Shane Claiborne on ‘Wounded Healers’

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Aaron Gaglia, Shane Claiborne, violence

Photo Credit: NBC Philadelphia

By Aaron Gaglia (@GagliaAC)

“Every time we gather [for Communion], we gather around a victim of violence who had wounds to show it. And yet triumphed over violence without mirroring it. But triumphed over hatred with love,” preached Philadelphia urban activist and author Shane Claiborne in a chapel service at United Methodist-affiliated Duke University.

On April 7, Claiborne gave a sermon entitled, “Wounded Healers” in Durham, NC.

Building off the Gospel reading of the day, Claiborne focused on Jesus’ wounds and his identity as suffering Messiah with scars to show for it.

Pitting the idea of Jesus as a sufferer against “triumphalist militant” ideas of Jesus, Claiborne quoted Seattle Pastor Mark Driscoll ridiculing the “hippie” Jesus of our day and lauding the “violent” Jesus of Revelation.

Claiborne countered that while the film “Fight Club” might not be a bad movie, it is a “real bad theology.”

“The Jesus that we see was one who did suffer, who was wounded, and who looked those that were torturing him in the face and said, ‘Forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing,’” Claiborne explained. “To follow this Christ means that we identify with the suffering people of our world … the victims.”

Driscoll does not emphasize the meek and suffering aspects of Jesus, trivializing Jesus’ wrath as blood thirst in the “violent” quote. Pacifist Claiborne is diametrically opposed, not adequately addressing the judgment and wrath of Jesus that will be revealed at His Second Coming. Jesus came non-violently and died so that mankind would be reconciled to God. Ever patient, Jesus longs for repentance and a decision follow Him. Yet there will come a time when those who would not repent will have to suffer the consequences of their sins—they will have to experience the wrath of Jesus.

Building on the scar motif, Claiborne challenged the notion that love forgets.

“I think that this is what this Gospel is about … that the wounds were still there,” Claiborne interpreted. “Even though love forgives, it doesn’t mean that love forgets.”

The author of “Jesus for President” offered the example of the Rwandan genocide and the great healing God is doing there to drive this point home.

“When we see that Christ suffered as we suffered, that Christ bleeds with those who bleed, it invites us to come alongside the victims,” Claiborne asserted.

Claiborne reported the city of Philadelphia’s recent ban on handing out food to the homeless. Claiborne and other Christians protested these bans. After rallying and testifying before court, the ban was eventually repealed as unconstitutional because of a religious freedom violation.

The inner city resident also addressed gun violence. With almost one homicide a day in Philadelphia and 10,000 a year in the United States, Claiborne identified gun deaths as a great problem. Claiborne briefly mentioned two victims of gun violence, a 6-month-old baby in Chicago, and a 19 year old who was killed on Claiborne’s front steps.

“There comes a time where it’s not just a debate around gun control, but it’s an issue of what it means to love our neighbor as ourselves,” Claiborne charged.

In response to gun violence, Claiborne’s the Simple Way community has held Good Friday services outside of retailers whose firearms were later linked to crimes. As they reflected on Jesus’ suffering and the hope of life he offers, one mother of a victim said she realized God understood her because His son was a victim of violence.

Gun control is a thorny issue and though reducing the issue to loving our neighbor as ourselves may be helpful, it does not solve the issue. Faithful Christians on both sides of the debate disagree on what it means to love our neighbor in regards to gun violence since they have radically different views on the effects of the legalization of guns.

Displaying a cross fashioned from a bullet and used at a children’s Easter service, Claiborne explained how the cross connects violence that happened to Jesus to the violence of today.

Like much of Claiborne’s work, the sermon message contains wisdom, yet over-politicizes rather than emphasizing the Gospel’s main point. Christians are to walk in solidarity with Christ and with those who suffer. In times of need, we can turn to Christ as one who knows what we are going through and who will help us, since he suffered here one earth. Yet the only reason we can turn to Christ is because he forgave us of our sins. The cross of Christ was not merely the overturning of a system of violence, but the payment of the price for our sins so that we would not have to suffer the consequences. The cross is not merely an example of sacrificial love and forgiveness, but is the supernatural means by which we can show sacrificial love and forgiveness. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, our sinful flesh is crucified and we are resurrected as a new man who shows the prodigal love of Jesus. Though the cross provides an inspiring example of suffering, the essence of the cross is found in its life giving power.

