Fair isn't Right

Income inequality in America is growing. Helping the poor by taxing the rich isn't "fair" because they worked hard for their money. It's their money so why should they be taxed at a higher rate just because they're good at making money?

I'm no economist and I don't know of a silver bullet solution, but I think starting with "what's fair" isn't the right question to ask. What about "what's right?" Is it right to have a system that allows for a growing amount of suffering in our own backyard?

It's not fair to ask the highest income earners to sacrifice more than the median income earners --- but it's not right that some people let food in their refrigerator go stale when other people are worried about where their next meal will come from.

One of my favorite scenes from Dumb & Dumber:

Harry Dunne: [shivering] Lloyd, I can't feel my fingers, they're numb!
Lloyd Christmas: Oh, well. Here, take this extra pair of gloves, my hands are starting to get a little sweaty.
Harry Dunne: Extra gloves? You've had extra gloves this whole time?
Lloyd Christmas: Uh, yeah, we are in the Rockies. Jeez!

It's not fair that Harry should have to give a pair of gloves to Lloyd, because he probably worked hard grooming and cutting dogs to buy his gloves. Harry earned his gloves and Lloyd had no right to ask for a gloves handout. But it wasn't right that Lloyd should suffer. 

I don't know how to solve income equality, but I'm confident we need to start with what's right instead of what's fair.

Believe?

I have a confession to make. I spend too much time obsessing about having the correct beliefs when it comes to, well, pretty much everything. Unfortunately, even “belief in God” and getting people to “believe in God” is an unhealthy obsession. Conventional Christian thought would say that the obsession with getting people to believe in Jesus is a good thing — because believing in Jesus is the way to be saved (and I’ll resist unpacking the word “saved”). However (you probably saw this coming) I’m going to question if our Christian obsession about getting people to “believe” is a good way to share Jesus with people. It’s the word “believe.” In western culture, we associate belief with “right belief” or “wrong belief,” “true” or “false,” historically accurate or inaccurate. It’s one or the other, it’s black or white. Believe in Jesus — it’s like asking someone to become a Republican or a Democrat, but even bigger. It’s a huge belief commitment and a huge mental leap especially for someone that’s not raised as a Christian. For a lot of people that do not know the variety of doctrinal differences and opinions on Biblical interpretation it means that you have to believe in talking snakes, God-ordained genocide, 6-24 hour days of creation, the death penalty,  and numerous other NON-essential doctrines that they’ve heard about.  That’s what can happen when we focus on “you just have to believe” lingo. It comes across as making following Jesus a black or white decision — whether it's true or it's not true — either you believe this Bible stuff or you don't. With a focus on “just believe” it also can lead people to stress and worry when you have doubts and questions about God. I used to stress about this. I would literally have thoughts like “Argh I just have to BELIEVE HARDER — I want to be saved and I don’t want to go to hell — aargh!!!” Evangelism that is all about getting people to believe the right things can easily create a “try harder” way of doing faith (I need to be more certain of my beliefs — argh!) and a “you’re in our you're out” church culture (if you don’t have the right beliefs, you’re out!).

Instead of focusing so much on “belief” I advocate for using a different word — follow. Jesus asked his disciples to follow him — he didn't walk up and say “believe in me." Jesus said "follow me." Let's go for a walk. Following someone involves going on a journey with them and building a relationship. It’s not a transactional decision.  To follow someone is to partake in an ongoing commitment that involves a growing level of trust. Believing something especially in our culture can be more like “yep, I believe that” and then out of sight out of mind. It’s like believing Paris is in France — it’s trivial knowledge that is just stored in the back of your brain. When someone is told that being a Christian is about following Jesus, it’s inviting them on a journey, and into a relationship.

God is love — love is a relationship — and a relationship with anyone, including God isn’t a one-time transaction. Just like your relationships with your loved ones, you don’t want them to just “believe” that you exist and you are their brother, sister, mom, dad or whatever relationship you are to them. You want them to journey with you. In our culture the word “believe” is a word with baggage.  If we want people to have their lives changed by believing in Jesus, let’s invite them on a journey.

