If you haven’t come across Mr. Deity yet, you ought to check it out and subscribe via iTunes.  If nothing else, it’s a fascinating window into the social standing of the Christian faith.

Thought it was interesting that shortly after posting previously, I made it around to watching the most recent episode.  Anxious for your thoughts.

The Short Answer:

It’s a biblical/theological decision that has to do with conscience (1 Cor. 10:31-33) and not the candidates themselves

The longer, but hopefully more interesting answer:

As I did 4 years ago, I have toiled and prayed over this decision for months and have not come to it lightly.  But, for the life of me, when I try to envision Jesus living here and now, I just can’t see him walking into an election booth.  Others have no problem with this vision, many of them even have no problem stating for sure just which box he’d tick, but the Jesus I encounter in the gospels refused to capitulate to the political parties of his day and in trying to follow him, I am simply more interested in charting a different course altogether and inviting others along.

Tim Kumfer, in his brilliant article, “Between Sojourners and the Simple Way? Rethinking Radical Evangelical Politics in ’08 with John Howard Yoder” says,

A majority of the church in the United States still assumes that voting is one of the most meaningful ways Christians can engage themselves politically. This assumption is Constantinian; it assumes that politics for Christians is primarily about ensuring that society is headed our way…the problem occurs when we are more concerned with managing this realm than witnessing to a different one.

This mentality was perfectly embodied just the other day as I listened to a gentleman speak to a large crowd, encouraging them to vote for whichever candidate they thought would most ensure freedom of religious rights for Christians.  I find this sort of thinking to be positively debilitating to the character of the Church.  To think for a moment that the Church would believe that its ability to function had anything whatsoever to do with government protected rights is just the sort of posture that led to the utter decimation of the people of God in the First Testament.  A Church which looks to the government to protect its rights is in grave danger.

This really worries me.  Not only because I live in a place where the reality of this assumption is thicker than I have ever experienced, but because I am not above falling prey to it.

As I understand the Bible, I would say that all those who follow Jesus are given freedom to vote if they choose, but nowhere do I sense that this is an obligation. There are typically two common biblical objections to this which I will try to respond to briefly.

The first is Jesus’ command, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s.” (Mark 12:17)  I actually think (ala NT Wright) that in classic Jesus fashion, this is an underhanded way of saying, “Caesar actually doesn’t have a right to anything since everything is God’s.  So, if you want to pay taxes (or vote or otherwise participate in government), go right ahead, just don’t forget who you are ultimately accountable to.”

Others would quote Romans 13:1, “The authorities that exist have been established by God.”  But I am reminded that secular governments, even democratic ones, are a result of people rejecting God (1 Sam. 8:7).  Not rebelling against them is one thing – we made our bed and therefore must lie in it, but assuming they have a claim on our allegiance and participation is quite another.

Not voting is a way to remind myself (and hopefully others) of these things – that it is the church and the church alone which witnesses to a new world order – which is called to put on display in the here and now what God dreams for the new creation.

A few influences.  Shane Claiborne wrote a good article entitled, “Advise Everyone… Endorse No One” that helped me to think about these issues.

As one with Anabaptist leanings, I was influenced, first in 2005, and again this year, by this article from John D. Roth, “Polls Apart.”

The words of Stanley Hauerwas in this article/audio were helpful.

As were David Fitch’s musings on, “Not Voting as an Act of Christian Discernment: Calling the Emerging Church Into a Different Kind of Faithfulness.”

Liked Mark Van Steenwyk’s thoughts here.

Finally, once again Derek Webb has come through on the bonus track of the re-release of Mockingbird (which you can get for free here), with “How Then Shall We Then Vote?”

It may very well be that my decision on this matter comes from having a weaker conscience than some others, but as it indeed is my conscience here I stand and can do no other.

I received my Economic Stimulus Payment the other day and wondered what I would do with it.  As I thought and prayed, I decided to join the ranks of those who called the whole premise of the program into question.

Feel free to accuse me for oversimplifying things if you want, but bottom line, the whole point of the Economic Stimulus Payments that virtually everyone received this year, was singular, “The economy is hurting, so please go buy stuff.”

Sadly, this advice just doesn’t square with those of us who live in a new reality under the Kingship of a God who says, “a man’s life does not consists in the abundance of his possessions” or whose dream for people is to live lives of sacrifice, sharing, generosity, and stewardship.

God’s economics fly in the face of the dominant American addiction to consumerism illustrated perfectly both by the opening line of a recent credit card advertisement, “We are a nation of consumers….and there’s nothing wrong with that.” (ht: Grete), as well as our President’s advice to the country after the 9/11 attacks of, “Go shopping.”

