Ten Commandments of Talking (or blogging) Politics

Marcus here. For just a minute, I’m going to adopt the role of pastor here. So file in. Take a pew. Sing a song by yourself. Say a prayer. Is your mind in the right place? Good.

Let’s talk about politics.

It’s that time. Now that both parties have had their convention, things could get heated. Here’s a reminder to folks to behave appropriately. In fact, let’s hold each other accountable in this network to a higher level of discourse for the next few months with these Ten Commandments of Talking (or blogging) Politics.

1. Do not worship political theories or parties. (You shall have no other gods before me.)
Do not worship ideas or theories instead of God. Not your stance on global warming or Capitalism or deregulation or education or abortion or gay marriage or health care or international trade or war. Do not put your hopes in a political stance or party line or economic theory. Those things are important, but they should not distract us from our unity in Christ Jesus.

2. Do not worship political figures or images. (You shall not make for yourself an idol.)
Obama is not the savior. Neither is McCain. Neither is the Republican Party or the Democratic Party. Do not bow to Elephants or Donkeys. Good leadership is important. Political pep rallys and mascots are fun, but they should not distract us from our unity in Christ Jesus.

3. God is not divinely endorsing your political opinion. (You shall not make wrongful use of the name of your God.)
This is slippery. But it is important. We can’t answer the question Who Would Jesus Vote For? except in the privacy of our own hearts. I’m serious. This doesn’t mean Christians can’t express political opinions if they are so inclined. But it does mean we must humbly represent our opinions as our own personal opinions, not God’s opinion. Neither party is God’s party. And in a sense, both candidates already belong to God because they both acknowledge him publicly. (And of course, we don’t judge hearts.)

4. Do not use God to prop up your politics. (Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.)
OK, people. Both sides fail at this too. Corporate worship is not the place for political messages. Period. This is a fine line to walk. It doesn’t mean politics can’t come to church at all. Rick Warren did a fair job at Saddleback recently. But it wasn’t under the guise of worship. In your blogs, do not use the Word of God to prop up your political hopes. Don’t.

5. Honor your father and mother. (Honor your father and mother.)
Election season is probably not the time to try to convert your parents to your political viewpoint. Here’s my suggestion. If they start ranting and raving against your candidate, respect them by keeping your mouth shut. Don’t take the bait. And certainly don’t bait your parents! This doesn’t mean all political discourse is off limits—but remember that elections aren’t sporting events. Do not let abstractions become a wedge between you and your family. It’s not worth it.

6. Don’t be cruel. (You shall not murder.)
Elvis may have said it best, but Jesus had some good words on this too. He said, “Anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment… anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” (Matt 5:21-22). If another blogger slanders you, talk to him or her privately first (Matt 18:15-16). Don’t air ugly conversations in your comment sections. Don’t attack people or ideas in public posts. This doesn’t mean you have to be silent. Respond to comments with an email. Engage them as Jesus says. And remember that it isn’t a sin for two Christians to disagree about politics.

7. Be pure. (You shall not commit adultery.)
I’m not sure how this applies to politics except as a reminder that we need to be examples of purity. Before you post a comment for or against someone, ask yourself if you are going to sully yourself or discredit yourself as a Christian. And don’t forget the comparison between idolatry and adultery. Don’t get so excited about politics that every conversation and post and comment reveals which side you are “in bed with.”

8. Be honest. (You shall not steal.)
Be honest when you vote. Stolen elections won’t help anyone. For some people, this may be a call to volunteer to work the polls on Election Day! A friend of mine volunteers for every election. Of course, every state is different, but she recommends contacting your local democratic or republican headquarters. Tell the party chairman for your party that you want to volunteer on Election Day. (You will need to be trained before you can work the polls.) The phone book should list contact information for both parties under “Associations” or “Political Organizations.”

9. Defend the truth and the facts. (You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.)
And who is your neighbor? Barack Obama. John McCain. Joe Biden. Sarah Palin. But also the Democrat next door and the Republican across the street. Here’s my practical suggestion. Refrain from sending asinine email forwards. But let’s take it one step further. If you receive a slanderous email, check the Snopes page on McCain or the Snopes page on Obama. Then send a kind response to the person who forwarded the email (NOT the whole list) explaining the error as gently as possible.

10. Be prepared to accept the results. (You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.)
In November one party will win control of the executive branch. The other will lose. When the time comes, do not covet your neighbor’s political victory if your side loses. If your side wins, do not gloat.

With God’s grace, we can all get along for the next few months regardless of who we will support at the polls on November 4, 2008.

NOTE: For the sake of simplicity and familiarity, I’ve used the protestant version of the Ten Commandments from Adam Clarke’s commentary. However, there are other ways to splice and dice Exodus. Wikipedia has a simple chart to show other views.

