I wrote the following manifesto on the eve of the Iraq war. My old college newspaper advisor, Professor Jim Wilcox, asked me to submit this to Southern Nazarene University's college newspaper since a uni-lateral hawk perspective had permeated the campus. He felt another view of war from a graduate was needed. This has become my personal manifesto. I certainly don't presume to judge others...this is simply my vision for myself...as Kierkegaard would say...a man before his creator.The last seven years of teaching high school has radicalized my belief in the importance of preaching Christ and modeling His life. Coming face to face with the effects of sin everyday made me realize that my life-long Christianity needed to be more than just a "religion." I decided not to serve the cause of Christ...but to just serve Christ. Not to serve him when it suited me to do so...but to make my personal relationship with Christ shine through everything I say and do.
Everyday I see students who are the victims of all sorts of abuse, students who are in that state of sin (ie, seperation from God) themselves, students who are lost and who are not being guided toward the truth and freedom of God. The Gospel message acquired an urgency for me that I hadn't really considered. So I broke things down to the basics and examined Christ's model on its own sake...trying to see it from a purist perspective, without all the muck thrown on the lens from the past 2,000 years of human interpretation.
It was amazing how my worldview began to change. My allegiance to political ideologies, beliefs, and just about everything began to become superceded by an all-encompassing allegiance to Jesus Christ alone...and I've been a "Christian" my whole life.
Unfortunately Christ's message is seen as foolishness in today's world...as it was in the Apostle Paul's world. His message of peace and pacification is a stumbling block...especially here in Texas where we execute a prisoner a week and guns are sold over the counter at Wal*Mart. I cannot ever see Christ advocating violence in any form or fashion to solve any problem. Our "real" world is so flawed that even the Christian establishment endorses war to liberate those under tyrannical governments. But Gandhi and Mandela were somehow able to bring down tyranny without bullets.
It would take a massive revolution in thought to restructure the construct of the world; even the one the "Christian" world has created. People are trained to fight for the U.S.A. and freedom from the time they are kids. Turning the other cheek is not "realistic" in the construct of modern thinking. People have lost their faith in God's omnipresence and his ability to give us the strength to persevere in tribulation.
The model of Christ is completely foreign to the mass of men and women in today's world. It would be like fish trying to learn how to live on land...the change would be that drastic. But the current model of thinking isn't working. Capitalism has spawned rampant materialism. Nationalism has created genocide and world war. Consumerism has pillaged our environment. These isms aren't working and people are living in darkness.
The change we need would be drastic...but it is the only change that can truly bring peace to the world. I've turned against the theory of "the good war." I am trying, albeit slowly in some cases, to live as Christ would have me to live...like He lived. And sometimes that is hard...because I've grown comfortable with the material amenities of modern life. And Christ lived a life that was anything but comfortable...at least from a temporal view.
Sometimes I feel as if I'm confronting a brick wall. My students want to kill the Iraqis, Muslims, and anybody with an Arab name. They drink to excess, destroy their temple with cigarettes, indulge in illegal drugs, and turn sex into something meaningless. And they all think they are saved because as Texas Baptists, once they are saved, they are always saved. It is an uphill battle showing Christ to these kids. But it is the only battle I would ever want to fight. And besides...I'm really not the one doing the fighting. And I am not the one to judge.
So when someone asks me if I'm conservative or liberal, or republican or democrat, right wing or left wing, I try my hardest to rise above all those human labels and state that I am a humble, imperfect follower of Christ. In Texas they usually say that means I must be some sort of "liberal."
I became a teacher through the side door...emergency certification. And I think it is one of the best jobs in the world. God gave me a wonderful wife and a wonderful job and better yet...hope in the midst of a seemingly hopeless world. Underscore seemingly...because I believe God is with us and will change the world...through us.