Orphaned Land: Peace Through Metal

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Aaron Gaglia, Israel, Middle East, Orphaned Land

By Aaron Gaglia (@GagliaAC)

The Arab-Israeli conflict is as controversial an issue as ever. There are those who think the Jewish people have a historical and Biblical right to the land; there are those who are disgusted by the Israeli treatment of the Palestinians and rally for the Palestinian cause; there are those who make their points politically, and others theologically. And then there are some who are seeking to bring peace between Arab and Israelis through music. Meet Orphaned Land.

Orphaned Land is an Israeli progressive folk metal band formed in 1991. Musically and lyrically, they draw much influence from Jewish and Arabian sources. Though none of the band members identify as religious, their lyrics are very religious, promoting a unique blend of tolerance. They sing in Hebrew, Arabic, and English and quote from religious texts in their lyrics. Through their musical style and message they promote their belief that the three Abrahamic religions are essentially the same. Even though they have different stories and traditions, they all worship the same God. Instead of being a cause of war and discord, the three major religions should unite in peace because they are all united in their religion.

With each subsequent album their message of tolerance and peace has become more explicit, culminating in their upcoming release, entitled “All is One.” The cover art for this album features the religious symbols of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity juxtaposed over each other in perfect harmony. Furthermore, this album feature a song entitled “Brother” in which Isaac, representing Judaism, sings a tender song of friendship to Ishmael, representing Islam.

Commenting on this song, lead singer Kobi Farhi said, “An interesting point is that on (sic) the Jewish bible there is a story where Abraham took Itshak (Isaac) to the mountain to sacrifice him to God. Muslims have the same exact story, but on (sic) their version it was Ishmael on the mountain, everyone shape history according to his own version and we have conflicts even on that (sic) oldest stories, just as if we were two kids in a fight. And therefore there is a line in the song says: ‘The lord blessed us both, but we still fight and claim, that kid on the mountain – what was his name.’… Brother is a love song for a forgotten beloved brother who turned to be a blood enemy. …We are not taking any sides as musicians, we just tell a story, and we decided to be the first grown up brother in this story and ask: ‘Forgive me, brother.’ Mainly because being mature and grown up sometime means that you can say you’re sorry, even if it’s not only your fault.”

Though Orphaned Land’s message is not cutting edge in our pluralistic world, it cannot be denied that their music is creating unlikely friends. Though they are an Israeli band, they have a large Arab following.  They are unable to perform in these restricted nations because they are Israeli, yet their music has been disseminated via the internet and they have a large following. They were even featured on the cover of Iranian metal magazine, Divan. Furthermore, they have been able to perform in Turkey and in February 2012, they gave the proceeds from their Istanbul show to help the victims of the Van earthquake.  Their music and message is not only attractive to the Middle East as well. They have fans worldwide. They just completed a South American tour and will be starting a European tour in August.

Due to the great impact Orphaned Land has had on their fans, there is currently a petition going around to nominate them for a Nobel Peace Prize. The petition currently has 2,627 signatures from people all over the world.  A signer from Brazil, Douglas Oliveira, commented on why Orphaned Land should get a Nobel Prize: “For their amazing use of art to mediate conflicts, this group has shown that cultural differences can be solved with culture itself.”

Orphaned Land sees music rather than politics as being the key to peace amidst the conflict. Last week, they posted the following on their Facebook page: “It’s a well known fact that Orphaned Land devotedly speak about the power of music to turn supposed enemies into friends, amongst others by strongly encouraging collaborations with artists from different cultural and religious backgrounds. On the ‘All is One’ tour, for the very first time, you will see bands from Israel, Palestine, Jordan and France all together as one, proving that music is the only voice of hope that can bring people together.”

Regardless of one’s religious or political views, one cannot deny that what Orphaned Land is doing is inspiring. Yet does music have the power to bring change to a whole region? Can a message of pluralism—a message proclaiming that they all worship the same God—bring peace? Though pluralism seeks to be inclusive to everybody, it is actually alienating to those who believe orthodox and fundamental beliefs—to those who believe their religion is exclusively right. As Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all have common roots, there is much common ground for dialogue and bridge-building. Yet we must seek to build bridges not only among religious liberals but also with religious conservatives who hold to exclusive religious beliefs.  Though I believe full peace will not be achieved until Christ returns, thoughtful interfaith dialogue and friendship that engages religious conservatives as well as liberals and progressives, is needed for a deeper measure of peace.

