Saturday, October 12, 2013

Shutdown, Politics, and My Beef With Dr. Ben Carson


The views, opinions, and positions expressed by the author and the provided comments on these blogs are the authors and his alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or positions of the Carolina Conference of Seventh day-Adventists, its churches or other employee thereof.

It’s no secret that over the last few weeks, our country has experienced troubled waters. With day after day of government shutdown, hundreds of thousands of employees are left to wonder when they will they get back to work, if ever. This “madness” as Barry Black, Chaplain of the U.S. Senate and Seventh-day Adventist pastor put it, is revealing in ever more glaring ways, the polarization of America. What moves me today to write on this subject is time (since I now have much of it over the weekend due to doctor's orders) and circumstance. I am frustrated; frustrated by a fear that Seventh-day Adventism seems to be on its way to following the path of many well meaning denominations by identifying itself with partisan politics in a way which will undermine our witness.

"What do you mean?" you might ask. Let's begin with what we see going on today. Today’s world is all about storyline and narrative. Like a compelling book or movie, we try to make sense of our experience and develop our worldview (again, a term I'll call "narrative" for the rest of this entry). When this narrative is passed on in a way that makes sense to someone else, they buy into it. This is how everything--from philosophical positions, religious beliefs, or political persuasions--are formed and passed on. A bothersome component to this narrative concept, though, is that sometimes, like every good story, there has to be an antagonist or "bad guy" for the "hero" in your narrative to be up against.

Oftentimes, specific groups, races, or even entire countries are seen as foils to the hero of the story, an enemy that your hero has to overcome. A perfect modern example of this component of narrative idea is what is unfolding in the political discourse you hear in the news. Here is the brief and simplified way the narrative is presented on both sides during the current shut down:

Republicans (especially the Tea Party): “We are trying to protect the values and freedoms granted to us within the Constitution. These liberals are trying to force us to become a socialist country through Obamacare and we are standing our ground for the future of America.”

Democrats: “The conservatives are holding a gun to America's head. They do not believe in democracy and they are willing to gamble the country’s economy as a way to deny people from receiving the healthcare that they actually need.”

Both see themselves as the defenders of America, while the other side are the villains. Now whenever the two sides meet and one of these narratives is brought up, almost immediately there is a counter-argument presented in order to justify one position and discredit the other. "Yeah, but those liberals did so and so," or "But don't forget that these conservatives are all about this and that." This is basically another way of deciding who is right and wrong, who is really the hero or the villain in the story.

Now, if you are looking for a conversation on who I think is right or wrong in this shutdown situation, you’re missing the point.
“Right and wrong are not what separate us and our enemies. It's our different standpoints, our perspectives that separate us. Both sides blame one another. There's no good or bad side. Just two sides holding different views.”
I haven't watched the news recently because I don't have cable at home, but I am amazed to see how original thoughts or willingness to find mutual solutions come few and far between. Most people get their news from one of the major news stations: Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, ESPN (what? Some people only seem to watch ESPN!). And when they view these stations day after day, they learn how to say what you're supposed to say (or the way I describe it: believe their narrative). So if you have your liberal or conservative lingo, talking points, or principles down, when you meet someone that has different views than you, you won’t be able to think outside the box because you’ve already been instructed on what to think. I see it every day on my News Feed and it is not only dangerous, but annoying.

The heart of what is bothering me is not political; it is spiritual. This "us vs. them"narrative has recently crept everywhere and, as well intentioned as it may be, several prominent Adventist ministries and personalities have recently been promoted on politically "conservative" media outlets. Sure, while we as a church are traditionally more "conservative" in terms of our values, two things jump out at me once I think about these recent events:


  1. Not all of our members are political conservatives (as a matter of fact, the overwhelming majority of Adventists are outside of the United States, and outside of our partisan politics entirely).
  2. Jesus did not leave any room for deep political identification with either party (for more on Jesus’ political thoughts, see Matthew 6:24; 22:17-21, Mark 12:13-17, Luke 20:25 for starters. If you want to see Jesus’ followers had to say about politics, you can check out 1 Timothy 2:1-2; 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12; 1 Peter 2:17; Philippians 3:20; Titus 3:9).
In case you don’t know what I’m talking about, Glenn Beck recently featured The Great Controversy and Remnant Publications on one of his shows. I’m not as concerned over the advertising of this book itself, since any producer has the liberty to decide what they bring on the air. Also, as some might quote, “any publicity is good publicity.” However, it is also true that you oftentimes judge a book by its cover and when the message (however "good" or "true" it may be) is promoted by a messenger who is no stranger to insensitive, combative, and downright divisive rhetoric in our country to begin with, you have to wonder if you might be undermining the image you want associated with your message by way of your choice of messenger (I would say the same if the book was to be featured on a "liberal" show like The Daily Show with John Stewart [which it most likely wouldn't, but I'm using this to say that I don't care what side of the political spectrum you're talking about--the point is still the same]).

