Guns in Pittsburgh

The National Rifle Association is in Pittsburgh, and they have a convention with hundreds of yards of guns and ammunition for the public to look at and/or purchase. Their presence in Pittsburgh has been greatly publicized. The Christian stance on the NRA's visit to Pittsburgh has been very divisive. Some Christian leaders, churches, and organizations are organizing to protest the NRA's presence in this city where hundreds of people die every year from gun violence. Other Christian leaders are openly supportive of the NRA's presence in Pittsburgh, rallying their efforts around the second ammendment and the right of Americans to bear arms. So, which view on guns is most representative of what it means to follow Christ?

To be honest, I am still working through where I stand on this issue of guns. It is complex to me. I have Christian friends who I admire and respect that own guns, and who I know will most likely visit this gun show in Pittsburgh to show their support. I also have Christian friends who I admire and respect who will be protesting outside of the gun show in order to keep more guns off the streets of Pittsburgh. Should I join the protest, or should I go purchase a gun (as many well-meaning people have strongly encouraged me to do since I moved my family to Homewood)? I hate the guns in my community. I hear gun shots sometimes, and people die violently in my neighborhood every year because of guns. I want those guns out of my community. I don't want more guns coming into Pittsburgh. On the other hand, the gun violence may just be a symptom of broader, systemic problems in society that lead one human being to point a gun at another human being and pull the trigger. Should Christians spend more time dealing with the causes to the violence instead of trying to treat the symptoms?

This issue hit home with me last night. One of my mentees called me. He had heard an advertisement on the news for the gun show in town, and he wanted to know if I could take him there to see the guns. He is 16 years old. He lives in a neighborhood that experiences a lot of gun violence. His own father, whom he has not had contact with, is spending his whole life in prison for killing someone with a gun. Last summer, my mentee's brother (three years older) was shot and killed. Also last summer, my mentee's uncle was murdered with a gun. Many of the young men in his neighborhood have access to guns. I know he could track down an illegal gun if he really wanted to. If anyone has experienced the tragic effects of guns that make their way into the streets, it's him. And, yet, he is still intrigued by guns and wants to go to the gun show. This goes beyond the ideological debate that Christians have with one another. Suddenly, this is something that I have to think through.

No, I am not taking my mentee to the gun show. Maybe that makes me a good Christian. Some would say it makes me a bad Christian. Next time I hang out with him, though, we are hopefully going to have a long talk about the subject. He is a follower of Christ, and I am a follower of Christ. We may spend some time talking about guns and the fact that many people are permitted to own them, but mostly I hope we'll spend some time talking about the root causes of gun violence in America. I hope to be able to talk with him about how he can avoid the fate of his father, brother, and uncle. We've talked about these things many times, and in a sense we'll just continue the dialogue because we have a close enough relationship to talk about the violence in our city. Our dialogue will go on because we are Christians in a relationship with one another. Will that ever be the stance of Christians on the gun issue? Will we build relationships with each other and have civil discussions, or will we distance ourselves from one another and become further polarized? I'll be watching to see what happens here in Pittsburgh this week.

Locked Out

One of the best things that happened to me yesterday was that I was locked out of my house. That sounds like an unusual thing to say, but I was locked out of my house on a sunny day in Pittsburgh while school was letting out and my neighbors were returning home from work. It gave me the opportunity to hang out in front of my house and talk to my neighbors and friends. The relationships are by far the best part of urban ministry. Sure, there are many sacrifices of living incarnationally in the city. But, the benefits far outweigh any of the downside. And, so, I have started looking forward to the unexpected things that happen to me. It usually means that God had a plan for me that I didn't know about... like getting locked out in my neighborhood with some of Pittsburgh's finest residents.

