"Will Jesus Buy Me a Double Wide?" - A Review

by Rev. Laura Barclay

Recently, my pastor recommended the book Will Jesus Buy Me a Double Wide?: ('Cause I Need More Room for My Plasma TV) by Karen Spears Zacharias. I was initially confused by the eye-catching title, but my pastor insisted it was a great book for Sunday Schools and book clubs, as well as ministers and laity. So he let me borrow his copy and I proceeded to delve into the book, divided into small vignettes of people the author interviewed or had a relationship, many of whom are kept anonymous with titular pseudonyms like “The Evangelist” or “The Redhead.” In some way, every one of these stories had something to say about wealth and poverty and politely poked hundreds of holes in the prosperity gospel, which she likens to a “golden calf theology” (29).

Zacharias interviews Sister Schubert (yes, the maker of those delicious roles), who values the money her business has brought her, but she believes that as a Christian she has a responsibility to “do the right thing with whatever [God has] given us” (43). So, she established a foundation and built an orphanage in the Ukraine, because the government-run facilities are low on resources for children. She then adopted a son with a disability whose parents had been murdered. Sister Schubert lives on a small amount of what she has and uses much of the rest for causes in which she’s actively involved.

She interviews The Marine, a once-rich business man who had a conversion experience that led him to take a vow of poverty and live among the poor. The most touching part of his story comes when talking to friend of his named Lena, who was about to have her power cut off by the electric company. He says, “Tell you what I’ll do Lena. I can’t keep the power company from turning your lights off, but I will come sit with you in the dark after they turn them off.” He tells Zacharias, “I think that’s what Jesus does—he sits with us in the dark (133).”

Zacharias tells stories of The Mogul who lost everything because his greed destroyed everything he owned, The Beautician who longs for wealth, and The Redhead who died too young of cancer and left behind a husband and children, but no regrets. The reader finds in the genuineness of her stories an appropriate view of abundance before God and our brothers and sisters in Christ. In exploring the nature of oneself in relationship to money, we find spiritual truths older than Scripture. Jesus’ parable of the rich man comes to life in The Evangelist, who believes she’s entitled to her millions and that God wants us all to be rich. She wants to follow God as long as it’s a personally beneficial experience.

The image of God hinted at in the vignettes is not a God who controls our wealth or poverty, but one who promises to be present with us in the darkest and lightest hours of our life. If we follow this God, what does that mean in relationship to our portfolio? It’s not, as Bernie Madoff cohort Michael Bienes suggests, that his stealing money was so easy because “God wanted us to have this…God gave us this” (200). We must follow God and not money, but be responsible with what we’re given. As Zacharias points out in her introduction, God doesn’t reward us with money or take it from us when we’ve done something wrong. God, as The Marine points out, just wants to “sit with us in the dark.”

Why I love and don't love Mother's Day

by Rev. David Stratton

As a son, I love Mother's Day. I have a great mother and I love her and I will tell her these things on the second Sunday in May. As a pastor, however, I confess that I don't like Mother's Day because it is a day that is more hurtful than joyous for many.

I think it was 21 years ago when I was an associate pastor in Texas that I had to handle the recognition of mothers in worship on Mother's Day. The senior pastor was absent and I had been told specifically how to handle the task of honoring mothers in keeping with the tradition of that church. Each mother was to receive a flower and I was to read a sentimental poem about the greatness of mothers.

As instructed, I asked the mothers to stand and the flowers began to be distributed as I began to read the poem. But, only seconds into the flower distribution and the reading of the poem, the church organist on the front pew sat back down and began to sob uncontrollably. Her obvious grief could be heard all through the sanctuary. Her son had died a little less than a year before. Smiles evaporated and tears began forming in the eyes of many in that place of worship as we all connected with the sorrow of one mother.

In my faith tradition many churches, on Mother's Day, recognize the oldest mother, the youngest mother and the mother with the most children. I've never quite understood what was being honored in this practice. Why do these mothers deserve to be singled out above others? How does the age, youth or number of children of a mother merit special recognition? And what about the mothers like that church organist for whom Mother's Day, rather than being a day of celebration, is a day of intense sadness? Should these mothers be ignored?

As a senior pastor I have never followed the typical pattern of recognition on Mother's Day. For many years I asked worshippers who were either mothers or who were born of a mother to stand. Of course everyone stood. I then pointed out that all of us were touched in some way on Mother's Day and for many it was a very difficult day for a host of reasons. I always encourage the congregation to be sensitive to and supportive of those for whom Mother's Day is hard. Often I have made available copies of articles written by mothers and others who had a tough time on Mother's Day.

