episcopalian Bishop Michael Curry delivered a sermon that went viral, expressing an attitude of hope centering on Jesus and emphasizing a message of love.  Less that a week later he was leading a revival called “Reclaiming Jesus” that was kicked off by messages from the likes of Richard Rohr, Tony Campolo, and Walter Brueggemann (who received a long standing ovation) before marching in a silent vigil to the White House.

I have personally kept the ‘Religious Left’ at arm’s distance because I’ve felt pushing back against the commingling of religion and politics with just different politics only replaces one idol with another.  Maybe because of this, the Religious Left has struggled to gain the same foothold in our culture that we see in the Religious Right.  But I sense something different this time around.

For me it began with the launch of Public Faith right before the last presidential election.  Led by several Evangelicals I respect, the goal was to raise the dialogue of politics above the partisan divisions for a unified faith-based politic.  But more recently the movement Reclaiming Jesus has taken the same ideals and put them into motion.  In addition to the vigil (the organizers emphasize it wasn’t a march), they have a manifesto that speaks truth to power and shines light in the darkness.  Bullet-points include a rejection of white nationalism and racism because all are created in God’s image, a repudiation of American exceptionalism because of God’s promise to redeem every nation, and a call to servant leadership in the model of Jesus.

Will this make any difference, will it fizzle out over time as others have before, or will it become embroiled in the same partisan fights it is speaking out against?  Time will tell.  My hope is in Jesus, not any political party, nation, law, or movement.  At the very least such a movement makes clear that the loudest voices speaking on behalf of a diverse faith aren’t representative of all believers.  The political mouthpieces are just that, regardless of what their title may be in the religious world.  It’s time for more Christians to speak up and demonstrate that these leaders don’t represent all of Christianity.

I Pledge Allegiance

I Pledge Allegiance

Frank

Yesterday in the United States we celebrated our nation’s independence.  My Facebook feed was mixed between friends sharing pictures of barbecues, parades, and fireworks and pastors/authors writing about the co-mingling of patriotism and faith (pro and con).  All day I was wrestling with the feeling that I had to write something, but what more is there to be said?  Then I saw this article on the Babylon Bee: ‘Dozens Accept America as Lord and Savior at First Baptist Dallas Service’ (which is satire, in case you weren’t sure).

For a little background, the pastor at First Baptist Dallas is Robert Jeffress, a very outspoken Trump supporter.  Last week he held a church service with his church adorned with the American Flag and worship songs centered on patriotic themes (including, without any hint of irony, Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land”).  Then on Saturday, a choir from the same church sang a hymn based on President Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again” at a “Celebrate Freedom Rally” in Washington, DC.

photo credit: KNEB-TV via The Blaze

I’ve always been uneasy with the assumption by many that faith and patriotism (both likely to be blind) can coexist in the heart of a sincere disciple of Jesus.  That’s not to say that we shouldn’t make political decisions based on our religious convictions, or that it is impossible to love both Jesus and America.  But idolatry is probably mankind’s greatest temptation, and we frequently elevate our politics, our patriotism, even our religious convictions (for just one example, see all the debate over Biblical inerrancy) to a degree of allegiance higher than our confession of Jesus as Lord.  So I struggle even with placing my hand over my heart to recite the Pledge of Allegiance because it calls into question where my allegiance truly lies.

Like I said, this debate is nothing new for those who follow these sorts of things.  But my intention behind this blog is to call these things out and to call us higher- that our allegiance isn’t to red or blue, right or left, rather it is to a Savior-King and his kingdom.  And I want to do that not by cutting down those with whom I disagree with politically, or mock the sincerely faithful that unfortunately are a product of a corrupt religious system, but by encouraging us to focus our attention higher and develop a deep conviction regarding the Kingdom of God.

So I think the recent book by Matthew Bates titled Salvation by Allegiance Alone is so critical and timely.  His thesis is simple- what if the Greek work often translated as “faith”, pistis, could better be translated as “allegiance”.  This opens up a host of implications, not the least of which is the notion of what we consider to be patriotism.