So, 1/2 my check went to Geronime, a woman in Benin, Africa, a fruit vendor through Kiva – a group (you definitely need to check out) that makes micro-loans to “entrepeneurs in the developing world, empowering them to lift themselves out of poverty,” and the other 1/2 went to pay down debt.  Guess I will just have to go without that gizmo, gadget, or do-dad that I probably needed sooooo badly.

After 4 months of getting to know Memphis, living with various people and in various places, and living out of a suit case, I have found a place to hang my hat – at least for the next year.

here for more pictures (not my stuff in the house)

Here’s what metropolitan Memphis looks like

Downtown Memphis is actually to the west of “the loop” between the Mississippi River and 240.  Inside the loop is generally referred to as midtown, though it has more specific designations in certain parts.  To the east of the the loop is Germantown, Cordova, and Collierville.  Piperton, where our church community has purchased land for some future use is a little more east than Collierville.  I considered living in virtually all of these places.

Living subversively in a suburban context is something I care deeply about and feel like a good portion of my life will probably go to, but for a smattering of reasons, it doesn’t seem that now is the season for that. I mentioned a slew of factors in the decision making process in my post about being scared to live in the suburbs and I don’t really think that any decision I would have made would have been THE right decision, but here’s why I am pretty excited about this place.

1) Location.  This house puts me within walking distance (less than 1/2 of a mile) of coffee shops, restaurants, shopping, the largest park in the city, the playhouse, and the only theater I am aware of in Memphis that shows Indy films.  Here’s a little map I started to put together of all the stuff I can walk to easily.  There’s a ton more that is easily within biking distance (1-3 miles) such as the YMCA where I’ll work out and my bank.

2) Set-up.  The house is perfectly set-up to invite others to explore intentional community.  There are 3 huge bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms on the 1st floor as well as a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom apartment with its own kitchen and a separate entrance on top.

3) Neighborhood.  The neighborhood is both racially and socio-economically diverse and by virtue of living here I will be part of the “Tucker-Jefferson Neighborhood Association,” an active group which aims “to maintain and improve the dignity and integrity of the residences and businesses in the area, to preserve the diversity of the area, to insure orderly an compatible land use in the area, to encourage homeowners living in the area to improve their homes, and to work together on problems and issues of certain concern.”

4) Opportunity.  Living Hope is a primarily white, affluent, suburban church that is asking God how we might engage and be a blessing to urban Memphis as well as to where we are.  Having more people move into urban parts of the city will inevitably be a big part of that.

I am truly grateful to have found this place and am really looking forward to having a context to engage on a more constant basis.

Update: Just after I posted this, I happened to come across a few relevant posts on this subject.  Be sure to check out David Fitch’s – “The Middle In: The Unique Missional Opportunity,” and Joe Thorn’s, “I Love the Suburbs” on a brand new blog about the gospel in the suburban context, SubText.

I hear people talk quite frequently about the “dangers of the city” and how unsafe certain parts of town are.  But if I were being honest, I would tell you that I am far more scared to live in the suburbs than I am to live virtually anywhere else.

By design, suburbs are places of isolation, disconnection, and compartmentalization.  Their very existence is predicated on cultural values of materialism, consumerism , and individualism.  All of this makes it much harder (not impossible mind you) to follow the way of Jesus – a way of simplicity and interconnectedness with those on the margins of society.

I bring this up because I will very soon need to decide on a more permanent place to live.  I have been looking in mid-town which is more urban, racially mixed, threatened by crime and violence, accessible to pedestrians, affordable, and artistic.  All of this most naturally appeals to me.

But, I have also been looking in the Germantown/Collierville area which is suburban, predominantly white, relatively free of crime and violence, necessitates a car to go anywhere, more expensive, and culturally bland.

Complicating these basic dynamics are factors such as these…

– most of the folks at Living Hope are suburban people thus I feel I should live among them

– I am a young adult pastor and mid-town is more attractive to young adults

– we gave bought land and are discussing the potential of building a gathering place on it even further east from urban Memphis in Piperton

– the idea of our church planting or having more of a presence in urban Memphis is something we are discussing

– currently, the people I am aiming to really share life with live predominantly in suburban Memphis

– it maybe the case that more of our folks would head toward mid-town if a few more folks blazed that trail

… and I could probably list more.  I have been basically paralyzed by this decision of where to live and why.  Maybe I can just rest in the fact that no matter what, I am looking to rent and not buy, which ties me down probably for a year at the most. On top of this, where ever I wind up, I am seeking to be there with the express purpose of taking Jesus’ command to love my neighbors literally and seriously.  So, whether in mid-town or the burbs, I am sure there will be folks who are hurting and in need, and I find some solace in the primacy of this calling.