Twelve Tribes: Turning Community into Legalism

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Aaron Gaglia, Cults, Jesus Movement, Neo-monasticism, Radicals, Twelve Tribes

Twelve Tribes Community in Nelson, BC (Photo Credit: Fellowship for Intentional Community)

By Aaron Gaglia (@GagliaAC)

Recently, in Christian circles there have been conversations concerning the merits of radical Christianity. Many followers of Jesus have a feeling that pursuing the American dream is not compatible with Christianity and that there must be something more to the Christian life. As one who was greatly impacted by the books Radical by David Platt and Just Courage by Gary Haugen, I sympathize with this movement. I believe that we need to take all of the teachings of Jesus seriously and not ignore certain teachings if they do not jive with our lifestyle or culture. Yet this can also lead to the devaluing of good things such as family and ordinary life. The call to radical living does not necessarily mean Christians cannot live in the suburbs. A life of radical discipleship can and should be lived out in various contexts including the suburban; it may just look different depending on the context. We must be careful to not burden all believers with a certain manifestation of the radical lifestyle.

I recently came in contact with a cult that creates a rigorous and legalistic lifestyle around a specific manifestation of Jesus’ call to discipleship. Through looking at this cult, I hope you will see the danger of dogmatically teaching that which is extra Scriptural, especially in regards to radical living.

Meet the Twelve Tribes. I came into contact with them in General Rodriguez, Argentina (an hour outside of Buenos Aires). My wife and I were interested in learning about organic farming and sustainable living so we decided to stay with them for a period of time. After living with them for a few days, we sadly realized that the Twelve Tribes were not just a group of Christians seeking to live an alternative lifestyle but instead a cult that grossly distorts the teaching of Scripture.

The Twelve Tribes started off as an outgrowth of the Christianity formed in the wake of the Jesus Movement in California.  This sect was formed because of a disconnect that the founder Eugene Spriggs felt between Christian teaching and practice. He felt Christians did not take the teaching of Jesus seriously and eventually created his own counter-cultural community that sought to live out the teachings of Jesus. This movement started small but now has over 2,000 worldwide members in 10 different countries. Many of the communities are farms where everyone lives and works together in an environment separate from the world. The different communities have stores or restaurants in their cities through which they seek to evangelize the community. Though built on what seemed to be good intentions, this group now has morphed into a heretical cult.

This movement seeks to emulate the practices of the early church. They see Acts 2:44 as a central passage of their faith. All members of the community live together and share all of their possessions. They emphasize community to the extent where all remnants of individual identity vanish. They believe all who would truly follow Yashua must live a simple, primitive lifestyle that seeks to be like the church in Acts.

Furthermore, they see themselves not merely as a church but as the nation of Israel.  They think each of their larger communities is a tribe of Israel, and that God is reinstating his tribes in preparation of the fulfillment of prophecy. The farm we stayed at in Argentina thought they were the tribe of Issachar. They eat biblical kosher, keep Shabbat, and the Jewish festivals, only call Jesus by his Jewish name, Yashua, and each receive Jewish names at baptism. Furthermore they also keep other customs such as all men wearing their hair in a pony tail that is one fist long, all men and women wearing plain natural clothing, and eating food with chop sticks.

As one who has a great interest in Judaism and the Jewish roots of the Christian faith, coupled with an interest in taking the words of Jesus seriously, I found them very fascinating at first. They really take the need for community seriously, live an organic and sustainable lifestyle, understand certain Jewish aspects of the faith that many Christians have forgotten, and truly seek to be counter cultural. Yet the uniformity of their appearance and actions, coupled with the fact that they would not call themselves Christians was very worrisome to me.

After talking extensively with them, I realized they mandated that all who would follow God live their same lifestyle. The legalism with which they mandated this lifestyle contradicts Scripture. They take descriptions from Acts, a historical book, and turn them into commands from God. They take a historical expression of the faith and turn it into a trans historical command.  They do not merely say that the early church is an example we can learn from, but rather a paradigm we must emulate.