While this may seem like a politically-motivated reach, there’s a lot of quality scholarship behind his assertion.  But I want to point out two specific examples while thinking about what it means to “pledge allegiance”.  The first is from 1 Maccabees, where rival King Demetrius asks the Jews to “keep faith” (Greek pistis) with him over Alexander the Great.  He is not asking for a confession that leads to salvation, rather for a pledge of allegiance.  The second is from Jewish general/historian Josephus who writes about how he urged a rebel leader to “repent and believe in me” using the adjective pistos.  Again, this can be interpreted as to “repent and pledge allegiance” because Josephus wasn’t offering any type of spiritual salvation.  So if you think about it, isn’t that what Jesus is calling each of us to do in Mark 1:15 when he proclaims, “The kingdom of God has come near.  Repent and believe the good news!”

Another clue for interpreting “faith” or “believe” in this way is Jesus’ own words above linking belief to the “good news” (AKA the gospel) and the kingdom.  The word we often translate as gospel or good news, historically gives the connotation of declaring a military victory or the coronation of a king.  So the “good news” Jesus is referring to here isn’t personal salvation but the inauguration of his kingdom and the defeat of sin, which becomes accessible to us through faith in Jesus.

If you’re in a war (spiritual in this case) and a king is offering you salvation (or more accurately deliverance) in exchange for a confession of faith, what then does this “faith” mean if not allegiance?

So that brings us back to debate over faith and patriotism that arises this time every year.  What does it mean to pledge allegiance?  What does it mean to salute the flag?  What does it mean to be patriotic while at the same time being a believer who has made a confession of faith, or rather allegiance?

Jesus challenges us in the Sermon on the Mount when he says, “no one can serve two masters.” (Matthew 6:24)  In context he is talking about money, but his words are true whatever the other master may be (Abraham Lincoln applied this idea to politics when he quoted Jesus from Mark 3 that, “a house divided against itself cannot stand”).  Jesus furthers this point with the parable of kings at war in Luke 14:31-33 where if you know you can’t win with the army you have you go to the opposing king to ask for terms of peace.  What do you think the other king will request if not undivided allegiance.

It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for a church to teach that we need to have undivided faith in our savior Jesus Christ.  But if we change the word’s intent to ask for undivided allegiance, a church suddenly becomes a cult, or overly-political, or unaccommodating.

So I’ll just leave this here for you to chew on.  You may have lit off all your fireworks and already packed away the red, white, and blue decor, but the next time you hear the National Anthem, or God Bless America, or stand to recite the Pledge consider what it means to declare to have faith in Jesus.  Is it just a intellectual ascent, a cultural acceptance, a routine religious ritual, or does it mean something more?

A Better Country

Frank

I pick up my Chai Tea and take in my surroundings. At one table is a Filipino couple drinking coffee and working on their computers. A young Persian girl is talking on the phone over in the corner. And I am just about to sit down with two of my best friends- a refugee from El Salvador and an African American from North Carolina. All of us in a Starbucks at the corner of a shopping center with a Mexican supermarket as its anchor.

I turn on the news and see a democratically-elected president toppled only one year after his election by a military coup while his allies are being thrown in prison and dozens are killed. Meanwhile at home our elected representatives have the lowest approval rating of any organization ever polled by Gallup yet no blood is spilled.

Our country has been called a “melting pot” and our government the “grand experiment”. Depending on your political leanings and who is in office you might have a few more colorful adjectives to describe your temporary home. Maybe a “melting experiment” might fit. You might not like the current administration or you may be celebrating the recent decisions by the Supreme Court. Either way, you and I can sit down and have coffee together without risk of physical harm, imprisonment, or political retaliation.

And Sunday, in an environment when many political decisions appear to be counter to the Bible I read and follow, we can still come together and worship in freedom.


American Stock/Getty Images

We live in a pretty neat place.

But this place is not my home.

I love Hebrews 11, often called the “Hall of Fame of Faith”. While the stories of Biblical heroes are inspiring, it is their motivation that always moves me. Describing Abraham the author of Hebrews writes, “For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” (v 10). Of Moses he writes, “He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.” (v 25)

Their motivation was not in the here and now. They were looking forward to something more, something better. “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own… [T]hey were longing for a better country – a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” (v 13-14, 15-16)

As you celebrate our country today (assuming you’re reading this in the US) I urge you to long for a better country- a heavenly one. I pray that together we long and strive for a Kingdom with Jesus himself as priest and king, independent of any political party or movement. And I ask that you remember that this is not our home.

