My North Korea Solution

Why is it the public statements by our political leaders regarding North Korea only surround the nuclear weapon that they may or may not be able to launch beyond their borders? (As patently insane as Kim Jong Il is, I'm not sure why he would do such a thing.)

Thirty years of sanctions from the UN have had no effect on this madman--most likely because he still has a steady flow of Western fast food and pirated porn coming to him through Chinese channels. The only people suffering through this debacle are the North Korean people, and Obama's and the UN's statements make it seem that we have no concern for them--as long as their "dear leader" keeps his finger off the doomsday button. Here's what I would do. It may not solve the problem--but it couldn't be any worse than the current "plan".

(Disclaimer: This is not a "spiritual plan". It is merely what governments could do to solve the problem.):

Remove all sanctions: America should do everything in its power to open up the free flow of goods and information into North Korea--even it some of it falls into the wrong hands. Many North Koreans will begin to see that that the outside world is not the apocalyptic prison camp that the "dear leader" has been brainwashing them into thinking it is.

Incentivize defection: Offer a $1 million reward to every North Korean who makes it out of the country and to an American embassy. Sure, it's expensive, but it's cheaper than war. Remember, this is not about getting North Koreans out of the country, it is about demoralizing Kim Jong Il and empowering forces within the country who would like to unseat him.

Bait and switch: Offer Kim Jong Il a free, all-expenses-paid trip to Disneyland, where he will be toasted by Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez. Then, let him ride Space Mountain with Sean Penn. Stop the ride midcourse, arrest him and try him for crimes against humanity. While you're at it, arrest Kim Jong Il, too.

Thailand Reflections

I've been out of the Twitter/Facebook universe for the last week due to a somewhat last-minute trip to Thailand. It was great to spend a week meeting people from the mission world who are using their business and professional skills to gain ministry access to and bring economic empowerment to people in difficult parts of the world. Missions doesn't look like it used to; here are a few reflections:

• I met true tentmakers who have started sustainable businesses in the developing world that now provide them with an income, allowing them to be financially independent from the West. Yet, they still choose to maintain relationship with a mission agency for the purpose of accountability and prayer support.


• I met a pastor from an oppressive nearby country who set a goal in 2001 to plant 100 churches by 2020. He's planted 38 so far. As is the case in many such nations, he is looking for non-traditional ways to fund the ministry of national church leaders.


• Another US pastor-turned-missionary is doing just that by helping national pastors start coffee plantations to help them become economically independent in an area where drug trafficking is often the only viable income source.


• I visited an Aussie couple who were so passionate about staying in Thailand that, when their support began to wane in the troubled economy, they sold their home in Australia and started a farm, bakery and coffeeshop where they employ six Thai nationals. They raise pigs, cattle and tilapia.


• Aussies and Kiwis are fun to hang out with. Why can't I have a cool accent too?


• This was my second time in Thailand, but I had forgotten how good the food is. From the strange fruits that aren't available in the US to the curry and other typical Asian spices ... wow!

Say What You Need to Say

John Mayer (whose life is otherwise unremarkable and uncommendable) recommends it:

"Say what you need to say."

Andrew Peterson, who's become my favorite Christian musician of late notes the same problem in his song "Don't Give Up on Me":

"Got all these letters that I never did write, all this affection I kept inside my heart."

It's this unhealthy verbal constipation--for lack of a better term--that causes me to not say the words that need to be said. Encouragement. Commendation. Love. Correction. Most people probably die with unspoken words on their tongues that could have made a difference in the lives of their spouse, their children, their colleagues. Why is it that that I'm so free with the unnecessary things and so reticent to say what needs to be said?

Mother's Day

Things I learned from my mother (and am still learning to apply to my own life):

• Serve others, even when it's not comfortable and nobody notices.
• Love your spouse ... all the time.
• Invest in your children, even when they don't appreciate it.
• If you have a problem, pray about it.
• TV is for losers—read instead.
• If you're a good reader, you'll be a good writer. If you're a good writer, you can cover up your other weaknesses by communicating well.
• Don't make excuses for yourself.
• Spanking works.

Of course there are many other things my mother taught me--directly and indirectly--but these are a few that came to my mind today as I was thinking about what a good mother I have. She invested so much in her children, at the expense of her own personal comfort and career aspirations. I don't use the word "sacrifice," because I don't think she sees it that way. It is just part of who she is. And that's why I love her. Happy Mother's day, Mother!