And just in case you are still confused about Commandment #6:

Forgiving is not forgetting

Blake Coffee has another intriguing post up about forgiveness. He knows we can’t always forget when we forgive. But he wonders if we should act as though we’ve forgotten. We remember but choose not to let the memory of a wrong dictate the way we act.

The key to living a life of grace, it seems to me, is to take those memories captive and not let them dictate my behavior. Therein lies the real practical effect of forgiveness. It is not that I don’t remember what you did to me, it is that I will not allow that memory to change how I treat you. I will still love you, and as long as Christ lives in me, there is nothing you can do (or fail to do) that will change that.…Read More.

Faith is defined by hard times

I was at Carl Holmes’ blog today, reading about his health problems. Carl has been facing hard times, and he is now facing an operation in October. He’s 31 years old and is using a cane. His very frank and honest post reveals something of how hard this is for him. And he ends the whole thing by confessing that his dependency on a cane is teaching him things about depending on God.

Our church is praying for Carl. I hope you will too. Maybe you can drop by, read his inspiring post, and let him know.

So this week I had to come to terms with something that I have loathed wanting to do, I have started walking with a cane. I am 31 years old and I am stuck with it for the time being. I am having vertigo and headaches that hit quick and hard. This week some vertigo hit me and down a flight of stairs I went. If I am going to survive until surgery date (October 9th) I need to take some precautions.

I hate feeling dependent on something for my health and well being. To me carrying a cane is a way of saying to my Chiari condition “hey, you got me, you win this round” and that I am not strong enough to fight it myself. The truth is that I am not strong enough to fight it on my own, I need a neurosurgeon, a understanding family, and a lot of patience and the grace of God to get through it.…Read More.

How To Write Neighbor

Chinese writing is a fascinating thing. The symbols have deep and ancient meanings and often they reveal profound truths. High Calling blogger L.L. Barkat was involved with a group studying spiritual practice. They had some Chinese women with them. When asked to write the word “neighbor” in Chinese, the symbols were for “sunset, cow, rice, ear, mummy, and ancient.” The picture to the left is the actual page from the conference.

So how do those symbols shed light on the meaning of the word “neighbor?” Read more and find out.

We’d gotten into a discussion about loving one’s neighbor. I can hardly understand how to do that! one person said. Suddenly, I got this thought. Lucy, can you write ‘neighbor’ for us in Chinese? Lucy obliged (see pic above). Then I asked her to explain the component pictures contained in the character. Fascinating…

sunset… cow… rice… ear… mummy… ancient…Read More

A Hard Look at Forgiveness

Blake Coffee - The Church Whisperer - tells us a difficult story from a church he worked with. A member had done something terrible, and the question was, “what does it mean to forgive him?” Does forgiving mean forgetting? Does forgiving mean refusing to press charges or testify in court? Does forgiving him mean he can come back to church again and serve?

What does forgiveness mean? Blake takes a serious look at this issue.

I once consulted with a church where a deacon was caught sexually molesting a little girl in the children’s department. He was the only adult (1st mistake) in a children’s Sunday School room with no windows (2nd mistake) and the church had never run any kind of background check on him (or any of their other volunteer workers…3rd mistake). The man fully confessed to the authorities and to the parents of the little girl, and then even more fully confessed to both a problem and a history in this area. He stood before his church and confessed as well. There was actually reconciliation between him and the injured family and there was spiritual restoration of this brother. It was a pretty extraordinary situation in that regard. All of this happened before the church ended up calling me for mediation.…Read More

You, Happier

Sam Van Eman from “New Breed of Advertisers” has noticed a new Best Buy advertising campaign called “You, Happier.” The idea is, of course, that you will be much happier after you’ve picked up a new notebook computer or stereo or flat screen television set.

Sam isn’t the first Christian to speak out against the materialism of our culture, but I LOVE the way he does this. He begins by confessing that he really is happier when he buys stuff. No, really. Buying stuff makes him happy. And if you and I were honest, we’d admit that it makes us happy too.

The solution, according to Sam, is not in denying our basic materialism, but in being willing to set it aside and be unhappy sometimes for the sake of the Kingdom.

Check it out.

Houston let me know about Best Buy’s “You, Happier” slogan. Somehow I missed it, yet it seems that other critics have, too.

After a cursory Google search, I didn’t find too many folks up in arms about “You, Happier.” Perhaps BB’s customers are happier enough that the slogan failed to raise concern. BB didn’t say, “You, Happy,” or, “You, Happiest.” They just said “You, Happier,” and for most customers (including me), they’re right.