Furthermore, their understanding of how the early church lived is also flawed. There is no indication from Scripture that all believers lived in the same house or farm, did not have regular jobs, were separate from society, and ate with chopsticks. Rather Acts indicates that these believers had regular jobs, lived in separate houses, yet still lived their counter cultural lifestyle. The early church is a group of people that simultaneously engaged and confronted the culture while also living counter-cultural lives.

In addition to their legalism described above, they also hold unscriptural beliefs such as their belief in the three eternal destinies of man, their belief that they are the tribes of Israel, and their belief that all believers must call Jesus by his Hebrew name. They take obscure beliefs and make them the main thing. Furthermore, they do not think that Christians are truly following Jesus, instead seeing Christians as “the bloody whore of Babylon” in Revelation.

Their explicit beliefs put them on the fringes of orthodox Christianity, but the culture of the communities put them in the frontier of a cult. From just spending two days with them, I could already feel the culture of control that they create. They want everyone to do everything together and they want to know where you are at all times (it was quite a process to get them to let us go to a café so we could use the internet!). From reading testimonies of ex-members, my suspicions were confirmed. They create an environment where you do not think for yourself but the community thinks for you.

Though the website makes the group seem like a harmless religious group, this is not true. This group distorts the teachings of Scripture and enforces it in a controlling environment in which people cannot think for themselves. I would encourage you to stay clear of this group and steer anyone away who is being enticed by their teachings.

If you want to follow Christ on a commune, go for it!  Yet it is imperative that you do not lay that lifestyle on everyone else. The Twelve Tribes are right in saying that many Christians are not “giving up everything” to follow Jesus as they should, but they are gravely wrong in creating a narrow interpretation of how to follow Jesus and rigidly laying it on others while ignoring countless commands and passages from Scripture. As we are seeking to live “radical” lives for Jesus, may we learn from this extreme example and not create a legalism out of one type of “radical” living.

Ex-ICC Prosecutor Calls on Obama to Take Action on Sudan

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Aaron Gaglia, Darfur, International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, Nafie Ali Nafie, Sudan, Syria

(Photo credit: Iton Gadol)

By Aaron Gaglia (@GagliaAC)

Last week I had the privilege to interview Luis Moreno Ocampo, the former first prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. Ocampo was the man who prosecuted Omar al-Bashir for the massive atrocities he committed in Darfur. Naturally, I was eager to hear his thoughts on President Obama’s invitation of Nafie Ali Nafie, the former Sudanese Chief of National Intelligence and Security Services/advisor to Bashir. Nafie is a war criminal that is responsible for setting up unofficial detention and torture chambers called “ghost houses”.

Ocampo stated that the invitation is not the main issue but Obama’s policy is the main issue. “What will be the Obama policy to stop the crimes in the South and to stop the genocide in Darfur? …The issue is not to stop the invitation. The issue is how to solve the conflict because maybe Nafie Ali Nafie could be a solution depending on the policy. I believe we need a new Obama policy,” he said.

The main problem is not the invitation but “what Washington will say to Nafie Ali Nafie.” A genocide is happening while Obama is in office, and as the head of a very powerful nation, the president has an obligation to do something. “He was so vocal about Darfur that he needs to do something before he ends his tenure. So the time is now.,“ Ocampo explained.

President Obama and the international community needs to realize that what is happening in Sudan is still genocide even though it is not as visible as the situations in Syria and Korea.

“Basically, it’s an ongoing genocide. The judges decided that the evidence was enough to prove that what happened in the camps is genocide. You don’t need to kill with bullets because the condition of life is such that they are trying to eliminate a group. And I think because the genocide in Darfur is silent, people are dying by starvation and rape, the world is ignoring it because Obama is talking about chemical weapons in Syria. Why is it different if massive atrocities are committed by chemical weapons or massive atrocities committed by starvation, or massive atrocities committed by rape? Why is it different? The issue is there are people being killed.” Genocide is genocide no matter the method used. Obama and the international community must not ignore genocide in Sudan because of other more visible atrocities in the world. Furthermore, ignoring the situation is not only bad for the victims being killed but also for the negative example of political will it presents.

“Ignoring one conflict is not improving the second conflict, it’s making it worse because people say, “Ok the good strategy to survive is Bashir. Keep fighting, keep killing and then you will survive.” And that’s the lesson being received in Syria and in Korea. So that’s why a good case against one of them will make a big case for the others.”