Bastardized Prayer

Yesterday's National Day of Prayer was apparently overlooked by the Obama administration, and some evangelicals are miffed that the day did not receive the attention that previous presidents had granted it. I have no problem with the NDOP--I participated in a morning of prayer yesterday with about 50 others, and it was powerful. But, whether it be at inaugurations, party conventions or interfaith services, public prayer has begun to sound a lot like the stereotypical lady's prayer circle where gossip is shrouded in the cloak of spirituality--but this time, it's politics, not slander that are being spiritualized. Simply put, prayer is being bastardized, and I don't think that's too strong of a word.

Confronting the pharisaical public pray-ers of his day, Jesus was clear that His followers should use a different model: "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you" (Matthew 6:6).

Another thing I've been thinking about: Why would evangelicals be upset about being excluded from an interfaith prayer meeting? Unless, like Elijah (who invited the prophets of Baal to an "interfaith prayer meeting" on Mt. Carmel) they're prepared to publicly pray that Yahweh would make an open mockery of the other false gods being prayed to. That would be pretty awesome.

Thanks to Dan for getting me thinking about this.

Subversion & NASCAR

If history is any indicator, if the church wins the "culture war", it will be the beginning of our problems. As my Hebrew homeboy, Shaun, pointed out in yesterday's comments, prohibition was an example of what happens when the church wins the culture war. I might add that the only remaining evidence of prohibition's cultural impact is NASCAR, by way of stock car racing.


The culture-changing social movements of history have typically been subversive ones, circumventing mainstream politics, media, business, etc., because their adherents did not possess cultural power. Their leaders were nobodies, outcasts. Their values and ideas were discounted by the majority. They attracted rebels and misfits into an army of ordinary people who led by the sheer force of their ideals and personal commitment to living out those ideals. Think the early church--before Constantine.

But we've gotten lazy. Because of the church's failure to live out its own ideals, it's lost its attractional force as a social movement. We've attempted to shore up this influence by fighting for our rights and redressing our greivances in the courts; creating television, music and entertainment alternatives to the secular counterparts in which we have no influence; fielding and supporting political candidates that will legislate in our favor. It's not that any of these avenues are intrinsically wrong, but they are not the biblical norm.

As my boss mentioned to me at lunch today, the biblical norm is probably China, where an oppressed minority with no political power is becoming an irreversible groundswell that is impervious to persecution. Of course, this could all change if freedom comes to China, Christians gain cultural and political dominance, start publishing houses, TV stations, record labels and build a market for Thomas Kinkade paintings and WWJD bracelets. ... maybe even sponsor a stock car!

The Culture War: What If We Win?

Prophetic minister Dutch Sheets recently wrote a piece encouraging Christians to "win the culture war." Predictably, Sheets views a primary battlefield of the culture war as politics, questioning President Obama's contention that America is not a "Christian nation" and citing statements from the founding fathers that reflect their religious fervor.

(Sidenote: Not to question our founders' faith, but I picture historians 300 years from now reading campaign speeches from the 2008 election and inferring from them similar levels of evangelical enthusiasm.)

Has any Christian community ever "won" the culture war in a nation? If it did, what did it look like? Did sinners stop sinning? Did gay men start getting married ... to women? Did abortion rates decline? Did they allow/enforce prayer in schools? Did they ditch Darwin and start teaching seven-day creationism? Did the government finally give Christians the respect they deserve and start passing laws to make it more convenient to serve God?

In my opinion, nothing good has come of the "culture war," except a combative relationship between evangelicals and a broader secular culture that fears (perhaps legitimately) that a Christian minority aspires to reach the highest echelons of society, where it intends to enforce its puritanical code on an unbelieving majority.

In an interesting profile in the May Christianity Today, South Florida pastor (and grandson of Billy Graham) Tullian Tchividjian has an insightful view of the role of politics in the culture war:

"It's super important for us to understand that politics are reflective, not directive. That is, the political arena is the place where policies are made which reflect the values of our culture--the habits of heart and mind--that are being shaped by other, more strategic arenas."

More on this tomorrow, wherein I propose that the church has lost the art of subversion, the key to lasting cultural change.