P.S. The Greek word that we translate to “believe” is pisteuō — which is definitely an unquestionably solid translation. I'm not arguing this. I believe that to follow Jesus you must eventually believe in Jesus and put your trust in him. I simply want to create the right context for what belief actually is.

Justice and Mercy

Don’t just demand justice from others. If you’re all about justice, ask yourself two questions: Am I always just in my dealings with others? Do I always want to be treated justly? Personally, I answer a big fat “NO” to these two questions. This doesn't mean that I can’t demand justice for victims of injustice, but it will help me to not put myself on a pedestal above those that I demand justice from, whether or not I think my injustices aren’t as gross as others. We are all broken human beings, and we all are unjust in different ways and we ALL desire mercy.

Apparently I'm a dumbass?

You could say I'm a transparent guy, or maybe just a dumbass. Last week a few of my former Oracle colleagues took me out for a farewell happy hour, and one of them shared with me that the buzz around the office is that some people think I was a dumbass, while others think that I'm somewhat of an inspiration. The details of this story are secondary to the main reason I'm writing this post, but in summary, these opinions about me were formed by my choice to be transparent with my boss about leaving Oracle before I left Oracle.

My reason for writing this story is to say: have courage to be a dumbass.

My friend's statements struck me, but not because "the buzz is that some people think I was a dumbass" -- but because of the contrast between those that think I'm a dumbass and those that think I'm an inspiration.

My immediate response was something along the lines of (and I was just about jumping out of my chair with a huge smile on my face):

"You know what's great -- I am so grateful that some people would consider me an inspiration -- because I know I've had "inspirations" in my life and many of these people have impacted my life in ways that I carry with me today. I haven't forgotten them. If you inspire someone that can change someone's life forever -- it's something that they can carry with them forever.

And if someone thinks you're a dumbass? First off, you're not a dumbass just because they think you're one (nobody on this earth gets to create the definition of who you are), but more importantly WHO CARES about their opinion anyways because they will think "dumbass" and then forget about you and go to sleep that night and probably never think about you again."

Especially when you're following Jesus you will have people say to you (or think) that you're a dumbass. A lot of things about following Jesus just don't make sense to people that don't understand the beauty of self-sacrificial love and servitude.

First, let their comments or opinions roll off of you. They're just opinions.

Secondly, have grace for them that they just don't understand you. Maybe they don't know about Jesus -- and if this is the case they will very likely not understand why you behave the way you behave in your crazy fruits of the spirit ways.

Thirdly, if they keep calling you a dumbass just say something like "Dude I'd rather be a dumbass than a STANK ass!"

Love is the why and how

Love is the why and the how for the beginning and the existence of our universe.

We live for love, and we will die for lack of love.

Love is more important to us than other basic needs of food, water and shelter.

When we love someone with our entire being, we are willing to give our life for them. We won't sacrifice just food, water and shelter for our loved ones -- we will actually forfeit our life if it means that a loved one will live.

The scientific community has studies that have shown the damage done to infants when they are starved of their mother's love.

Countless stories will come to mind of the dysfunctions that ourselves and others manifest when there is a lack of love from those that we love.

Perhaps you have felt at times that life is not worth living without love.

Love is our core need and our core desire because we have been created by the source of love and the source of life. The source of love is God -- because God is love.

Art always reflects the artist. Creations carry the fingerprints of their creators. Life always reflects the creator of that life. Therefore, our life and our universe reveal the fingerprints of our creator.

What is this creator like?

This creator desires love. Just like we do.
This creator loves beauty. Just like we do.
This creator loves creativity. Just like we do.
This creator hates selfishness. Just like we do.
This creator hates injustice. Just like we do.
This creator hates evil. Just like we do.

The greatest and most unfathomable thing in our universe is love. It's a paradox to sacrifice our lives in a universe where our lives are all that it seems like we have. Love is the only thing that we love more than life.

This points to a creation and a creator that is
All
About
Love.

I believe that the only thing capable of bringing life out of nothing is something more powerful than life... this thing is love.

I believe that love is eternal. No beginning. No end.

For love to be eternal, it must be a relationship. Love can only exist within the framework of a relationship.

Jesus told us about this relationship. More on that later.