My bigger issue is with the well-known and beloved Adventist figure, Dr. Ben Carson. Dr. Carson has recently been in the news due to his vocal opinions about the President and, specifically, his dissatisfaction with Obamacare (also known as the Affordable Care Act [yes, there are still some people who "prefer" one over another without realizing that they are in fact the very same thing! For more on this, search for “Jimmy Kimmel Affordable Care Act” on YouTube. It’s funny but also sad.]).

One of the most disappointing remarks came when he recently said the following:
Dr. Ben Carson, a conservative commentator and neurosurgeon, on Friday likened the health care law to slavery.“Obamacare is really, I think, the worst thing to happen to the nation since slavery,” Carson said, speaking at the Values Voter Summit. “And it is slavery, in a way.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/ben-carson-obamacare-slavery-98185.html#ixzz2hWa8xE2G

Before offering criticism, I think that he is a great role model to all young people; his example of hard work, education, and philanthropy are worthy for anyone to emulate. I remember reading some of his book Gifted Hands when I younger and being encouraged by his story. On that end, I am happy and proud to call him a fellow Seventh-day Adventist.

Also, as a citizen of the United States, Dr. Carson is free to express his opinions any way he wants; he is free to chose to be a Fox News contributor (as he did recently). I am glad to live in a country that allows people to express their opinions this openly. I applaud that! However, as a pastor, my concern and disappointment stems from the fact that, in the last few months, we now have well-known Adventist literature and personalities promoted on politically polarizing venues.

As a pastor, when someone hears the word Adventist, I don’t want the first thing that comes to their mind to be Fox News, Glenn Beck, Tea Party or any sort of political term due to Dr. Carson's contribution as a Fox News contributor or consider The Great Controversy as a book written with a political agenda to get across. The main narrative that informs a Christian's perspective is not a political one, because it was not a politician who founded it. I wish Dr. Carson the best in his future path, but pray he does not become a pawn for political use and become exploited for being a successful black conservative.

You can be a religious or political conservative or a liberal (which personally, I find "liberal" and "conservative" as stupid categories anyway because you always consider yourself as “balanced,” which you probably are not), but Christ is not exclusive property of either side. God is as unbiased as the Sun; it shines on all people regardless of where they stand (unless it is winter in Michigan, in which case it is equally hidden from all... thanks to the permacloud that takes up residence for months on end).

Proverbs 14:34 says, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.”

We are all currently developing the narratives of our lives. The question is, when it is said and done, how do you want be remembered? Another worthy question is: what is the "righteousness" that we want our nation to have? Is that the same "righteousness" that we find in the Bible?

Let's put another spin on it: what does your Facebook wall say about your life’s narrative? Christians, are you representing the narrative that you learned from Christ faithfully as it was given it to you, or is it being mixed in with the political divisiveness that has kept our government closed for the past few weeks? Are we in danger of bringing in that ridiculous concept of “right” and “wrong,” “liberal” vs. “conservative” nonsense into our lives and dividing amongst ourselves?

I’ll again mention Chaplain Barry Black. I love what he’s doing through his prayers on the Senate floor. In his prayers, he is asking God to speak to the hearts of our leaders and bring understanding in the midst of discord. He is being a modern-day Daniel and we need more of them in today's polarized world. May we all be like Daniel and work toward unity instead of adding to the madness that drives us apart!

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Life: what is it all about?



It’s somewhat ironic how one death put a pause on my blog writing experience, while another death almost exactly six months later has moved me to get back into the swing of it. The sudden loss of one of the nicest people that I had known, Chavelo Hernandez, in February triggered weeks of frustrating phone calls, emails, and communications to get his body back to Mexico (for more details, see the previous blog entry). Well, thankfully, his body was sent back but, even then, I still couldn’t bring myself to write out of how “busy” I thought myself to be.

Last week, I along with many other people who knew her, were shocked and saddened to hear about the sudden passing of a friend Anaely Arocho. She was my wife’s friend from high school and her college roommate at AUC before she came to Southern. Her death gave me a renewed perspective on the reality of life.

