C.S. Lewis, “Three Kinds of Men”

I really love C.S. Lewis. His essays, “Three Kinds of Men” has been been profoundly helpful for me in identifying the reason for spiritual unhappiness in my own life and the lives of other religious people in the church. It’s a powerful and searching essay. What kind of man are you?

“There are three kinds of people in the world.

The first class is of those who live simply for their own sake and pleasure, regarding Man and Nature as so much raw material to be cut up into whatever shape may serve them.

In the second class are those who acknowledge some other claim upon them—the will of God, the categorical imperative, or the good of society—and honestly try to pursue their own interests no further than this claim will allow. They try to surrender to the higher claim as much as it demands, like men paying a tax, but hope, like other taxpayers, that what is left over will be enough for them to live on. Their life is divided, like a soldier’s or a schoolboy’s life, into time “on parade” and “off parade,” “in school” and “out of school.”

But the third class is of those who can say like St Paul that for them “to live is Christ.” These people have got rid of the tiresome business of adjusting the rival claims of Self and God by the simple expedient of rejecting the claims of Self altogether. The old egoistic will has been turned round, reconditioned, and made into a new thing. The will of Christ no longer limits theirs; it is theirs. All their time, in belonging to Him, belongs also to them, for they are His.

And because there are three classes, any merely twofold division of the world into good and bad is disastrous. It overlooks the fact that the members of the second class (to which most of us belong) are always and necessarily unhappy. The tax which moral conscience levies on our desires does not in fact leave us enough to live on. As long as we are in this class we must either feel guilt because we have not paid the tax or penury because we have. The Christian doctrine that there is no “salvation” by works done to the moral law is a fact of daily experience. Back or on we must go. But there is no going on simply by our own efforts. If the new Self, the new Will, does not come at His own good pleasure to be born in us, we cannot produce Him synthetically.

The price of Christ is something, in a way, much easier than moral effort—it is to want Him. It is true that the wanting itself would be beyond our power but for one fact. The world is so built that, to help us desert our own satisfactions, they desert us. War and trouble and finally old age take from us one by one all those things that the natural Self hoped for at its setting out. Begging is our only wisdom, and want in the end makes it easier for us to be beggars. Even on those terms the Mercy will receive us.”

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Reflections on Earth Day

I never really grew up with any interest in “saving” the environment. I viewed the “tree-huggers” living in my native San Francisco as liberal zealots. But as I’ve grown in my biblical understanding of this world, I’ve come to a growing conviction that a love for the earth should be something Christians are more passionate about.

The Bible from the very beginning gives us a framework for understanding the earth. In Genesis 1 God creates the earth and repeatedly calls it, “good.” Secondly God entrusts mankind to “fill the earth and subdue it” (Gen. 1:28). The idea here is that man is not only to use the earth but to cultivate and protect it.

One main Christian objection to being a person who loves the environment is the idea that, “Hey the whole earth is going to burn anyway.” A key verse occurs in 2 Peter 3:10: But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

But the idea of burning in the Bible doesn’t always have to do with destruction. It can also have the connotation of refinement as when fire is used to burn away dross. The Greek word for “dissolved” is the one to loosen. The last phrase in the text says in this context that when the earth is finally purified and loosened, the beauty of God’s creation will finally be exposed. This all argues for the renewal of the earth, not the destruction of it.

A final argument has to do with the Christian’s focus on “souls” and salvation instead of liberal causes like the environment. But this is a false dualistic worldview. Of course the eternal destiny of people is of more importance than stewardship. But that doesn’t make it unimportant. Secondly how much do you really care about someone if you are oblivious to them growing up in a polluted world that destroys their health and the quality of their lives?

Psalm 19:1 tells us that, “the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Let’s work for a world that continues to declare the beauty of its maker.

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Homecoming

This last week my wife delivered our second child and first son. It’s been a dizzying and delightful week! We’re both thrilled and relieved that our son has finally made it home. This gift of life reminds us of God’s everyday miracles that He lavishes upon His children. Welcome home Beckett Christian Kang!

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Where in the Heavens is Matt?

For some reason this is one of my favorite Youtube videos of all time. It’s just a celebration of life and culture. It reminds me of God’s grand world and the joy that surrounds it.

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Tiger Woods, David and the Great Lie

There’s been such a media frenzy these days over the Tiger Woods affair and break from golf. If you’re like me you’re wanting for this media onslaught to fade. But I think there’s a valuable lesson in the demise of Tiger Woods.

