Welcome to Adobe GoLive 6

JS: I'm really so popular, Leslie.

LK: Why do you say that?

JS: I have this fan who keeps sending me emails. His name is "Virus Warning." Weird name, huh?

LK: Very weird. If you open any of his fan mail, be sure never to email me again. Jen, you know that little bottle of White-Out you keep on your desk? Make sure it's tightly sealed--I think you've been breathing the fumes.

JS: No, I'm not stoned, just dreaming of fame and fortune. But I think that seeking popularity is kind of like opening an infected email--you think you're getting the world's best, but you end up with a world of trouble. I should know better. Jesus said, "You do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you" (John 15:19). There really is an unresolveable tension between the ways of God and the ways of the world. The first time I noticed this, I made a beeline for a very isolated, separatist lifestyle in the wilderness.

LK: I can relate to that. I was introduced to Jesus by a separatist family who lived in the boonies of northern Washington. I thought that was how committed Christians should live, so I always envisioned it as utopia.1 I couldn't fathom any other way to resolve that tension between God's ways and the ways of the world.

JS: And then you stayed pretty isolated during your years at Grasshopper Junction.2 What, pray tell, influenced you to finally move into the 'burbs of Kingman, Arizona, when you knew the glories of living in a wilderness repose?

LK: Actually, I never got to realize my dream of wilderness living until my husband and I inherited a 20 acre mining claim in northwest Arizona, just "down the street" from Grasshopper Junction. Then we went for the wilderness gusto. But as the years rolled by, our little patch of utopia didn't quite deliver on its promise. While I still loved the "glories" of the eternal stillness and the incomparable sunsets, I sensed that God hadn't called us into His kingdom to separate ourselves from our fellow beings. He needed us to be where we could better support our church family and be a blessing to our neighbors--which meant we needed to go and find some. So we packed up the flatbed and moved into a rental (for the time being) in the suburbs of Kingman, smack between a heavy metal addict named Kurt and a demented Pomeranian named Curly. (Need I say I miss the stillness?)

So now tell us about your pilgrimage, Jen.

JS: When we were first married, Mike had visions of a cabin in the Montana outback. When his dream collided with his very socially adventuresome wife's personality, there were considerable sparks. We wound up spending many years in circumstances that could be defined as Christian communes, finally landing in a more "normal" situation in the quasi-country. Two years ago we moved to the suburbs of Philadelphia.

At this point we're so conventional I feel like getting rid of my guitar. But do you know what I've learned? That it's possible to leave the world and still carry the world inside of ourselves.

LK: Perhaps that's part of the lesson of the Israelites' wilderness wanderings--though God took them out of Egypt, He couldn't stop them from carrying Egypt with them in their hearts. And centuries after that idolatrous generation died, God said of their progeny, "She has never given up her harlotry brought from Egypt" (Ezekiel 23:8). And centuries after that generation died and their progeny had been cured of their Egyptian-style idolatry of figures of gold and stone, they still carried in their hearts the essence of Egypt, which is the love of "the world"--"the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life" (1 John 2:16). Their hearts were so crowded with the love of "the world" that there was no room in it to receive the Creator and Savior of the world. When they realized that He was the antithesis of everything their worldly hearts desired, they "despised and rejected" Him (Isaiah 53:3).

JS: And many would do so today. Even the Christian world seems to be grasping for a political hero, as if Jesus is poised to storm Washington with His militia of angels. As much as I believe that Christians should vote for, speak out for, and pray for righteousness to reign over Congress, I can't help but sense that much of the religious world's current drive to legislate moral change stems from a naivete, or perhaps willful ignorance, of what the Bible says about the world in the last days. At the risk of acquiring the "pessimist" label, I will quote Jesus on how Christians will fare in the end-times popularity contest: "You will be hated by all nations on account of my name" (Matthew 24:9). Doesn't sound to me like a Christian age.

LK: Surely this world has never seen such a thing as a Christian age. The principles of this world and the principles of Christianity are at swords points; they're utterly irreconcilable--which brings us back to your initial point. If we're not to run away from the world by isolating ourselves from it, and if we're not to run toward the world by embracing and imitating its values and power structures, how are we supposed to relate to it?

JS: Love it. After all, God did.3 But the "world" that God loved is not the same as "the world" in "Do not love the world, nor the things in the world."4 Although they are both translations of the Greek word "cosmos," they are two different aspects of that world. The world that God loves is the souls of the people, but the world that we are not to love is the sins of the people.