American Noise

Frank

This song has been stuck in my head for a couple of weeks since hearing it on Air1. After looking up the lyrics, I felt I had to point out some “bad theology” for this Christian hard-rock band.

The hook in the chorus is “drink deep in the morning… see what the day will bring.” It sounds like a Scripture reference, no? But the only scripture that could apply to is Proverbs 7:18 and is in reference to a prostitute. Proverbs 7 continues, “My husband is not at home… and will not be home till full moon.” In contrast, in this song the verse is sung in hope, a plea to be free from the distractions of “American noise”.

Or is it?

Instead could this lyric be ironic, alluring us like the prostitute of Proverbs 7 away from God? Another words, is the chorus the American noise and the verses the lament over its cacophony?

I seldom dissect a song so much, but the lyrics are so catchy and strike a chord with me. Our “American noise” keeps us from living like God intends, becoming lazy in a comfortable brand of Christianity. (If you read my blog very much, you recognize this is a consistent theme.)

Not to mention I’m not much of a Skillet fan, so this song stands out to me that much more.

What do you think of Skillet’s new release? What do the lyrics say to you?

Furious about Radical

Frank

(I need to keep this short as I suffered an injury to my hand which makes it really hard to type. I originally wasn’t going to post this week, but a couple quotes from the book jumped out at me which will help me kill two birds with one stone- or two subjects with one blog post.)

David Platt is no stranger to making waves. From stirring up trouble at the Southern Baptist Convention by calling into question the merits of the Sinners’ Prayer, to the critical reaction to his first book Radical. He didn’t shy away then, and he’s not shying away now with his newest book, Follow Me. Since reading Radical, I have had several conversations covering the same ground as some of his critics- in general the question boils down to “how radical is radical enough?” Doctrinally, this question could be taken further asking if Platt is advocating sanctification by works. His call to “radical discipleship” makes people uncomfortable, as it should. In the most recent issue of Christianity Today, Matthew Lee Anderson brings these questions to the fore. Over at The High Calling, they have been having a weekly discussion on the book, and based on the comments alone many are squirming in their seats as they read Follow Me. Other blogs hitting on this point include Dan Edelen at Cerulean Sanctum and Skye Jethani at Out of Ur from a couple of years ago.

Wait, I thought this post was supposed to be about Brennan Manning’s book The Furious Longing of God?

Well, it is. As he closes the chapter titled ‘fire’ Manning states, “It is natural to feel fear and insecurity when confronted with the radical demands of the Christian commitment. But enveloped in the lived truth of God’s furious love, insecurity is swallowed up in the solidity of agape, and anguish and fear give way to hope and desire. The Christian becomes aware that God’s appeal for unlimited generosity from His people has been preceded from His side by a limitless love, a love so intent upon a response that He has empowered us to respond through the gift of His own Spirit.” (pg 119, emphasis added)

In his closing questions Manning quotes Henri Nouwen driving the point further, “When the imitation of Christ does not mean to live a life like Christ, but to live your life as authentically as Christ lived his, then there are many ways and forms in which a man can be a Christian.” (pg 121)

And on that point, I believe Platt and his critics would agree.

This post continues discussion on Brennan Manning’s book, The Furious Longing of God. Please check out Jason Sasyzsen’s and Sarah Salter’s blogs for more discussion.

Church or Stock Photo?

Frank

My kids are due for a checkup from the dentist. Because of changes to our insurance, this means finding a new one. Word of mouth only goes so far when many offices aren’t “in network” so we have resorted to listings and reviews online.

Naturally every website has pictures of happy children flashing their whites. (Why did you have to bring race into it? Well I was talking about their teeth, but now that you mention it nearly every picture is of a perfectly groomed white child- contrary to the real demographics of our community.)Unfortunately online reviews aren’t much help- one bad review out of two doesn’t really tell a whole lot. So we have to rely on the flash and glam of their websites. My wife was the brave one to first make calls, ask about services, and schedule appointments so I can only speak to what she described to me. I shouldn’t have been surprised, but as my wife described it- the customer service on the other end of the line seldom matched the happy faces on the websites.

