Runaways and the loving mother - repost

I came across this post/story on the Emergent Village Blog.  

It makes me wonder why we Christians do not understand why there are people who would reject a dominate story of Christianity.  


Perhaps what is Good News for some, is not Good News for others...

By Jeromy Johnson

What is the Kingdom of God like, you ask?

A woman lived in rural central California. She was known for her kindness, generosity and love, but she was also fair and just. Her five children were normal kids, but the four youngest were known around town for their rebellious streaks. As a single mom, she did the best she could to establish both love and rules in the house, but four of her kids desired freedom over relationship. So one evening, the four youngest filled their backpacks and ran away.

The mom woke up and, finding four of her children’s beds empty, began to weep. She would not rest until her children returned home or she found them. Being a farm owner, she had plenty of hired hands to help in her search. She put the farm’s business on hold and sent her workers out to search for her lost darlings. She spent every last dime printing pamphlets, recording radio spots and inundating the TV with ads exclaiming her love for her children and her pleas for them to return home into her loving arms. All that she had, was and would be theirs.

Then one day, it happened. One of her runaways returned home. Seeing and hearing her message, his heart melted and he came back. She embraced him, welcoming him home. She turned to her eldest son (the one that never ran away) and asked if he would help find and bring back the others. He set out with a mission and a message. When he found two of the three, he told them of their mom’s love for them and how badly she missed them and her relentless desire for all of them to come home. He also reminded them of the Great Rule, but they refused to come back with him. He never did find the forth lost one.

Years passed and no sign of her kids. Regardless, a great rule had been violated. So she climbed into her pickup truck with a few hired hands and set out to bring her children home. On May 17, she found them.

All three were huddled up near a dumpster, clutching a worn blanket. They saw her truck approach and, too tired to run, they just sat with terror I their eyes. See, while away, they had been told countless lies by countless people that their mom was not a kind woman, that she did not love them and that she was mad-as-hell at them. Added to this were their incredible loneliness, shame and feelings of worthlessness. Living on the street—isolated from love—can do this to anyone, and it certainly did them. Seeing her children and hearing about their condition, the mother reassured them of her love. But despite her undying, never-ending motherly love for her children, she knew that the Great Rule had been violated and she must act accordingly.

They pulled up into the driveway and the truck came to a dusty halt. The hired hands helped the kids climb out of the back of the truck. As the mom walked to the house she looked back one last time at her kids. Motioning to the hired hands, she firmly declared, “Take them away. They violated the Great Rule and did not return to me on their own.”

“But mom….!?”

“Not another word,” she interrupted. “Whether you knew it or not, The Great Rule says that my children shall not run away and that if they do, they are to return on their own within three years. If they do not, I will find them and the Great Punishment must be inflicted. I even sent my oldest son for you, but you did not believe him.”

“Mom, we are sorry. We were scared, hurting and full of shame. We did things we are not proud of and that you would not approve of. Deep inside, when the nights were the quietest, we knew you loved us but we were afraid that you would have nothing to do with us after all we had done.”

With tears in her eyes she slowly replied, “I understand, I see you are truly sorry and I love you. But there is nothing I can do; I am powerless against the Great Rule. Three years have passed, you did not return and the Rule is the Rule.” With that, she turned and walked towards the house where her returning-son stood on the porch, watching.

The hired hands, still clutching the children by the arms, took them away to the barn…even the fourth child who never heard the eldest son’s message. As directed by the Great Punishment, they entered the barn, tied the children to the posts and began beating them. Next came the kerosene. Then, in the midst of their screams and under the watchful eye of their loving mom, they and the barn were set ablaze.

The loving, kind, full-of-mercy, just and righteous mom, turning from the window overlooking the burning barn, looked at her oldest son and the child who returned to her, wiped the tear from her eye and smiled. She motioned once more to her hired hands and—with the other children still burning and screaming outside—the feast of feasts, the party of parties, began. The mom, her eldest son, her returning-on-his-own child, and even her hired hands lived, feasted, and partied…happily…ever…after.

The End.

Now go, and share this GOOD NEWS of the Kingdom. Praise be to God.

(And, if you’ll excuse me, I need to throw up and hug my kids; as a father of three kids, I feel sick and suddenly have a restless desire to love-on ‘em).

Freakanomoics and Church

While not that ground breaking, there is a theory in economics known as the "Human Capital".  This is the idea that people contribute to the economic growth and not just machines and money.  Seems like a no brainer.  So we value eduction as a culture because education contributes to building up people's skill sets.  And people, unlink things like machines or buildings, are self-generating, transportable and sharable.  Meaning, that a person can learn more, does not loose their skills if they move or teach them to anyone.

In the UMC, we have a fascination with brick and mortar which come in the form actual buildings, or in assumptions like the minister is going to give me answers.  And ministers have help promote the idea that the work of the church comes in inspiring people to give money, time or resources to causes.

But it turns out we may have forgotten about the greatest asset in the Church beyond the Triune God.  People.

If we took seriously the idea of human capital in the Church then we would be working so hard to not inspire people to give money, time or resources, but we would inspire people to take initiative.

The Church ought to be in the "business" of training people to learn to see the world differently.  We ought to be equipping people to learn things like "how to build relationships" or "how to create something they dream about" or "how to identify ways to use personal gifts to co-create the Kingdom of God".  Too often Church leaders and Church attenders "go to Church" rather than "create Church."

What are we doing to create Church?

The first step might just be to build people rather than buildings.

Why, in part, the homosexual issue is not a hot topic to me

One of the most commented posts ever on this little blog came just over a year ago: Generation Gap???


One of the things in that little post is about how many people in the generation I am born into do not find homosexuality as a primary issue to raise a stink about.  It is not that we do not care about the issues, it is just not in our top 5 or so issues.  Just like for many people slavery is not in a top 5 issue because many generations have already judged slavery as inhumane.  So even though everyone believes slavery is not right most of us do not spend time raising the issue because we all know it is morally apprehensible.  


For me, and many of my peers, the same holds for the issue of homosexuality.  We have already determined that the homosexuality is not a sin and the social taboos around it ought to be removed.  So we might say that homosexuality is not my generation's issue, because we have dealt with it, rather it is other generation's issue as the jury is still out on their stance.  


In this light, I do not spend much energy on initiating work toward the ordination of the LGBT because I know it will happen one day.  I wish it would be tomorrow, but that is not happening.  It will not happen this year, but I know it will happen.  I will fight for the issue today, but I know the time is not right yet for the Church to give the LGBT community the grace and love it deserves.  


How do I know that?  How can I be so cocky and bold to project into the future?  


1) I trust in a God who is working in history to bring about the equitable Kingdom of God.    
2) Gay marriage opponents are now in the minority

I believe (and I am sure it is still a long way off) that it is a matter of time, but the LGBT community will achieve equal rights just as heterosexuals do.  

I believe God wants equality for all people.  I believe God ultimately gets what God wants.  

So I keep on supporting the issue and continue to work to involve the LGBT community in all aspects of the church, but it is not a hot topic for me.  

But it may be for you.