Winning the hearts and minds of the enemy

I was at lunch the other day and came across this t-shirt on a man. I asked if it would be okay if I took a picture of the back of the shirt.

He asked if I was going to "use it in an NAACP lawsuit" against him. 

I said, "No, but I am a pastor at a local United Methodist church."

He nodded and said, "In that case, go ahead."  

The interesting thing in this exchange is this man thought the shirt was more challenging to the message of the NAACP than that of the Prince of Peace who said to love your enemy.

I have studied the "Just war" theories in the Christian tradition and found them logical but difficult to square with the teachings of Christ. I understand that there are other faithful Christ followers who think differently. While I work to try to better understand the position of the use of violence, I struggle with the reality that it is impossible to win the hearts and minds of our enemies if the parties are dead.

Why we cannot seem to let go of "everything happens for a reason"

Over the years (here, here, here and here.) I have written a few posts on the phrase "everything happens for a reason." What I have failed to identify in these posts is what is really behind this phrase and why we cannot let it go in our popular Christian culture. 

It all has to do with control.

Humans are under the spell that we are in much more control of things than we like to admit. We are reminded of this false sense of control daily. We set the temperature of our homes at exactly 76 degrees. We use a remote control and take birth control. We decide when to use cruise control and we talk about pest control. We believe we can control air traffic and crowds. We teach others how to be in control of emotions while looking for the newest diet to help us control our weight.

Additionally it is worth noting how deeply we resist giving up control (which may be why the great religions teach the path of surrender).

When we believe we are in control of more than we really are, we project that others must also be able to control more than they really can.

For instance we think that the President of the United States has a lot of control over the economy of the nation. Or we think that meteorologists can really predict the future. Or we think a pastor can grow a church. Or we think personal determination will inevitably lead to personal success. 

image from: http://blog.saintclairsystems.com/blog/topic/temperature-control

With all the reminders of how much we "control" we can see why "everything happens for a reason" is difficult to let go of. It is the ultimate creed of the god of control. It is the idea that someone, somewhere has to be in control because to think that things are not somehow under control is too frightening for us to imagine.

The most zealous devotees to the deity of control will even admit that we may not know right now or that we may never know what the reason is, but to trust that everything happens for a reason. This can be said because the reason is what is important but the soothing reminder that control is, well, in control.

Until we let go of control as cultural god, we will continue to hear "everything happens for a reason." The more we hold onto control the more we will miss the message of Jesus who teaches us about how to live in trust rather than in control.

Eric the Eel - The man who swam in an Olympic race alone

Every four years since 2000 there is a story that comes into my vision. It is the story of Eric "the Eel" Moussambani. Here is a section of the Wikipedia page for him:

Moussambani gained entry to the Olympics without meeting the minimum qualification requirements via a wildcard draw designed to encourage participation by developing countries lacking full training facilities. While Pieter van den Hoogenband won in a time of 48.30 seconds (setting a world record of 47.84 in the semi-finals), Moussambani took more than twice that time to finish (1:52.72). "The last 15 meters were very difficult", Moussambani said. Because the other two swimmers in his heat made false starts, and were thus disqualified, he won the heat unopposed. Before coming to the Olympics, Moussambani had never seen a 50 m (160 ft) long Olympic-size swimming pool. He took up swimming eight months before the Olympics and had practiced in a lake, and later a 12-metre swimming pool in a hotel[3] in Malabo.[4]

Here is a video for your enjoyment:

When you watch the entire video you hear (at around the 7:30 mark), Moussambani express part of his understanding of the Olympics, "It is not just competition it is participation." 

For many in the Christian tradition, the way of Jesus is a competition. It is a matter of winning. It is about getting the crown and the heavenly prize. It is about running the race to win. It is about trying to convince that your views are correct and others are incorrect. It is about counting how many people you brought to Christ as though evangelism is like a medal count.

Eric Moussambani reminds us all that life and I would argue Christianity is less about competition and more about participation. Are we participating the game God has give to us? Are we joyful and filled with excitement to participate? Do we play the game so that others would want to play? Do we we have a heart for participation more than we have desire to win?