Holistic Ministry

What does it mean for a church to impact its community? How can a church meet the holistic needs of people? In the book Churches that Make a Difference, the authors suggest that a healthy church is "a church that practices both evangelism and social ministry; balances nurture and outreach; knows and loves its community; clearly communicates its theology and specific vision for holistic mission; integrates the holistic vision into the internal life of the church; builds its ministry on a base of spiritual maturity and healthy, loving relationships; and calls and equips its members into action." That's a big part of what we are trying to do at North Way Christian Community. We seek to be internally healthy and externally focused. It's a difficult endeavor because culture is always changing, and people are always changing. Still, meeting holistic needs is an important part of what it means to follow Christ.

Monks and Easter Commercials

After a long Easter week, I plopped down on the couch this evening and flipped on the TV. 60 Minutes happened to be showing a story about a 1,000+ year old Orthodox Christian monastic movement in Greece. They interviewed monks who eat twice a day, sleep three hours a day, and pray constantly to Christ. I was fascinated by the in-depth reporting... the first reporters to capture this movement in over thirty years. No women had ever visited the monks, and only Orthodox Christian men are permitted to make pilgrimages there. As I was watching, CBS cut to commercials and the first ad was for an erectile dysfunction drug. I couldn't believe it! The cultural contrast was almost too much to take. One second the show is highlighting men who have absolutely no interaction with women, and the next second I'm watching couples give intentional glances to one another during random life events that lead to them somehow watching the sunset together naked in side by side bath tubs. After the ED ad, CBS News cut in for a one minute overview of the day's national news. The lead story was "Easter Profits Up 12%," and the newscaster explained how great this good Easter season was for our recovering economy. I just had to laugh at this point! It was all just too much.

In a way, these cultural contrasts capture why it is so difficult for American Christians to live out an authentic, meaningful Christian faith. We read about the gospel message in our Bibles, and we hear about it at church. But, the second we leave church or end our quiet time in the morning, we enter a world that is dead set on distracting us from the real meaning of what it means to follow Christ whole-heartedly. The life of following Christ seems to come at us with a whisper, but then we live our lives and the world seems to scream at us that there is another way. The contrast in America is remarkable. We have it down to a science. That whole religion thing works out once a week on a Sunday when we might go to church, but the rest of the time it really doesn't impact our lives too much. Our faith doesn't cost us anything. Things just seem to go better in America if you are Christian. Hey, maybe God will bless our business efforts (remember, Easter was profitable this year)... and, maybe we might even overcome our struggles with ED if we follow Jesus. We'll get that bigger house, and that nicer car, and that promotion at work, and all the benefits of American society if we just check the Christian box with our lives.

Obviously, I'm being sarcastic... but I'm also curious. There are many Christians that separate their faith from their "real lives." There are many Christian leaders lined up to sell prosperity or self help doctrine. Christianity is often marketed to the masses. But, following Christ should cost us something. It should cost us everything. When we choose to follow Christ, we die to our selves and we gain Christ. And there is great life and joy in that decision! God does want us to find meaning in life through Him, but it often does cost us a lot. It is the narrow path. And, my point is, the American cultural version of Christianity and actually following Christ don't often sync well. However, our society still tries to figure it out. We like to talk about monks who sacrifice all for the sake of Christ, and then we like to talk about making a profit from Easter and marketing the next ED drugs in our next breath. We like to think we can have the best of both worlds. We can have it all. Life is all about us, and our individual happiness. But, we can't. Those are all lies. And that is why Christianity is shrinking in America at an alarming rate, and it is growing exponentially in other places around the world. We can't have it all, and life is not all about us... no matter how hard we try. In America, we must be careful that we do not get caught up in cultural Christianity. We need to focus on the real thing... and that is Christ.