So why bring up the oral hygiene of my children here on this blog? Because the experience reminds me of the extent some churches will go in order to be attractive to “customers”. Currently my church is undergoing a transformation, embracing and pursuing social media. The “model” we are following is another church, admired for its size and social media ministry. And although I am excited for this new direction, I’m not all that impressed by the church we are attempting to model.

A couple of Sundays ago I watched their online service. It was flashy and polished- they literally thought of everything. No doubt we have a long way to go to match their production value, and we recognize that. But it wasn’t the production or its quality that left me cold- it was the lack of authenticity. The person welcoming viewers to the online service might as well have been the model for the stock photos from the dentist office. The video playlist of announcements and events could have been an infomercial. The pastor welcoming “all of you tuning in from the Eastside campus!” acted as though he was leading a pep rally, not a church service. So by the time the actual sermon started, I wasn’t interested.

There is a risk to making oneself too polished, to glossy, to the extent that you come across as unauthentic. Picture your church as the supermodel that has every imperfection airbrushed before the photo ever sees print.

James Nored, over at the Missional Outreach Network wrote a post a few weeks ago making the argument that one reason the Churches of Christ are shrinking is because our fellowship offers a “right brained service to a left brained world.” His post went viral in Restoration Movement circles. I don’t think he’s necessarily wrong, and he admits that the Gospel can never be sacrificed for the sake of image, but there are risks. Glynn Young posted recently about his experience trying to tune in to his congregation’s online service and was left disappointed, wondering what the future holds for authentic community. Not long ago my wife and I woke up early to catch an east coast feed of a sermon series covering a book we were reading. It was streamed from the camera on someone’s laptop. I could barely hear the lesson, but I could hear every cough and paper rustle coming from those sitting nearby.

I don’t want the airbrushed stock photo. If one of my kids needs oral surgery, the reality is that it is going to hurt. On the other hand, I want someone who is honest and gentle when doing their examinations. A glossy picture of a staff that doesn’t exist cannot provide that.

The same is true of church. Jesus drew crowds because he walked among the people rather than confining himself to the pulpit. He calls us to be real with one another, to love one another, to be authentic. Online services and social media only go so far- eventually we need to interact with someone physically, to carry each others’ burdens, to sharpen one another. And no matter how pretty a picture, most churches are made up of people who are real, broken, and sometimes ugly. The internet might not, but Jesus loves us that way.

The Rich Fool

Frank

This wasn’t really the point of yesterday’s sermon, and it doesn’t really tie in with this week’s discussion at The High Calling on David Platt’s Follow Me, but as is par for the course with my mind going a hundred different directions at once this jumped out at me and I wanted to share.

Yesterday’s sermon was on greed and used the “Parable of the Rich Fool” taken from Luke 12:16-22. Reflecting back on David Platt’s other books, and how we often relate to evangelism as a harvest, consider this paraphrase:

Then he told them this parable: “The church of a certain pastor yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place for all these people to meet.’

“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my church and build a bigger one, and there everyone can meet. And I’ll say to myself, “Your church is plenty big, enough to pay for itself for many years. Take it easy- make church comfortable- eat, drink, and be merry.”‘

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will take care of your church that you prepared for yourself? Who will take care of the fruit of your harvest?’

“This is how it will be with whoever builds a kingdom for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

Crazy Radical Following

Frank

There was a brother in my fraternity in college who had a signature move. During a meeting, he’d set his chair in front of him, place one foot up on the chair, and lean over his knee shaking his head saying, “Bros, this guy just doesn’t get it.” Sometimes he’d affirm the positive, that someone actually did get it. And more than a dozen years later, whenever I think of someone “getting it” or not, I picture him, arms rested on his knees, serious as a heart attack.

When I first started checking out these newfangled things called “blogs” and this new website called YouTube, I encountered Paul Washer. Missionary, evangelist, status-quo shaker-upper. His videos condemning the American church (TM) floored me. And I pictured my friend saying “he gets it.”

