Who Owns the Pond?

Instead of just giving a man a fish to eat, I've always been taught to actually teach him how to fish.
But, today...my eyes were opened to a new question...
Who Owns the Pond?

This was Tony Campolo, Shaine Claiborne, and Cheryl Epine's question as they taught us today.

I had class from 9am-9pm with a short break for lunch and dinner. That is about 10 hours straight of learning from some amazing Christ-followers!

Tony Campolo:

Man, can this guy rattle what you "know" is "true." I read his books and I am challenged, and I think there just can't be anything else that he could possibly open my eyes to! Boy, am I wrong!

Today, in a classroom of 23 eager students, he...once again...shocked my core.

In case you don't know the name, "Tony Campolo"...let me give you a quick example of what he stands for...

In front of a large audience of conservative Christians...Tony's opening comments were this: "Every day 30,000 children die of hunger, and you don't give a shit about it! And, most of you sitting there are more outraged that I said the word "shit"...than the fact that there are 30,000 kids dying today." Now...he is a challenger.

We started off with a question. "What was Jesus trying to accomplish? What was His mission statement?"

-In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus declares his purpose first...He actually spells out his mission statement..."I am here to declare the Kingdom of Heaven at hand!" I am here to bring the Kingdom of God to Earth!

What's the Kingdom??

Well, it's the upside-down view of the world that Jesus brings!
Where the poor are lifted up,
the last are first,
it is almost impossible for the rich to get to heaven,
and things of this world do not make sense!

In fact, the Bible spells out EXACTLY what the Kingdom looks like!
-Micah 6
-Isaiah 61
-Isaiah 58
-Zechariah 8
-Isaiah 65 (my favorite right now!)

We then spent a lot of time talking about judgement and what JESUS says about who gets to heaven...

First: It is a narrow road.
Second: It is easier for a camel to get throught the whole of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Heaven.

Christianity is about MY salvation...but you CANNOT ignore Jesus' direction to bring the Kingdom to Earth. You cannot ignore this! It is picking and choosing what you want to hear from the Bible!

Do you know what Jesus talks about more than anything else during His short time on Earth??

The KINGDOM!

Some say that it is solely my salvation...and that bringing the Kingdom to earth is not necessary... *

...However...It is awfully hard to argue with Jesus' words (and Ephesians, Philippians...)

In Matthew: A rich man asks Jesus how he can get to heaven? (19:6) ...And, Jesus responds, "If you want to get to Heaven, follow my commandments!" (16:7). And, Jesus then challenges us by saying to the man that he must sell his possessions and give to the poor!

It is not just about ME! The greatest commandment is about MY love to God...but that's not it! Jesus doesn't stop there!!! He says "the second is to Love Your Neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:37). It is not just about Me and it is not just about showing love to others....it is BOTH!!!

But, here's the verse that really gets to me
and it very very very very clear!

Matthew 25:31-46

Jesus clearly says that whoever does to the least of these does to Jesus.
Whoever does not do for the least of these does not to to Jesus.

And, here is where the judgement day comes into play.

"Jesus will reply, I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for teh one of the least of these, you did not do fo me...THEN, they will go away to ETERNAL PUNISHMENT, but the righteous to eternal life!"

Wow. That's pretty clear!

Now...Tony is not preaching a 100% social justice gospel. It is both my salvataion and how I help the least of these.

"Don't preach a Christianity that just makes Jesus your boyfriend"
-Tony (Now, if that doesn't gross you out, I don't know what will!)

There is a social dimension to this world! There is interaction with the world!

Ok...Now here's the seemingly silly, yet common question.
Was Jesus just kidding? Did He really mean what He said?

(I'll let you answer that one on your own.)


1.) Tony then challenged my thinking on the worship music of today. Something I never thought about...but, Tony definitely made the problem clear today!

So much of our praise music now focuses on MY relationship internally with God. It is about MY salvation. BUT, How much of our music calls us into a social justice position?? Old-school hymns did!

I'm still kinda hazy on this topic because I was super resistant to hear it in the first place!

2.) Abortion. The topic that makes a lot of Christians conservative (that and gay marriages...which Tony definitely talked about!)

Republicans are two groups:
-Evangelicals who are pro-life
-Country-clubbers who are pro-choice.

How does the Republican party keep both groups pro-Republican???

"It's easy!!" -says Tony!

Have a pro-life platform, and then do NOTHING about it when you're in office! (says Tony with a smirk on his face...'cause we all know how true that is!)

What are the Republicans waiting for! There's been a Republican president, a Republican Congress, a Republican Senate, a Republican Cabinet! What happened to the Republican platform of pro-life? Illegal abortion in the first trimester was enacted..but what about the second and the third??

The class laughed at Tony's sarcasm and humor in this situuation!

Second issue with abortion: Why make it illegal? Poor people will still do in in a back alley with a knife. We need to focus on making it economically possible for these expecting-mothers to have kids!

Tony made me think. He made me mad! He made me challenge who I claim Jesus is.

"We're marketing Jesus. We've taken the blood from the cross, turned it into koolade and passed it out all over the world." (Shane Claiborne)

Great Shane Claiborne quotes:

"You try to be a good Samaritan, but after pulling so many people out of the ditch, you think...maybe the road to Jericho needs to be repaved."

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After Shane's time in Iraq (post Iraqi war)...Shane was blown away by the number and quality of Christians in Iraq....the families...the kids...the HUGE Christian worship services at night...women speaking in the church...just the power and beauty of the Iraqi Christians. Shane was talking to an Iraqi Bishop saying "wow. there are so many passionate Christians in Iraq!"

And, the Iraqi Bishop patiently responding to the crying, sobbing Shane..."Shane, Christianity started here. The Garden of Eden was here. Jesus was actually HERE. Christianity wasn't created in America; it was domesticated there..."

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"We aren't just called to be believers; we're called to be disciples."

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"We don't just want to be against something; we want to be FOR something."

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The other lectures...art in ministry, grant writing, positive development, Iraqi peace projects, the many Iraqi Christians praying for the Christians in America, and many other topics challenged me!

Final Point: This is not hopeless! The lectures are not at all a "hope is lost" mentality! There is hope and there is love! I'm just focusing on 2% of what was even talked about!



But the questions to the fish question are even bigger yet...Not only...Who Owns the Pond?...

But...Who polluted the pond?
Who put the gate up around the pond?

Please, ask these questions! Think about what is happening in our world, in your city, in your backyard.

Lyrics I'm Humming:
On Christ, the Solid Rock I Stand.

*Please don't play the "what if" game...What if someone dies one-minute before she dies and cannot help bring the Kingdom to Earth? Bottom line: GOD IS JUST. GOD IS LOVE. GOD IS GOOD.