JohnPalmieri.com

Reconciliation

I recently read Michael Emerson’s and Christian Smith’s book; Divided by Faith – Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America. I resonated with Emerson’s conclusion that evangelicals tend to live and thrive in the land of the urgent. Evangelicals revel in the activism of the imperative, crusade, rescue and therefore have little time to reflect inward and think through processes and systems that contribute to systemic societal ills – like racism. As I’ve gotten older I’ve learned to appreciate the slower and more contemplative approach – before taking action. Emerson quotes Mark Noll in, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, effectively stating; “The evangelical ethos is activist, populist, pragmatic and utilitarian. It allows little space for broader or deeper intellectual effort because it is dominated by the urgency of the moment.” (171). Emerson also quotes N.K.Clifford’s poignant take on the evangelical mind; “The Evangelical Protestant mind has never relished complexity. Indeed its crusading genius, whether in religion or politics, has always tended toward an oversimplification of issues and the substitution of critical analysis and serious reflection for inspiration and zeal.” (171)

As many of you know our church has decided to dedicate the first three weeks of 2010 to fast and pray. This is a significant time…a time of beginning –the first of 2010 and also the first of a new decade. In prolonged seasons of praying it is not uncommon to be led to a specific passage of scripture that resonates with your spirit. For Chris (my wife) and I Psalm 66 was the passage for us. I’ve enjoyed a solid season of praying this Psalm into our lives, marriage, and children. I was particularly struck by verses 10-12 (Psalm 66:10-12) – the idea of God bringing us to a “place of abundance” after a season of being refined as silver. The Lord is so faithful and good…no matter what your trial…he brings us through it, he can be relied upon and on the other side we more clearly reflect his image.

                  Psalm 66:1-5                   

Shout for joy to God, all the earth;
2 sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise!
3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.
4 All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name.” Selah
5 Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.

There isn’t an easy or pat answer to maintaining balance in your life. Sometimes I think that Christians overate “balance”. It’s not so much about balance as it is about boundaries…living your life in such a way that the Holy Spirit is un- quenched and un-grieved in all your relationships/endeavors.

Practice life and ministry out of the intimacy of your relationship with the Trinity –just like Jesus did. In reading the gospels it often looked like Jesus life was out of balance…yet he only did what the Father told him to…he lived his life out of the overflow of his relationship with the Father.