At this point things get really interesting. When Christians love the wrong "world," they tend to hate the right one. In other words, the more we lust after the power, pleasure and pomp of the world, the less regard we will have for the souls of the world's people. Following that pattern, as religious groups become more and more politically and materially focused, they become less and less evangelistic. Some religious leaders boldly proclaim that the Christian's primary duty in this world, before evangelism, is to get involved in government.5 I wonder if they forgot to read where Jesus said, "Go into all the world and preach. . ."6

LK: Of course, Jesus also said, "Occupy till I come" (Luke 19:13) in His parable of the talents, which means we're to conduct the business of living on this planet as equitably and compassionately as possible, until He returns. For some of us, this could include occupying a public office, as Joseph and Daniel did.7 But such occupation (and occupations), for the Christian, must always be subjugated to our primary calling, which is to cooperate with God in His work of bringing people into His world--calling them into His kingdom of grace now, and preparing them to occupy His kingdom of glory to come.

That's a world we can safely love--a world in which the "infectious" attraction of fame, fortune and fan mail pales in comparison to the totally satisfying, virus-free experience of fellowship with Christ and each other. Think that's a world you'd like to occupy?

JS: My citizenship is in heaven. Not only do I belong there, but I long to be there. In the meantime, I am called to integrate with this world in such a way that I sprinkle gospel influence like salt. Not a bowl of salt in Washington D.C., but a permeating flavor that improves everything around it. And yes, if that means running for office for someone, they should fulfill God's call. Hey, I live in a city with a Seventh-day Adventist mayor! Which reminds me, when are you coming here for another eastern seaboard visit, little desert rabbit? Notice I didn't say rat. . .

LK: When money grows on mesquite trees, I guess. Until that happens, I'll just have to content myself with hanging out in my little rabbit patch and bombarding you with emails--which, by the way, are certified virus-free.

JS: I'm so relieved. But do you think I'll ever get any fan mail?

LK: Hey, I'm your biggest fan--so all of my emails are fan mail! Don't you feel blessed?

JS: Yes, in an other-worldly sort of way.

1. Actually, equating rural, rugged individualism with virtue isn't just a conservative Christian phenomenon; it's rooted in the American psyche. As Thoreau epitomized it in Walden: "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

2. For a complete explanation of this term and the zany story that surrounds it, see Scraps of Wisdom From Grasshopper Junction, Review and Herald, 1999.

3. See John 3:16.

4. 1 John 2:15.

5. I heard Peter Marshall Jr. make this statement at a Christian prayer banquet.

6. Mark 16:15--there is no mention in this passage, or any other place in the New Testament, of the church engaging in political activity.

7. I think there's a distinction between legimate individual involvement in public service and the political process, and sectarian manipulation of political policy and public opinion.