Towards the end of the interview, I asked Ocampo about the efficacy of the ICC. He said it is very effective yet it also presents a large game changer in our world. It shifts law from merely a national setting to an international setting. He used the analogy of football to illustrate this change. “Imagine if suddenly the rules for football changed and the quarterback can kick the ball with his feet. So it would be a different game. That’s ICC, it’s not just what the quarterback is doing, it’s how the game changes, how the other players change… It is a very primitive system, that’s why we need to build it.” The ICC was created to deal with an increasingly globalized and international world brought about by the advent of the Internet and other technologies. The ICC is still a very young organization and is still learning how to effectively function in our global world.

The words of Luis Moreno Ocampo are encouraging for us who are working for global peace. Though the world is a crazy and scary place, more and more people want peace. May we continue to pressure our leaders and develop our global institutions to create a world where massive atrocities are not tolerated. But first we shall see if President Obama’s talks with Sudan are a step in this direction: towards peace.

Our Existential Need for Jesus

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@GagliaAC, Aaron Gaglia, Christianity, Institute on Religion and Democracy, IRD Blog

“The Prodigal Son in Modern Life: The Return” by James Tissot (Photo credit: Art and the Bible)

By Aaron Gaglia (@GagliaAC)

The world of theological controversy can be a very draining world. Much of theological discourse simply is not edifying and is simply a combination of name calling, accusations, and talking past each other. As one who clings to orthodoxy, it is also very draining to see more and more people drifting away from orthodox Christian teaching and practice. Traditional Biblical teaching is no longer seen as something to cling to but rather something to progress past. It is easy to get discouraged and wonder if anyone is clinging to truth alongside you.  To this end, I am going to take a break in this post from writing about controversy and rather encourage you with truths from Scripture that hold true and bring us joy no matter the state of the world or church.

Our need for Jesus is an existential need. Yes, we absolutely need Jesus to rescue us from our sins and to forgive us so that we may be reconciled with God. We need His divine rescue so that we may escape the wrath to come. Yet we also need him in a deeply subjective sense. Life is unbearable without a personal and deep relationship with Jesus Christ. If we merely accept the realities of what he has done for us on the Cross but are not relying on Him for our daily needs then something is deeply wrong. If we are not experiencing the joy that comes from knowing Jesus and savoring his beauty then something is missing. He did not save us to merely go on with our lives without Him, but he saved us to live in intimate communion with Him.

Jesus tells us that “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” (John 6:54-56, ESV). This feeding on Christ, this abiding in him, is not a one-time thing but a continual act of being revived and satisfied on the “bread of life.”

We need to rediscover the viscerally existential grace of God, the grace that is walking with us every step of our journey until we see Christ and become like Him. This is all put into perspective when we remember how Jesus defines eternal life, “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” Eternal life is about an intimate love relationship with God.  It is about living life together with Jesus.

We feel the existential grace of God when we recognize that we cannot please Him apart from Him, when we realize that God does not merely want our obedience, but he wants our heart. He wants to comfort us. He wants to empower us. He wants to strengthen us. He wants to correct us when we are wrong. He wants to wipe away our tears when we are grieving. And He not only helps us as a distance third party but as an ever-present participant in our life. We need Jesus desperately, yet it is so easy to live functionally as if He is not here to help us on our journey called life.

Prayer is a very practical way to live out these truths. As we cast our cares on Jesus, ask him for wisdom and strength, and adore him for always being there for us, we take a step towards Jesus and put ourselves in a position to receive his grace. Recently, I have been struck by the truth of Lamentations 3:22,23: “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22,23). Jesus gives us the grace we need to face each day. In episode 64 of the “Ask Pastor John” podcast, John Piper gives advice to unemployed college graduates. In telling college graduates to take it one day at a time and not worry about tomorrow, he gives this insightful commentary on the above verses:  “So each day has trouble of its own, Jesus said. And Jeremiah said in Lamentations 3:22, every morning has mercy of its own. And I think Jesus has tailor-made the mercies for the miseries.” We must daily make the decision to receive God’s mercy so that we can flourish each and every day in the midst of adversity.

I hope that you are encouraged by reading this to cling to Jesus amidst the nitty gritty details of everyday life. May you experience the eternal life of Jesus Christ.