Over the years I have known numerous regular worshippers who make a point not to go to church on Mother's Day because it is just too hard for them. I am well aware that the second Sunday in May is a joyous celebration for many families. But I also know that Mother's Day really hurts for many. The family of God must attempt to effectively and equally "rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn" (Romans 12:15).

It is interesting that the mother who inspired the creation of Mother's Day, Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis, was a crusader for positive social change. As an expression of her love for Christ she organized Mother's Day Work Clubs that raised money to help needy people obtain medications they could not afford and promoted peace during the Civil War and healing between the North and South after the war. When her daughter succeeded in establishing Mother's Day as a national observance, the younger Jarvis was appalled that the day established in honor of a woman devoted to social change quickly became a day of profit for flower retailers and greeting card sellers.

I wonder if recovering some of the spirit of Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis in our Mother's Day observances might make them a little less painful for many.

Dave Stratton is the Pastor of Brunswick Islands Baptist Church in Supply, NC, and he serves as Chair of CBFNC’s Wealth and Poverty Task Force. This article originally appeared on Dave’s blog, David’s Deliberations.

Politics and In-Laws

by Rev. Laura Barclay

Whatever your political party, chances are high that you have Republicans, Democrats, and possibly Independents in your family, whether you are aware of their affiliation or not. This is certainly the case among my relatives. When I was home over Easter, my husband and I had dinner with my mother and father, as well as his father and step-mother. For the first time, our two families endeavored into a deep discussion on religion and politics. Let me stress that our religious and political views are many and varied. I shifted nervously in my seat, hoping we wouldn’t hit a verbal wall as topics related to immigration, health care, and racism were broached.

I kept waiting for the other shoe to fall, but I’m glad I didn’t hold my breath.

In the middle of all of the discussions and negotiations, we kept finding ways to affirm our respect for one another. Perhaps it was the shared underlying belief in our discussions that we were all made in the image of God. “I don’t understand where you’re coming from” became “How much can we agree on?” Eventually we experimented with how our Congress works with statements like, “If we were to introduce a bill on immigration, on what topics could we agree to start forming statements?” The conversation ended with laughter and a solid agreement on the need for term limits and honesty about mistakes, corruption and greed on both sides of the aisle.

Over the course of the last year, we have watched heated ideological differences lead to yelling, spitting, throwing bricks into government offices, growing militia movement numbers, and open-carry rallies that aren’t even about gun rights. We’ve watched some Republicans criticize a Democratic President for negotiating a new START nuclear treaty with Russia, though President Obama used the same terms for negotiating as Republican President Reagan in the 1980s. Conversely, President Bush was never heartily celebrated by many Democrats for his commitment to global AIDS relief or declaring certain environmentally endangered areas to be protected near the end of his presidency.

If we stop seeing the underlying image of God in our neighbor, regardless of political party or religious belief, then we fall into the trap of belittling them or inciting violence against them. Perhaps if both parties could find a way to humanize the other side and figure out what we can agree on, rather than boiling the sum of a person down to a list of issues, we could all sit around a table and laugh heartily like family.

Inclusive Language

Rev. Christina Whitehouse-Suggs

I've been attending a church conference and we started with worship yesterday morning with one of my favorite hymns, Be Thou My Vision. I memorized that hymn long ago but when I started wrestling with inclusive language in scripture & hymnody, I started struggling with this hymn because of the words in the traditional version of verse two, "Thou my great Father and I thy true son."

Now, before you jump down my throat with historical language and the fact that when ye writers of olde meant EVERYONE when they wrote about man/son - I know that. I was an English major for awhile before switching to American Sign Language (another story for another time). We also know that for a language to be alive, it will continue to grow and evolve and develop. Think about the fact that just 40 years ago, we didn't have "compact discs" or "cellular/mobile phones" or "electronic mail". Think about the fact that while we still use English (albeit our Americanized/bastardized version), it certainly isn't the same English that good ole' William Shakespeare used. I'm not writing this post in the King/Queen's English.

I also want to point out that I'm not some raging feminist who's advocating a linguistic shift to some ridiculous political correctness or to swing the pendulum to a female-dominant language. But in church tradition, masculine-dominant language has been used to oppress and subjugate women for centuries and I, for one, am tired of it. This is probably an overstatement but I believe that women have sustained the (institutional) church for the entirety of its existence and yet we continue to be among its least valued members.