In, But Not Of JS: I'm really so popular, Leslie. LK: Why do you say that? JS: I have this fan who keeps sending me emails. His name is "Virus Warning." Weird name, huh? LK: Very weird. If you open any of his fan mail, be sure never to email me again. Jen, you know that little bottle of White-Out you keep on your desk? Make sure it's tightly sealed--I think you've been breathing the fumes. JS: No, I'm not stoned, just dreaming of fame and fortune. But I think that seeking popularity is kind of like opening an infected email--you think you're getting the world's best, but you end up with a world of trouble. I should know better. Jesus said, "You do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you" (John 15:19). There really is an unresolveable tension between the ways of God and the ways of the world. The first time I noticed this, I made a beeline for a very isolated, separatist lifestyle in the wilderness. LK: I can relate to that. I was introduced to Jesus by a separatist family who lived in the boonies of northern Washington. I thought that was how committed Christians should live, so I always envisioned it as utopia.1 I couldn't fathom any other way to resolve that tension between God's ways and the ways of the world. JS: And then you stayed pretty isolated during your years at Grasshopper Junction.2 What, pray tell, influenced you to finally move into the 'burbs of Kingman, Arizona, when you knew the glories of living in a wilderness repose? LK: Actually, I never got to realize my dream of wilderness living until my husband and I inherited a 20 acre mining claim in northwest Arizona, just "down the street" from Grasshopper Junction. Then we went for the wilderness gusto. But as the years rolled by, our little patch of utopia didn't quite deliver on its promise. While I still loved the "glories" of the eternal stillness and the incomparable sunsets, I sensed that God hadn't called us into His kingdom to separate ourselves from our fellow beings. He needed us to be where we could better support our church family and be a blessing to our neighbors--which meant we needed to go and find some. So we packed up the flatbed and moved into a rental (for the time being) in the suburbs of Kingman, smack between a heavy metal addict named Kurt and a demented Pomeranian named Curly. (Need I say I miss the stillness?) So now tell us about your pilgrimage, Jen. JS: When we were first married, Mike had visions of a cabin in the Montana outback. When his dream collided with his very socially adventuresome wife's personality, there were considerable sparks. We wound up spending many years in circumstances that could be defined as Christian communes, finally landing in a more "normal" situation in the quasi-country. Two years ago we moved to the suburbs of Philadelphia. At this point we're so conventional I feel like getting rid of my guitar. But do you know what I've learned? That it's possible to leave the world and still carry the world inside of ourselves. LK: Perhaps that's part of the lesson of the Israelites' wilderness wanderings--though God took them out of Egypt, He couldn't stop them from carrying Egypt with them in their hearts. And centuries after that idolatrous generation died, God said of their progeny, "She has never given up her harlotry brought from Egypt" (Ezekiel 23:8). And centuries after that generation died and their progeny had been cured of their Egyptian-style idolatry of figures of gold and stone, they still carried in their hearts the essence of Egypt, which is the love of "the world"--"the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life" (1 John 2:16). Their hearts were so crowded with the love of "the world" that there was no room in it to receive the Creator and Savior of the world. When they realized that He was the antithesis of everything their worldly hearts desired, they "despised and rejected" Him (Isaiah 53:3). JS: And many would do so today. Even the Christian world seems to be grasping for a political hero, as if Jesus is poised to storm Washington with His militia of angels. As much as I believe that Christians should vote for, speak out for, and pray for righteousness to reign over Congress, I can't help but sense that much of the religious world's current drive to legislate moral change stems from a naivete, or perhaps willful ignorance, of what the Bible says about the world in the last days. At the risk of acquiring the "pessimist" label, I will quote Jesus on how Christians will fare in the end-times popularity contest: "You will be hated by all nations on account of my name" (Matthew 24:9). Doesn't sound to me like a Christian age. LK: Surely this world has never seen such a thing as a Christian age. The principles of this world and the principles of Christianity are at swords points; they're utterly irreconcilable--which brings us back to your initial point. If we're not to run away from the world by isolating ourselves from it, and if we're not to run toward the world by embracing and imitating its values and power structures, how are we supposed to relate to it? JS: Love it. After all, God did.3 But the "world" that God loved is not the same as "the world" in "Do not love the world, nor the things in the world."4 Although they are both translations of the Greek word "cosmos," they are two different aspects of that world. The world that God loves is the souls of the people, but the world that we are not to love is the sins of the people. At this point things get really interesting. When Christians love the wrong "world," they tend to hate the right one. In other words, the more we lust after the power, pleasure and pomp of the world, the less regard we will have for the souls of the world's people. Following that pattern, as religious groups become more and more politically and materially focused, they become less and less evangelistic. Some religious leaders boldly proclaim that the Christian's primary duty in this world, before evangelism, is to get involved in government.5 I wonder if they forgot to read where Jesus said, "Go into all the world and preach. . ."6 LK: Of course, Jesus also said, "Occupy till I come" (Luke 19:13) in His parable of the talents, which means we're to conduct the business of living on this planet as equitably and compassionately as possible, until He returns. For some of us, this could include occupying a public office, as Joseph and Daniel did.7 But such occupation (and occupations), for the Christian, must always be subjugated to our primary calling, which is to cooperate with God in His work of bringing people into His world--calling them into His kingdom of grace now, and preparing them to occupy His kingdom of glory to come. That's a world we can safely love--a world in which the "infectious" attraction of fame, fortune and fan mail pales in comparison to the totally satisfying, virus-free experience of fellowship with Christ and each other. Think that's a world you'd like to occupy? JS: My citizenship is in heaven. Not only do I belong there, but I long to be there. In the meantime, I am called to integrate with this world in such a way that I sprinkle gospel influence like salt. Not a bowl of salt in Washington D.C., but a permeating flavor that improves everything around it. And yes, if that means running for office for someone, they should fulfill God's call. Hey, I live in a city with a Seventh-day Adventist mayor! Which reminds me, when are you coming here for another eastern seaboard visit, little desert rabbit? Notice I didn't say rat. . . LK: When money grows on mesquite trees, I guess. Until that happens, I'll just have to content myself with hanging out in my little rabbit patch and bombarding you with emails--which, by the way, are certified virus-free. JS: I'm so relieved. But do you think I'll ever get any fan mail? LK: Hey, I'm your biggest fan--so all of my emails are fan mail! Don't you feel blessed? JS: Yes, in an other-worldly sort of way. 1. Actually, equating rural, rugged individualism with virtue isn't just a conservative Christian phenomenon; it's rooted in the American psyche. As Thoreau epitomized it in Walden: "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." 2. For a complete explanation of this term and the zany story that surrounds it, see Scraps of Wisdom From Grasshopper Junction, Review and Herald, 1999. 3. See John 3:16. 4. 1 John 2:15. 5. I heard Peter Marshall Jr. make this statement at a Christian prayer banquet. 6. Mark 16:15--there is no mention in this passage, or any other place in the New Testament, of the church engaging in political activity. 7. I think there's a distinction between legimate individual involvement in public service and the political process, and sectarian manipulation of political policy and public opinion.