An Unpredictable Couple of Days

Being a pastor in the city is definitely challenging. The past couple of days are a good example of that for me. On Friday morning, Good Friday, I woke up early to go to a men's breakfast event on the North Side of Pittsburgh. I spoke briefly to the men there, challenging them to get involved in mentoring kids in Homewood and also to go to the March for Peace in Homewood immediately following the breakfast event. Many of the guys participated in the March, and it was so great to see an interracial crowd from all over the Pittsburgh area locking arms as we walked and prayed for the violence in my neighborhood to stop. My daughters even made it onto the local news for participating in the event (although the news didn't capture me having to carry them for the second half of the March up hill in the cold rain). After spending time with my neighbors in Homewood, I drove to North Way Oakland to connect with people at the noon Good Friday service. On the drive to Oakland I called a reporter who interviewed me about the Mathieson Leadership Award that I received the day before. The worship was great in Oakland, and afterward I headed out to pick up several of my mentees for an overnight event. We spent time in the new game room at my house (thanks to a small group from North Way that finished the basement for us), we went out to eat at the Original Hot Dog Shop, we went to the evening Good Friday service at North Way Oakland with Julie and the girls, and then that night we were up until 1am playing games and watching movies. We woke up early this morning to take one of my mentees to a job interview at McDonalds, and after that we spent the rest of the day hanging out at my house doing life together. I made a brunch with pancakes, bacon, and, of course, ice cream. To finish off our time together, we drove around the neighborhood with the windows down listening to music and stopping to visit with people. Tonight I'll be spending time with my family, and then after they go to sleep I'll study for a couple hours working on a DMin project.

I definitely don't have this whole urban ministry thing down to a science, but I don't think it is really supposed to be about balance or rhythm or safety or anything like that. Sure, I slow down to rest when needed and I prioritize time with my family a lot. But, being a pastor in an urban environment means that I am involved in a ministry of relationships and presence. You never know what is going to happen. Urban ministry is not all about a sterile church environment where things are clean and predictable. Urban ministry is messy and unpredictable, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Relationships take time, and transformation takes time. I think it's kind of interesting when Christians tell me sometimes that they like to start things up and then hand them off to other people after a few months. That's definitely not a "style" of ministry that works in cities. Sometimes the biggest thing we can do is stay in one place, investing in that area and those relationships for a long time. And that's exactly what the past couple of days have been like for me. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings! Thankfully, God is a God of risk and unpredictability. I'm just along for the journey.

LAMP Recognition

Today was an interesting day. I was invited to the FAME (Fund for the Advancement of Minorities through Education) luncheon at the Duquesne Club to receive the Andrew W. Mathieson Leadership Award. FAME is an amazing organization in Pittsburgh that does tremendous work in the community, and a friend of mine who serves on their board of directors nominated me for the award without me knowing it. The board members were intriqued by the work that I am a part of here in Homewood, so they decided to recognize the mentoring efforts.

I was very honored by the award, and the event today was first class. They did a great job with the whole luncheon. One thing that comes to mind, though, in receiving an award for my work with LAMP is that LAMP only works if mentors are willing to get involved. Thankfully, God has brought over 200 mentors to Homewood over the past five years. Hundreds of children have been impacted in many ways by volunteers who give their time and energy. Also, LAMP does not work without great partners from the school district and our LAMP partner organization, Family Guidance.

I have been so blessed to be a part of leading LAMP at North Way for the past five years. It has been an adventure... one of the great joys of my life! I would not trade these experiences in Homewood over the past five years for anything! I guess it is nice to receive personal recognition every once in a while, but much of the recognition with LAMP should go to all of the mentors and mentees in the program. And, much of the recognition for my work in Homewood should go to my wife, Julie, and our daughters, Kyra and Sierra. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us over the next five years. A big thanks goes out to the FAME organization for making this a special day.

A Video in Homewood

Today was a long day of recording video footage about LAMP for the five year celebration of North Way's partnership with the schools in Homewood. We recorded at my house and in my neighborhood all day. Pastor Doug Melder shared about the theological foundation for why Christians should be engaged in justice issues and mentoring. Several LAMP mentees shared about their mentoring experiences. I shared about what I have experienced with LAMP over the past five years. And, we hit the streets to capture footage of Homewood. It was a long day, but it was a good day. Homewood has a great story to tell, and LAMP has a great story to tell. The past five years in Homewood have been amazing, and I can't wait to see what's in store for the next five years! Lives will be impacted, both of the mentees and the mentors. I'm sure God will continue to move in profound ways. Relationships will be developed. And, hopefully, God will be glorified by the church fulfilling the mission that God has for us.