Death has an interesting way of reminding all of us about our own mortality and finiteness, doesn’t it? After the last death I faced in February, I tried to be as involved as possible in meeting the needs of my work and church. Same thing goes with all of us: we work, go to school, and fill our lives with “busyness” but when someone close to us dies, how important is all of the busyness of your life?
This more recent death has caused me to ask more questions about my life. Namely the following:
 What am I doing to leave an impact on the world?

  • How will I be remembered?
  • Am I living a life that I can look back on and be proud of?
  • What am I working towards?

 Really, these are the kinds of things we all probably ask ourselves subconsciously and should ask ourselves more purposefully. That’s why we as human beings have an innate desire to fill our lives with some sort of meaning or purpose. This search for meaning has given birth to all kinds of ideas and theories on the “ultimate purpose of life,” some say:

  • to see humanity and human thought flourish
  • to see the environment flourish
  • to see other cultures
  •  to seek pleasure
  • to be happy
  •  to do your duty
  • to love
  •  to seek wisdom

 For some people, there is no ultimate purpose. You live your life and then you die, and your existence fades to black. Now, today is not the day to discuss the validity of each of these worldviews. My point is, if you haven’t taken the time think about what life is all about, you may want to put that on your agenda at some point. We take many things for granted and assume that we are entitled or have “a right” to be happy and live long prosperous lives. Guess what? Life doesn’t work that way.

Make it a point today to call up your loved ones and say hi to them. As much as possible, seek to live in peace with those around you. Live with no regrets, but remember: while people will tell you to “just do you” and do what makes you happy, there is a consequence for living a life where you are the center of the universe while ignoring the rest of the world (not to mention that this theory is impossible to live out in practice; we simply can’t ignore people- you’re proving my point by reading this). Take time today to enjoy the amazing gift of life.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Dealing with the Unexpected: A Death in the Church



It’s been quite a while since my last entry. I had expected to have the blog on race and the SDA church up a while ago. However, life being what it is, has thrown an unexpected curveball which has taken up most of my attention since it happened two weeks ago. I’ll get to work on that race and the SDA church blog as soon as I deal with the big challenge that you’re about to read ahead. Therefore this blog will be to update you on what’s been going on, while at the same time serving as a form of therapy to get my thoughts out.

During the second week of February, I was at Lake Yale, FL at the Hispanic Lay Evangelism Festival. I was there with many pastors and members from around the Southeast part of the US having a great time learning about lots of great things to bring back to our churches. When we were driving back on Sunday, I got a call form one of my church members who was concerned that another of our church members had been missing over the weekend and neither his roommates nor the church knew where he was. 

We asked around the community on Monday but no one had any information on him. Finally on Tuesday, I decided to call the police department and file a missing persons report on him. During the course of the conversation from one agency to another, someone suggested that I try the Greenville county coroner’s office because there was a person that was struck and killed on Friday and the details resembled my church member. Long story short, Tuesday at around noon I find myself in the coroner’s office at the major hospital in Greenville looking at the picture of my deceased member’s face…he had been struck and killed by a car Friday morning while crossing the street wearing dark clothing.

To make matters worse, he had no papers. And I don’t mean the typical issue in the immigration discussion of no papers. This brother was born in an indigenous tribe close to the Guatemalan border in Mexico. They didn’t speak Spanish there, only a local dialect. Therefore, when he was born, no one gave him a birth certificate. So when I say he had no papers, I mean that He. Had. No. Papers. 

I wondered how I would respond to this situation. After all, Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy." In other words, someone’s true colors come out when you throw them into high stress and conflict. The same is true of a church.

During this last week, the Greenville Spanish Church in South Carolina pulled together and formed a small army to find this man’s family, clean up his apartment, and give his clothes to people who needed it. He was also a colporteur and had many books about health to spiritual topics. He always dreamed of one day going back to his small village and sharing the message of Jesus with tribe. A visitor this past Sabbath offered to actually pay for his entire collection of books to be sent back to his family (we’re talking about several hundred dollars here)!

After countless international calls, we finally got ahold of his family and I have been in contact with them through an interpreter who is talking to me in Spanish while he relays the information in their dialect to get the details worked out with the coroner’s office, the Mexican consulate, and funeral home. We even had to get counsel from the General Conference due to the unusual case that this was. I’m so glad that I work with a church that has such a broad, international scope of law, ministry and mission; they were able to provide awesome counsel and advice thorough this entire ordeal.