That was several years ago, and few authors/pastors/preachers have made my eyes pop out like he has since. And then I read Crazy Love. Without catching a breath, I read Radical. And again I picture my friend saying, “they get it.” Roughly the same time, Francis Chan stepped down from leading his megachurch because it had become more about him and less about Jesus (how many Christian celebrities are willing to do that!?) and David Platt upset the whole Southern Baptist Convention by calling the Sinner’s Prayer “witchcraft“.

Trouble makers. Making the rest of us nominal Christians look bad.

Last night I was talking with a brother about how our fellowship of churches have been leapfrogged by other churches in online media, social networking, and even doctrine. This weekend I watched the live stream of the Verge Conference where Chan, Platt, and others spoke on the theme of “making disciples” and I put my foot up on a chair, leaned over my knee and told my friend that there are a lot of voices out there that get it. They are ringing a bell that we have stopped hearing because we’ve been ringing it so long.

I mentioned in my last post that I’m not able to get around to Platt’s Follow Me or Chan’s Multiply; there’s just too much on my plate right now. But that doesn’t mean we can’t discuss it. I encourage you to head over to The High Calling and follow the discussion Laura Boggess is leading this week. These books might tell you what you already know, or you might disagree with them completely, but I believe the discussion needs to be had.

Judging the Author by the Book

Frank

A while back I was blogging through a book and someone took offense because of the author’s lifestyle. The argument was that his call to discipleship was hypocritical because of the size of his house. I can’t cast any stones because I don’t personally know either the author nor the commenter. But it points out a fundamental challenge for any author- you become known by the words committed to the page even though there is much more to you than those words. That’s one reason why blogs are so great, because you are able to catch the author in the moment, not limited to a specific subject or committed to the title of a book.

If you follow the advice to not judge a book by its cover, then do not judge the author by the book.

I humbly and regrettably admit, I’m not going to get around to reviewing either Francis Chan’s Multiply or David Platt’s Follow Me (which are intentionally complimentary works). There are many great reviews out there already (BibleDude for Multiply and Tim Challies for Follow Me for just a couple). But there is one review, actually a couple reviews by a single reviewer, that I want to address.

I am a big fan of Frank Viola; his teaching on the Organic Church and the Centrality of Jesus I believe are must-reads to break out of the Americanized Church. So I don’t blame him for the stances he takes on both of these books. His review of Multiply is followed by a series of questions directed at Fancis Chan, warning against the legalism of the shepherding movement that is read between the lines. His review of Follow Me sounds some of the same alarms adding that the book misses the Eternal Purpose of God.

I’m not intending this to debate Frank, only to emphasize the point made above- a single book is only a limited snapshot of who the author is and just a sliver of his or her doctrine and theology.

If you read Multiply without reading Crazy Love, then you won’t get an accurate measure of Chan’s overwhelming love of the Almighty God. If you read Follow Me (or Radical for that matter) without listening to David Platt’s sermons online, then you miss how much he is motivated by his love of the resurrected Jesus.

I just spent the last two hours listening to both Platt and Chan at the Verge Conference. Platt spent most of his time on the centrality of Jesus, and I believe Chan’s Crazy Love addresses God’s eternal purpose to reconcile his creation back to him. (Chan’s talk expanded on Jesus’ command “by this all men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another”- John 13:34, by noting that they saw firsthand a resurrected Jesus and how could they not have been changed by such an experience.)

If you listen to a song that you really like, you will likely check out the artist’s other work- maybe log onto iTunes to listen to other songs on that album. If you like enough of them, you might buy it. If you really like the album, you might go watch them live or buy another album. You might follow them on Twitter and sign up for their fanclub.

Why should we treat the books we read any differently? Just as there’s more to a band than a single song or album, there is more to an author than a single book.

Gospel Gone Viral

Frank

Saint Francis of Assisi is believed to have said, “Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary use words.” Whether or not he actually said it, it remains a good point. Call it lifestyle evangelism if you will, but the life of a disciple of Jesus should look different from the rest of the world and that difference should be attractive. I’m not saying that God owes the Christian any special blessing, but we are promised a “peace that surpasses understanding” (Philippians 4:7) as we are called to live a life separate from the world.

Sometimes we see the fruit of living out the Gospel in our lives as family members become Christians or as a coworker or friend reaches out for Jesus in a time of need. (Sadly, the converse is also true- it is possible for our lives to actually make the Gospel unattractive) Other times the seeds are planted, but fruit won’t been seen in our lifetimes. And then there is the rare time when one’s lifestyle makes such an impact that it literally makes headlines and goes viral.