So there ya have it – with all the transparency I can muster, the suburbs scare me.  I would much rather live in a place where I could be shot or robbed than in a place that has the potential to chip away at my soul and spiritual sensibilities every so slowly and subtlety.  I welcome your thoughts.

If I had to guess, I’d say that I’ll be posting on “the scandalous impracticality of all that Jesus stood for” really soon as I can’t seem to stop thinking about it.

As a prelude to that though, I wanted to point to a message Gib offered to the Living Hope community this past Sunday when I was away, “Riches in Poverty.”  Probably my favorite line, “Every time currency changes hands, I am making a spiritual decision.”  How different our lives would be, how different our very understanding on what it means to be a gospel people if we embraced and lived out this Kingdom truth!

I turned 29 this past Sunday. I had the opportunity to visit my family in California right at the end of February and got to celebrate with them. Then, this past week my brother Alex came in from NYC to see me, or maybe it had something to do with his girlfriend down in Columbus, but either way I got to spend some time with him and my mom. Then, my friends had a little birthday/going-away gathering last Friday night. “Going away?” you ask. Yes.

29 marks probably the most significant new season of life to date. A newer missional community from down in Memphis contacted a friend and professor from out at Fuller, Ryan Bolger, looking for someone to join their team. Ryan connected us, and to skip over some of the pretty fun, but lengthy details, they invited me to join them as a young adult pastor. Not really thinking that I wanted to re-enter the world of paid church ministry, and certainly having no real ambitions to move to the South, I didn’t really think that much of it initially. But, as we started having conversations and then visits, I was overwhelmed by what it seemed like God was doing amongst this community. Living Hope is the sort of church community that I would move merely to be a part of. That I’ll get to do full-time what I midst want to do anyway – relational discipleship and community formation amongst young adults – is really just a pretty awesome bonus. Though there’s definitely a flood of emotions to wade through in something like this, mainly what I feel is a sense of excitement and anticipation.

The other big news is that I apparently get to teach an online class with Fuller! I am working right now on writing up the course – The Emerging Church in the 21st Century and it’s scheduled to run this summer. I have had the opportunity to TA a whole slew of courses, but this will be my first crack at being an instructor (that title doesn’t scare me as much as – gulp – professor!). I had the opportunity to take this course with Dr. Eddie Gibbs, and then worked through a lot of the material with Ryan. With so much discussion happening about the emerging church and the group Emergent, it should prove to be a pretty interesting experience.

I think that’s pretty much all the big stuff. I am still trying to nail down something with my house and making all the moving arrangements, but that stuff will all sort itself out I guess.

So, thus begins year 29!

A friend posted this quote this morning and it got me thinking…

For the Christian, the obvious answer is yes (if you are scandalized by that answer welcome to the gospel!), but I wonder how ready we are to deal with the immediate implication this has for those who honor Jesus as Lord of their lives – that we are to love them as well.

I just ran across an article this morning about a church near San Diego where a convicted child molestor, with complete transparence and willingness to follow a few guidelines, is seeking to be welcomed. It’s sad to me that there is even a stir over this. Welcoming people like Mark Pliska, the man in question, ought to be the very sort of thing that defines followers of Christ. I don’t mean to belittle the rightful hesitancy parents might have who care for the children, but the fact of the matter is, if we can’t find ways to embrace and include those that the rest of the world would just assume shun, we have lost part of what it means to be God’s people.

Out of Ur ran an article here.
The original article cam from the New York Times.

In December I graduated from Fuller Theological Seminary with a Master of Arts in Theology and I am left wondering what to make of that.

I wonder what significance it has that Uncle Sam, and not the Church, financed my education.  What does that say about who believes in my potential?  What might that say about my allegiance as I am now quite in the debt of Uncle Sam and not my family, the Church.

No doubt I have been challenged, sharpened, and changed by my time in Pasadena and at Fuller, but what about the fact that I had to leave my home, my friends, and my ministry context in order to pursue the degree?

I have made many friends and been involved in all sorts of events and activities, but what about the relationships I have missed out on and the meaningful dimensions of life I had to leave behind?

I feel as though I have a better, broader, more robust theology, but I wonder what significance it has that this development came about largely apart from practical (I don’t mean church) ministry experience?

After finishing, I have questions and I have doubts, but I also have faith.  As I toiled over the decision to come out here I prayed, sought council, asked advice, fasted, and waited.  I won’t say that I felt God telling me to make this decision, but I certainly felt freedom to pursue it.  God has been with me and thus I have no regrets.  God is with me still, and thus I have hope for the future.