If we hold to the belief that if God is neither male nor female and if we also believe scripture when it says that God created us in God's image, then we need to change the way we refer TO God and talk ABOUT God (just my humble opinion). And for those of us who have accepted this and have become more inclusive in our language about the Divine, it's a bit of a learning curve but we seem to manage it. But we always seem to struggle and bump into problems with our hymnody - partially because of meter & rhyme but also because we've memorized it and it seems more difficult to address somehow.

So, back to the conference - we stand up to sing Be Thou My Vision and I'm wondering if they'll just use the traditional lyrics or how they'll change them...and this is what they posted:

Be Thou my vision O Lord of my heart.
Not be all else to me save that Thou art.
Thou my best thought by day or by night
Waking or sleeping my treasure Thou art.

Be Thou my wisdom and Thou my true word
I ever with Thee and Thou with me Lord
Thou my redeemer my love Thou hast won
Thou in my dwelling and I with Thee one.

Riches I heed not nor vain empty praise
Thou mine inheritance now and always
Thou and Thou only first in my heart
Great God of heaven my treasure Thou art

Great God of heaven my victory won
Now I reach heaven’s joys O bright heaven’s sun
Heart of my own heart whatever be fall
Still be my vision O ruler of all.

Now, to be honest, I stumbled over the lyrics but I was so happy to see them - not only the more gender neutral/inclusive part but also the less imperialistic stuff (Great God instead of High King). I asked where they found these lyrics and was told these are from the Chalice Hymnal, hymn 595, words by Eleanor Hull. So thankful for writers like her who are willing to wrestle with the traditional text and stay true to the spirit of the hymn but include everyone today.

Christina Whitehouse-Suggs is the Associate Coordinator of CBF of South Carolina, and graduated with an M.Div. from Campbell University. This article originally appeared on Christina's blog, Thoughts From The Journey.

"Half the Sky"-- A Review and A Movement

by Rev. Laura Barclay

Half the Sky:Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, is a powerful portrait of women in the developing world and a great beginner’s guide on how Westerners can help to empower them. Kristof and WuDunn, a husband and wife team, are Pulitzer Prize winning journalists who have a passion for elevating the importance of women’s rights in the Global South.

The book starts with a staggering statistic, noting the substandard care of girls and women by their parents:

“More girls have been killed in the last fifty years, precisely because they were girls, than men were killed in all the wars of the twentieth century. More girls are killed in this routine ‘gendercide’ in any one decade than people were slaughtered in all the genocides of the twentieth century (xvii).”

Kristof and WuDunn take us around the world, telling us personal stories of women who have survived sex trafficking and genital mutilation, rape and molestation, fistulas and near-death pregnancies. Yet, instead of identifying these women as victims, they follow the story of their empowerment and survival. Many of the women they highlight take advantage of beneficial aid programs, becoming community organizers and educators for the cause of human rights. Along the way, Kristof and WuDunn give the reader examples of non-profits who are doing excellent work, as well as those who are failing those they are meant to serve. In most cases, successful models involve Western aid that finances the education of women, provides microloans for women-run small businesses, and funds native community organizers rather than Western workers to lead operations. Local empowerment allows for a less colonial approach, fosters local leadership development and assures a greater respect for culture and ethnicity.

Kristof and WuDunn show the importance of Western politicians working together. They criticize both liberals and conservatives for not funding hospitals that would allow women to deliver their babies safety, to fix painful fistulas that can form and inhibit the passing of urine and fecal matter, and to drastically reduce the level of maternal and infant mortality rates (by the way, more women die during childbirth in a couple of days than terrorism kills people in an entire year, 146). While the ideological poles in the U.S. wage war over abortion issues, women and infants are dying over something both sides could agree to fund. Conservatives and liberals could also agree to crack down on violence against women and sex trafficking, a horrifying plague that has spread due to increasing globalization and capitalism.

Kristof and WuDunn close their book by saying that if we look at emancipating women as a “women’s issue,” then we’ve already lost (234). Instead, there is powerful data that suggests the education of women, half any given nation’s population, will raise a nation’s GDP, increase stability, and reduce poverty (237). Empowering and emancipating women from sexual slavery (27 million and counting), poverty, and substandard health care are issues of national security, international relations, and economic security.

When women obtained the right to vote in America, the child mortality rate dropped 8-15%, and spending on public health increased by 35% (198). Politicians realized women had power, and they altered the budget to meet the concerns of women they feared would vote them out if they did not address certain issues of grave importance. I encourage you to get this book and join up with one of the profiled organizations to help empower women and improve our world!

Check out the "Half the Sky Movement"to find out how to get involved now!
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