This post comes a couple of weeks late, but there were some headlines that caught my attention (and much of the world’s) that hit right around the same time.

First (ranked because of the number of YouTube views) is the story of Robbie Novak, also known as Kid President. This 8 year-old hit it big with his ‘Pep Talk’ video (not cool, Robert Frost!), a light-hearted call for hope against the cynicism of the world that has been viewed just over 11 million times (as of this posting). While his videos may not explicitly contain the Gospel message, his roots appear to be planted in good soil as the videos are the brainchild of his brother-in-law who is the social media director for Freed-Hardeman University.

Next, ranked by level of social uproar, is Dan Cathy, CEO of Chick-Fil-A. You might remember not too long ago when he was asked (by a Baptist publication, it is important to note) about his support of traditional marriage. Although his company’s charitable contributions to “pro-family” groups was not a secret and he was asked the question by a religious publication, his answer created a firestorm in the LGBTQ community nonetheless. Soon after, prominent mayors would say that his company would not be welcome in their communities, protests would begin, and of course counter-protests would organize in support. At first glance you might think Cathy was living out the Gospel by standing up for what he believes in both in his personal life and professionally. But it is what he’s done away from the spotlight that I want to highlight.

If you follow college football you know there’s a postseason bowl game sponsored by just about every product under the sun; Chick-Fil-A is no exception. Dan Cathy’s guest of honor for the game his company sponsored was Shane Windmeyer, director of the LGBT group Campus Pride. Shrewd political move? According to Windmeyer, Dan Cathy actually reached out to him to reconcile and through several conversations the two become friends. Cathy wanted to hear the other side of the debate at a personal level and hoped that they could reach the point to agree to disagree. If this act surprises you, or even possibly offends you, we need to remember that Jesus was routinely criticized by the religious elite for hanging out with sinners.

In a similar vein is the story of the defection of Megan Phelps-Roper from the infamous Westboro Baptist Church which is led by her grandfather, Fred Phelps; you might have heard of him. Jeff Chu got the scoop on the story as he encountered Megan at his congregation, Old First Reformed Church in New York. Jeff, it is important to note, like Windmeyer is gay. What is curious, and not addressed in his article, is why she went to a gay-friendly congregation in Brooklyn, a thousand miles (physically and spiritually) from her home church in Kansas. Jeff, it turns out, knew Megan from spending time with her as he was writing his book, Does Jesus Really Love Me? A Gay Christian’s Pilgrimage in Search of God in America. Despite your opinion on his sexuality, his life (not limited to his lifestyle) must have made enough of an impact that one of Megan’s first church services away from everything she grew up believing was at this congregation. Regardless of your convictions regarding homosexuality, I strongly encourage you to read this story. Hers is a terrific example of God’s word convicting in spite of religion.

Finally, as a bookend with Kid President, are the stars of A&E’s hit show ‘Duck Dynasty’. To be honest, I’ve only watched this once to see what all the hype was about. I wasn’t really a fan, only because those types of shows don’t typically appeal to me. But I am a fan of the Robertson’s lifestyle and family as it is portrayed in the show. They are unashamedly Christian, shown gathering at the end of every show for a family meal which begins with a prayer of thanksgiving (and although the standard line “in Jesus’ name, Amen” is typically edited out, it was included in their season finale in November). Brandon Hooks, a fan of the show, did a Google search on the Robinsons and found this testimony by Willie Robertson, speaking at Harding University. Hooks made the decision to follow Jesus and his wife arranged for him to be baptized by the family. While this could be written off as a case of celebrity worship, it is important to point out that his wife is a Christian and they have been attending church together as long as they’ve been married- since 2007. It wasn’t until he saw Duck Dynasty and heard Willie’s testimony that the Gospel began to move in his heart which just goes to show you never know how, when, or by whom the Gospel will impact another.

You and I are unlikely to become stars in a reality TV show or get a million hits on YouTube. But you never know who is watching how we live- children, enemies, the hyper-religious, or the unbeliever. And sometimes, our lives preach the Gospel louder than words ever could.