My dad tells me that this makes me the most formally educated Rozko ever.  My family and friends are proud of me.  Personally, I feel better for having made the decision to achieve this degree.  But what matters most, what reassures me more than anything else, is knowing that whether it was right or wrong and despite my fears and doubts, God, either in his providence or mercy (do we ever really know which?), and provided I yield to his will, will use this diploma and all that it represents “to will and to act according to his good purpose.” (Phil. 2:13)

Well, it’s official, I have begun a totally new season of life here is Pasadena. I came out to go to school, I have decided to stay to work.

2 weeks ago was my first day as an academic advisor for Fuller’s Master of Arts in Global Leadership program. I really like this program as it is based on the idea that people ought to engage in rigorous theological reflection from within the culture and context that they serve in. Students from around the world apply to the program and join a cohort. Some of their classes are online and they exchange papers, thoughts and comments with each other, all the while thinking critically and practically about how the education they are receiving addresses the situation they find themselves in. Twice in the first year these same students come to campus to participate in 2 1-week intensives with each other. Tomorow will be the end of the second week of one of these intensives. Here’s some pictures from around the office and a field trip we did the other day to downtown LA in order to help students learn how to exegete a city.

The people I work with are terrific and I love being part of a degree which emphasizes the sorts of things that the MAGL does. It’s not that evident quite yet, but this is one of the few graduate degrees that I think truly prepares people to think, act, and lead missionally. If you’re thinking about doing a masters degree, want to stay connected where you are, you really should check into the MAGL program – consider yourself advised!

I have so much I could be writing right now, but I will try to keep this short.

I am finally beginning to feel settled back here in Pasadena. I have a new roommate named Sam that I love talking to, Maria and I have begin reconnecting with friends that we have missed the past five months, I am looking for a job, and Maria is gonna be up to her eyeballs in school work for the next 9 months as she tries as hard as she can to put in the time she needs to in order to graduate in the summer.

The car situation has been tricky, but my family out here has been a big help in getting through that ordeal. Within a few days Maria and I should have permanent transportation that we can share, though, I have to say, after living in Oslo, Norway for 3 months, I am looking forward to walking more in order to get where I need to go.

Here’s few pictures of my new bedroom in my new apartment (furnishings courtesy of IKEA!) and please check the visuals page for some pictures from the Rose Bowl Parade featuring George Lucas as the Grand Marshall and full platoons of Storm Troopers as an added bonus.

Ok, I know I promised an apology and explanation. Believe me, it’s coming. In fact, it’s half written – I just had to get this on there first.

 
Today was a monumental day in the life of JR Rozko. With the push of a (send) button, a project, quarter, school year, degree, and season of life was brought to a close. Told you it was big!

I finished my masters thesis this morning and sent it off to the professor who mentored me through the process, Dr. Ryan Bolger. The writing process was a good one for me. As I read and researched, my topic seemed to get bigger and bigger – making it harder and harder to narrow it down, but also more and more interesting.

It was only today that I finally decided on a title, “Restoring Hope to the Church in Western Culture: Exploring the Relationship Between Culture, Theology, and the Church.” The paper ended up being divided into three main sections – one on the Church and culture, one on narrative theology, and one on missional ecclesiology. The main authors I interacted with in the thesis were Nancey Murphy, Lesslie Newbigin, James McClendon, and Darrell Guder as the editor of Missional Church. As I was writing I realized that the direction I had decided to go intersected at many major points with the rest of the work I have done throughout seminary. So, I decided to choreograph the thesis in such a way that I could reference all my other major writings as appendices.

All said and done I have a 374 page project (including 17 appendices) which represents a compendium of my integrated thought on a missiology of Western culture. I’ll try to get it uploaded soon and provide links for anyone who wants to give it a glance. The actual thesis (minus appendices) is only 70 double-spaced pages.

What now? I get to relax and enjoy the next 10 days with family and friends while I am in Ohio. On Dec. 18th I’ll be heading back to California to celebrate Christmas with family out there. Maria returns from Norway just before New Year’s and we’re excited to be reunited and celebrate the new year together (guess this paid off!).  In January she will be continuing her MDiv program at Fuller and I will have the opportunity to partner with my good buddy Wess as TA’s for Ryan’s class, Church in Mission.
I’ll be looking for work on top of that, so if anybody who reads this knows of anything interesting in the Pasadena, please let me know.

I was listening to a message the other day that inspired me to pray…

“Father, I pray that if you ever give me a stage I will prepared, I will even expect, to be crucified because of it.  If I am too weak to follow Jesus to Calvary, if I forget that the Kingdom is to be entered through many hardships, if I am unwilling to experience death that others may experience life – may I suffer a life of mediocrity and ordinariness, but never make a mockery of you as my Lord by encouraging and perpetuating comfortable Christianity – mine or that of others.”

This is a humbling request and it scares me, but it also excites me and restores my passion.