When you’re considered an all time great, an unstoppable force and a hero to millions you can of course let that go to your head. What often happens with successful people is that they let their success in one particular area (like sports or business) extend to the rest of their lives. So if you’re unbeatable at golf you might think you’re unbeatable in every area of life. And when you start believing this lie, the time is ticking on a spectacular fall.

King David in 1 and 2 Samuel exemplifies this well. David was known for his auspicious start as a giant slayer. The David vs. Goliath allusion must be the most over-used in all of sports. But from that point on, David was known as a national hero. He couldn’t walk through a street without applause and paparazzi snapping mental photographs. Gradually and almost invisibly David’s interior life began to erode. We find him in 2 Samuel 11 waking up on a lazy afternoon while all the other men were off to battle. He spots a beautiful woman bathing and commits adultery with her even though she is the wife of one of his generals who is risking his life for him. But David thinks, “I am the great king, the giant slayer.” And so his life spirals out of control and leads to murder, exile and humiliation.

Ironically David’s greatest moment wasn’t his slaying with Goliath. David’s greatest moment was when he  penned the words of Psalm 51. Toward the end of this prayer of confession he says, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (vs. 17). David’s greatest moment wasn’t his victory but his defeat. It was only then he realized not just the extent of who he was but the greatness of the grace of God. It’s in our victories in our lives that we should be most cautious because it can give us a false view of ourselves. But it’s in our brokenness that we should most delight as it brings us nearer to an understanding of God’s great grace.

One of the great lies that we have to deal with is the lie that we’re in control. We’re always in need of self-examination and gospel humility. I think these two illustrations help us to see that well.

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The Blindside

Last week I watched the movie, “The Blindside” with my wife at the new downtown theatre.  I’m a sucker for sports movie. I can watch the most mediocre sports film and think it should be an Oscar winner. On the other hand I can watch the best romantic comedy and get angry. So it’s no surprise that I was really taken with the story of “The Blindside.” It’s about an abandoned child in the inner city that is adopted by an upper-class white family who eventually turns his life around and makes it to the NFL. I was so taken with the story that I just finished reading the book it was based on by Michael Lewis. The film is relatively faithful to the book except for the nuances of football that it leaves out.

I really loved how the movie and book explores the idea of race and culture in America. It wasn”t overly heavy handed in coming to conclusions. But it’s a fascinating journey to see how an African American kid coming from the poorest side of town tries to transition into a white Christian world. So often in our society we live on the “blindside.” We don’t want to see how glaringly unequal the opportunities we have are based upon what side of the town we grew up. We don’t realize that we often live in our own socially-economic and often racial bubble. The Tuohy family woke up to this reality by adopting Michael Oher and raising him like a son.

One of the under developed themes in the movie and book is the role of Christianity. The Tuohy’s were Christian and at the end of his High School years Michael also became a believer (something the movie omits). In interviews they said their faith played an important role in desiring to take in Michael into their home. It’s a wonderful testimony of a life that connects faith with practical and powerful acts of mercy.

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City Community

One thing that defines Los Angeles is the freeways. People commute miles upon miles to and from work, social activities and even church. But our freeway culture has a lot of negative consequences. First it’s harmful to our environment. Thomas Friedman in his book, “Hot, Flat and Crowded” says its like every few miles you roll down your window and throw a big bag of garbage onto the freeway. That’s what you’re doing to the environment when you drive. But secondly our freeway culture makes us increasingly disconnected. We’re disconnected from our home because we’re rarely there. We’re disconnected from other people because we hardly see them. This commuter culture makes genuine community very difficult.

One of the great visions for our ministry is to have a church where people can live, work and worship in the same geographical location. By living this vision you would simultaneously 1) gain more time from not commuting 2) do your part for the environment 3) make inroads to forming a genuine community with people you live, work and worship with. When our ministry started out this seemed like a distant reality. Even though many people worked downtown, very few people would even consider moving downtown because of its crime or lack of amenities. But in the last couple years we’ve seen a great number of people moving downtown. Currently downtown is the primary place where people in our ministry live and more and more people are considering moving. Now more than ever we can start to glimpse what a really deep, local and intimate community can look like. Can you imagine needing help or counsel and just knocking on the next door?

The next step I guess would be people selling their cars and donating it for kingdom work! If Downtown got zip cars or pay-per-drive cars I think this could be a reality in the not too distant future. But in the meantime there’s still so much work to do to make Downtown a truly beautiful community for all people. Now that we have people downtown it’s time we start deepening our community to be all that God envisions for us.