We’re not out of the woods yet. Our brother is still in the morgue and there is international paperwork that has to be processed. Keep the church, and me, in your prayers. However, with the way this situation has worked out, I’m sure that something good will come out of what has truly been a tragic and unexpected event. The brother who passed away, a 33-year-old man nicknamed “Chavelo” was an awesome, gentle soul who would gladly give the shirt of his back to help others even though he didn’t have much himself. The world is going to miss a great guy like him. RIP my friend.

Friday, January 18, 2013

Pressing Towards the Goal 4/4



In case you were wondering where was yesterday’s post, there wasn’t one. Thursdays are my family day/date night and even though my default mode is to keep working, I really have to make an effort to not do any work. My wife will be sure to tell you that I’m still working on detaching myself totally. lol

Anyways, this week the two biggest stories that I kept hearing about through Facebook and ESPN was Lance Armstrong’s admitting to taking performance enhancing drugs (PED’s) and the story of Manti Te'o’s imaginary girlfriend. In case you missed it, Lance Armstrong, a famous American cyclist and cancer survivor, won every single Tour de France from 1999-2005. For years, he had denied accusations that he had been taking PED’s. He lied to the American public and made them believe that what drove him forward was his dedication, hard work, and unwillingness to give up in the face of opposition. What a story!

Unfortunately, it was a lie. He in fact, did take PED’s and now his reputation and credibility are down the tubes.

I find Manti Te'o’s story equally incredible. He was the face of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team and runner up for the prestigious Heisman Trophy. His football team lost to Alabama in the nation championship game. What was amazing about this kid was his story to the media that what drove him to be a better athlete was the sudden death of his girlfriend who had leukemia.

Unfortunately, it was also a lie. His girlfriend not only didn’t die, she never existed! Now some are wondering if this was a hoax perpetrated against the Notre Dame linebacker or if he was part of the deception as well.

These are two crazy stories that leave you wondering, “What in the world was going through their heads?”

Now, I’m not going to say that these men are not at fault, but it’s pretty sad that at how everyone is bashing them for portraying an image that was misleading when people do it every day on Facebook. (I mean, let’s be real; most people don’t post pictures when they look busted and just woke up. You put the best picture to give others the impression that you’ve got your act together, right?) I’m sure that if the news media were to do an investigation on you, they’d probably find a few skeletons in your closet too.

What was lacking in these men was the last point that we need in order to reach our goals. To reach our goals, we must have a sure foundation.


If you ask the apostle Paul what was his foundation, he could give you a pretty clear answer. We find this in the 2nd half of Philippians 3:14:

14B the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

For Paul, his desire, goals and future focus were grounded on the fact that he wanted to live to be like his Lord. As we saw earlier this week, he said that even though I’m not perfect, I strive to be the closest thing to perfect even though I know that I fall incredibly short of what I’m supposed to be. Now, for you theologians out there, he is not abandoning justification by faith; he is not denying that salvation is free. It is in fact because both our salvation and our sanctification have been perfectly and fully accomplished by Christ that we too can be saved by responding in faith without works, and sanctified by responding in faithful obedience.

The confidence that we can also have in moving forward is the same as Paul’s. It goes back to Paul’s preliminary statement in chapter 3 verse 12.

12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

As you go forward in life and your story unfolds, people will ask you, “What is the secret to your success?” Lance Armstrong said his success was “hard work.” Manti Te’o said it was “motivation from his deceased girlfriend.” Both of these foundations were built on sand made from their own hands. Paul would say that his foundation was trying to live honestly, openly and humbly like his Lord. If there ever was a time to be reminded of what a good foundation looks like, it is today.

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” Matthew 7:24-27

As people there is a danger in relying on the greatness of our story, our accomplishments or the hope of human glory. As a church, there is danger on relying on the greatness on our money, outreach methods and theology. If you hope to reach your goals using these things a foundation, you’ll be disappointed once you realize that someone has a better story, or the fact that, once we die, people will forget all about your money or your greatness. These foundations are not good ones in and of themselves. Whatever may have been your experience in the past, it’s not too late to begin to rebuild starting today towards a brighter future. Why not start today?

So as you think about your own life, I’d like to finish with the words of F.B. Meyer.

“It is a mistake to be always turning back to recover the past. The law of Christian living is not backward, but forward; not for experiences that lie behind, but for doing the will of God, which is always ahead and calling us to follow. Leave the things that are behind, and reach forward to those that are before us, for in each new height to which we attain, there are the appropriate joys that befit the new experience. Don’t fret because life’s joys are fled. There I more in front. Look up, press forward, the best is yet to be!”