I am happier when I get a new laptop or scanner. Shoot, I’m happier when I get a fresh ink cartridge. Not happiest and maybe/maybe not happy, but I’m definitely happier.…Read More.

Tell the Truth - What do you need?

Marcus here. Kaye Torgerson sent me an email a few days ago telling me about something she’s doing over at Silencing the Stones.

I will be starting a new project on my Silencing the Stones blog, in the blogroll here, on Friday. You can read about it here.

Please look over it when you get a chance and let me know what you think. If you like the idea, please get the word out, as I think we could all use a little more support in this crazy life.

Thanks!

Kaye Torgerson

So I headed over to her site and I like the idea. Here’s the bottom line:

Starting Friday, I’m going to feature on this site a Mr. Linky. Please write a post about your current needs. What are you going through? What are you frustrated about? What are your prayer requests? What mistakes have you made that you need help with? What questions do you need answers for? Then I will ask each reader and entrant to pray for the other needs on the list. You can be as general or specific as you want, but know that you are met here with love and open arms.

What can High Calling Bloggers do to help?

Well, you can certainly participate in Kaye’s little writing project if you’re inclined. I’m sure she’d love to get a good turn out.

You could also just click through the posts of people who participate and leave comments of encouragement.

Finally, like she said here, you could pray for each other. Either pray for each other directly based on the needs people share. Or pray for this network in general. That God’s will would be done here.

I mean, we’re making this up as we go folks. We need your help and your prayers if we are going to do a good job of honoring God here.

Writer’s Block

Writing is a strange discipline. You have to make yourself do it. You have to sit down and make yourself write. And yet, every writer knows that when it comes to the creation of the written word, it often feels more like you found the words than made up the words.

And so, when you get writer’s block, there isn’t really much to do except wait patiently and keep making yourself write.

I feel the same is true with prayer. You can’t create certain feelings within yourself with prayer. You can’t make yourself be happy or exultant or any of that. You just have to pray and take whatever the Spirit sends you.

Poet and writer L.L. Barkat is looking for a poem. She admits that she seems to find them more than write them. And that means she’ll have to wait patiently.

Will I…

Will I ever…

Will I ever write a poem again?

These are the anxious thoughts that plague me when it’s been a while since I’ve found a poem. I say found a poem, because in essence this is what happens to me. Poetry is not something I can force. Indeed, I cannot force deep writing of any kind (okay, so I should remember this now that I am stuck, again, on my next chapter in God in the Yard.)

Instead, my deep writing happens kind of like this… mystery, open spaces (mentally), serendipity, inspiration, illumination, resolve.…Read More.

Vocation

High Calling blogger Paul Soupiset is fascinating to me. He’s a musician, artist, and a true seeker. I ought to know because he goes to my church. I also know that Paul thinks deeply about his life and his vocation. He and I have talked about Frederich Buechner’s idea of vocation, which he stated clearly in his book, “Wishful Thinking.” Buechner says that vocation is the intersection of your desire and the world’s need. So while the world may need a preacher, if you do not love preaching, that cannot be your vocation. Likewise, you might love stamp collecting, but it’s hardly a true need in the world.

Paul wrote about this very thing recently at his blog. Check it out:

“there are all different kinds of voices
calling you to all different kinds of work….
the place God calls you to is the place
where your deep gladness
and the world’s deep hunger meet.”

— frederich buechner, “wishful thinking”
[emphasis mine]

when i think occasionally about vocation, i think of this beuchner quote, and maybe for a brief second my mind flashes to vanier and nouwen ensconced in stained glass, and then maybe i think about my day-job, my hobbies, my down-time, and then how i describe what i do. for it seems quite a lot of folks tell me i do quite a lot.…Read More.

Affliate Marketing Could Be the Key to Monetization

Marcus here. I know many of the people here at HighCallingBlogs.com are really blogging for hobby or nonprofit.

But some of you are business people, too. Or at least non-profit entrepreneurs. And you should hear the conversation Chris Cree, Dustin Steve (pronounced “stev-ie”), and I had with Wade Tonkin of ChristianAffliateMarketers.com. (Be sure to click through and watch Wade’s HILARIOUS promo video.)

For the business people and nonprofit entrepreneurs, you MUST go to blogworld. Register NOW. I’m serious. If you are serious about social media, this is seriously the place to be. Did I mention that I was serious? I’m serious. Listen to me. Read the words I am typing onto this screen:

This conference is important.
Flesh and blood encounters with like minded bloggers is important.
Ok, I’ll get off my soapbox now.

After you do that, consider downloading the podcast interview and listening to it on your commute. Or you can listen to it right here in one of my little podcasting experiments:

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