The picture above is by Tony and has a city growing into a tree. It was done for our anniversary service a couple year’s ago. Here’s to making that picture a reality.

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Los Angeles: the Racially Divided City

When you think about Los Angeles it’s astoundingly divided among racial lines. The city can almost be defined along racial boundaries. There is South Los Angeles which is historically black. There is East Los Angeles which is primarily hispanic. There is West Los Angeles which is largely white and Jewish. Within miles the city has a multitude of ethnic enclaves as Koreatown, Little Armenia, Little Tokyo, and Filipinotown. But beyond the diversity lies a history of racial tension and division.

One of the great wake-up calls for racial tension was the race riots in 1992 after the acquittal of the police officers responsible for the assault on Rodney King. Estimates of damages range from 800 million to a billion dollars. Many of the Korean American stores were targeted during the riots. The riots brought national attention to the tangled racial tensions in Los Angeles.

But 17 years later not a lot of dialogue and reconcilliation has happened. There continues to be tension amongst Hispanics and African Americans in the growing turf wars in what was once predominately black areas. Korean-American have largely left South Los Angeles but continue to hire many Hispanic workers for their businesses. Meanwhile people in the upper-middle class have fled to the suburbs which although is in some sense ethnically diverse, are often economically homogenous.

One of the questions that I continually ask myself is, “What is the churches role in bringing racial reconciliation?” When you think about the four main ethnicities that are entangled: (African American, Hispanic, Korean-American and White) they are all parts of communities that are heavily faith-based. Shouldn’t the church model racial reconcilliation both within the church and between churches? What would that look like? What community projects could be done between churches seeking to bring needed peace?

Wouldn’t it be an epic testimony for the church, the Bride of Christ, to show an unbelieving world the peace that faith can bring?

Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God. Matthew 5:9

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Economic Depression and Spiritual Revival

These are some very dark economic times. We’re hearing a lot of news even in our congregation of layoffs and the lack of job security. These seasons teach us that we can’t find security in anything under the sun. Jesus talks about not storing our treasures where moth and rust destroy and thieves steal. We need to place our treasures in places immune to the ups and downs of market forces, the corruption of Wall Street and the greed of institutions.

However gloomy these times are I think it’s a tremendous opportunity to minister to people. It seems that only when things are tough are people willing to take a hard look inside and take a serious look above them. One of my favorite quotes come from G.K. Chesterton who writes, ”One sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak.” Only in the deepest of valleys can we see the greatness of God. Only when everything around us totters can we understand that God is a rock and fortress.

So as markets decline can we suggest that our spirits can strengthen? These dark days are opportunities for people (myself included!) to experience glory.

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Drinks on Me! Alcohol, Prohibition and the Soulful Life

I grew up thinking that drinking alcohol was like drinking Satan juice. It was just bad the church told me. I can see that they had a point. My father would often drink a bit too much and tell me the same rambling stories of coming to America. What possible good can alcohol bring? But during my post-college years I was turned on to the abuse of legalism and the freedom of Christian living. Let the drinks flow! But with this “freedom” comes inevitable excess.

G.K. Chesteron once said that the drunk and the abstainer are both mistaken, they both regard alcohol as a drug and not as a drink. I think this really hits the nail on the head. Alcohol functions as drink and not drug. It’s wonderful as something that enhances our tastes and moods but destructive when it leads to drunkenness and dependency. Most of sin is not about outright evil but taking a good thing and abusing it. Both liberal and legalist miss the point of this drink.

Jesus puts alcohol in perspective. He CREATES alcohol as his first miracle in the gospel of John. Clearly Jesus is no prohibitionist.

He does it in the context of celebration. Alcohol can be used rightly in the context of community and especially celebration. But with all these things lies moderation and self-control which Paul summarizes by saying, “Do not be drunk on wine but be filled with the Spirit.” Alcoholic spirits should mesh with the Holy Spirit.

But finally Jesus uses alcohol as metaphor to explain the coming of His kingdom. Some whiskey can pack a punch but good wine can be divine. The flavor and beauty of wine can lead us to some transcendent moments. It’s but a faint hint on the beauty and joy that awaits God’s people when they have Christ as their King.

I’m in favor of a soulful life. A life filled with seeing all of life in it’s beauty and brilliance. A life that doesn’t need excess to truly experience. A life that sees good things in its rightful place under the reign of God. Maybe when Christians live more soulfully we’ll be more attractive to a soulless world.

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