A glimpse of heaven this weekend
Even though Bob the Tomato tried to ruin it
In a word, it was amazing. After being at the first ever pro-life men’s conference in Dallas, I am absolutely stunned that somehow, some way it was the first of its kind.
How have God-fearing men allowed themselves to be cowed and quieted by society on an issue so important? I ask that question, but I really know the answer. Every Christian knows the answer. Beginning in the Garden of Eden, despite the fact that Eve had eaten the forbidden fruit first – a fact God was thoroughly aware of – who did God call out? Adam. It really doesn’t concern me that society will recoil at this statement of fact, but throughout the pages of Scripture, God demands responsibility and accountability from men. And on almost as many pages of Scripture, men try desperately to avoid both.
It’s amazing how little has changed over the course of thousands of years. To avoid being shouted at by a godless and morally rudderless culture, godly men have fallen to the wayside on the single most important ethical issue of our day. The point of the conference was to say that’s unacceptable for those who are called to love like Christ.
She wasn’t a speaker at the event, but her words continued to echo in my mind over the course of the weekend. Gianna Jessen is a woman suffering from cerebral palsy after her mother attempted to have her aborted with saline. Gianna survived with permanent physical damage due to the botched attempt, and now advocates for the cause of life. Men, I challenge you to listen to this and not be moved:
Nothing was said for certain by the CareNet folks who put on the conference, but I’m sincerely hoping this was the first of many to come, because there needs to be a resurgence of Christian men engaging this non-political, thoroughly ethical and moral crisis in our country.
There was something else about this last weekend that I can get over and I just have to mention. The event was held at the Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship, the church founded and ministered by Dr. Tony Evans. I mentioned that in Friday’s Memo, and regret to inform you all that I did gratuitously fangirl over him. I tried to play it cool but about the time I caught myself recounting some of my favorite sermon highlights of his to his face, I realized it was a lost cause.
But anyway, here’s what I was so impressed by – it was a truly multiethnic event. The church staff that dedicated their time and energies were predominately black, some of the speakers and attendees were Hispanic, and a decent portion of the crowd and some of us other speakers were white. The comedian that spoke on Friday evening, Michael Jr., had some absolutely hilarious observations that involved the differences between our racial cultures. But what made it so funny and completely comfortable was that it was all done in a spirit of Christlike brotherhood.
People loved each other. As emcee, I was backstage watching the video feed and every few minutes let me tell you what I saw:
Men of varying ethnicities and races, standing beside one another with hands raised, eyes closed, praising the same God in song.
Men of varying ethnicities and races, caught on camera during Michael Jr. laughing together.
Men of varying ethnicities and races, seen on the video boards during Samuel Rodriguez’s speech, shouting “Amen” at the same time and looking off each other’s notes.
Men of varying ethnicities and races crying together during Amy Ford’s testimony.
It was a glimpse of what heaven will be (with the addition of faithful sisters, of course) and I loved it. Obviously, it would be incredible if every local congregation could experience that. But the natural population movements and demographics of cities versus rural areas doesn’t make that even remotely possible, and I understand that.
But it was still incredibly moving to me and made me realize just how awesome it will be gathered around the throne of God one day. It also made me realize just how badly we are missing the mark in some quarters of Christendom here on this side of eternity. During one of the session breaks I went back into the hospitality room and got on my phone to peruse the news on my Twitter feed.
It took all of 10 seconds before I saw a Christian Twitter fight between conservative Baptists supporting a black man named Voddie Baucham to become the next president of the Southern Baptist Convention, and progressive Christians who object because Voddie would be too conservative and thus insufficiently “black.” It was appalling divisiveness. And sadly these weren’t just fringe voices.
Phil Vischer, the creator of VeggieTales and recognized voice of Bob the Tomato, has developed a large following based on his increasing antipathy towards conservative evangelicalism. He jumped into the fray over this issue with some truly disappointing remarks:
To make sure you are following this, Vischer (a white man) appoints himself the spokesman for black Christians in order to marginalize the candidacy of a black man seeking to become the president of the SBC. But it got worse.
Vischer received enough rightful criticism for that last remark that he deleted it. But precisely what is a “white belief” about social issues? Black people can’t have varied beliefs about various issues? There is one “black belief” about abortion, and one “white belief” about the same? There aren’t many black people as concerned about the ongoing sexual revolution in our culture as white people? This is truly regressive thinking that warrants (though pride will most likely prevent it from happening) a public repentance.
It’s not what God calls His people – of all races and ethnicities – to be or become. And after what I experienced this last weekend, I know we are capable of better.
ICYMI…
Have you ever paused to consider how you view humanity? There is such pressure that we don’t even know we’re getting to see each other according to categories and groups that we either like or don’t. What if we thought like Jesus? How would we see humanity then? I preached on that this weekend, and I’d love to know your thoughts:
I also wrote a piece that seems more prescient every day that gas prices climb higher…and higher…and higher.