Sad Trombone

http://www.cdapress.com/news/local_news/article_04b1853e-f2a5-5322-acb0-8a64dbed8eb1.html


I have to admit, I was a little bit excited when I saw that Coeur d'Alene was passing an ordinance about robots. I thought, "Wow, the city government is really thinking forward. They are willing to step out and try something innovative for the progress of the city."

Then I read the ordinance. 

1) A robot must not harm human beings, other living creatures or property, or, by inaction, allow human beings, other living creatures or property to come to harm.
2) A robot must not injure a human being, other living creatures or property, or, through inaction, allow a human being, other living creature or property to come to harm.
3) A robot must not carry weapons, attack living creatures or cause damage to personal or real property.
4) Humans may not intentionally interfere with or harm a robot unless the robot poses a reasonable threat of causing harm to any living creature or damage to personal or real property.
5) Robots may not photograph or record, in any manner, any human being on private property or any private property without the express consent of the human being(s) or the owner(s) of the property.
There is also a licensing requirement:
1) All robots weighing 100 pounds or more or any robot operating on public property must be licensed with the city of Coeur d'Alene City Clerk and a license fee paid. The license fee shall be set by City Council by resolution.

Waaaa waaaa whaaaaaaaaaa...

What I thought might be a simple, well thought out ordinance that helped lay the groundwork for safe and appropriate robot development in our area amounted to a poorly worded, ill-informed, legally questionable, ethically naive, publicity stunt. I mean, I knew as soon as I saw the headline that this was a publicity stunt. I just hoped that the intention was something more than to make a headline. All this really does is relieve me of the need to take those who passed this seriously.

In case the stupidity of this ordinance isn't immediately evident I'll point out just a few problems.

1. What is a robot? Do remote controlled devices count? Like camera-equipped quadricopters? Like traffic cameras? How about a car with cruise control? That would be more than 100 pounds. Perhaps it only refers to autonomous robots. Who knows?
2. What if a robot lacks the ability to prevent a human being or other living creature to come to harm or even know what harm means?
3. Why can't humans interfere with or harm a robot? What if I want to reprogram my robot (against its wishes) or use it for target practice? Surely that is interference. Maybe they just meant other people's robots.

The license for operating on public property is actually not a terrible idea, but without a definition for what constitutes a robot it is very troublesome to think how this might be applied. The stated goal was to let the world know that this is a place of innovation. What it actually does is let the world know that whatever the citizens might be doing with technology the council doesn't really "get it." My only hope is that they thought this was a big joke. Maybe they heard about robots and laughed and said, "Robots? Yeah right. Next thing you know we'll have to make up a speed limit for those motorized carriages!"

I wonder if they put just as much thought into the sexual orientation ordinance passed last year. It makes about as much sense. 

We are an Experiment

I don't know whether this post falls under Husband, Daddy, or Pastor, perhaps all three.

Every few years around patriotic holidays I dig up a commencement speech given by Bono back in 2004. I love to re-read it because it is a major dose of perspective from an unlikely source. The fact that this speech was given by an Irish rock star (and international celebrity) makes it just amazing. The part that keeps bringing me back is this:

Me, I'm in love with this country called America. I'm a huge fan of America, I'm one of those annoying fans, you know the ones that read the CD notes and follow you into bathrooms and ask you all kinds of annoying questions about why you didn't live up to thatŠ. 

I'm that kind of fan. I read the Declaration of Independence and I've read the Constitution of the United States, and they are some liner notes, dude. As I said yesterday I made my pilgrimage to Independence Hall, and I love America because America is not just a country, it's an idea. You see my country, Ireland, is a great country, but it's not an idea. America is an idea, but it's an idea that brings with it some baggage, like power brings responsibility. It's an idea that brings with it equality, but equality even though it's the highest calling, is the hardest to reach. The idea that anything is possible, that's one of the reasons why I'm a fan of America. It's like hey, look there's the moon up there, lets take a walk on it, bring back a piece of it. That's the kind of America that I'm a fan of.

The first time I read that it made me really excited to be an American in America. It is a broader perspective of our country than a shallow look at our current policies can portray. You see, we act as if the U.S.A is a given. We seem to feel that the country we have was a foregone conclusion and the most likely outcome of history. We think, "Of course society would progress to the point of forming a government based on equality and democracy. We are the product of evolution and nature and we have become civilized."

But here's the deal, it is not natural at all. There have been advanced societies before but no America. There have been revolutions before but no U.S. Constitution. There have been global powers before, but nothing like us. The more I learn about the situation and the founding of our country the more unlikely I find it to be.

We also seem to think that now that the idea of America has been established it will never fade away. We think that because the world has seen our way of life it is only a matter of time before everyone buys in to the idea and, if they could just get their stuff together, form free constitutional democracies. We are shocked and frustrated to see that even when we go in and do all the hard work for them (Iraq and Afghanistan) they can't seem to hold a free society together. Maybe we're the problem, perhaps if it starts with the people themselves it will work. Nope (Egypt, Libya, Tunisia). Why is freedom so hard?

All this reminds me that none of what we have is to be taken for granted. From a historical perspective this American Idea is still an anomaly. 238 years is a brief little blip on a timeline and American influence hasn't always been what it is today. Also, let's not forget that for a large part of that 238 years America endorsed a brutal form of slavery that was the exact opposite of liberty. For another large part of that time racism was as patriotic as a Lee Greenwood song. I would say that the American Idea is really more of an ideal. It is a vision that many high-minded men and women have committed their lives to over the last 238 years. It has been hard fought and there have always been setbacks. The enemy of America is not some foreign power. The real enemy of America is our own tendency to forget what we are about. We repeat cliches about liberty and freedom, but we forget that those things require sacrifice. I'm not talking about paying young men and women to go fight in wars so we don't have to, I'm talking about tolerating your neighbor. I'm talking about enduring the expression the opinions of others that you adamantly disagree with and finding a way to respect others for being human even if you can find no other reason. 

There is a worldview that makes America work and it has nothing to do with liberal vs. conservative or capitalism vs. socialism or sacred vs. secular. It is not an exclusively Christian idea, though I would argue that Jesus Christ is the sole source for it. It is a worldview that goes against nature. It is the view that people are more than animals. We don't naturally believe this. We have to force ourselves to pretend that people have value even when we don't believe it is true. Though we call ourselves human our nature is inhuman. Those lines in the Declaration of Independence "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights..." contain the idea that humans have an innate value bestowed by their creator.

But it isn't really self-evident is it? The evidence doesn't show that "all men are created equal..." and our so-called rights certainly seem alienable to me. Men aren't born equal. Some are strong; some are weak; some are missing arms; some have extra; some are really smart; some are good looking--people are not intrinsically equal. What the writers of the Declaration are saying is, "We have decided to pretend and act as if these ideals are true because we think it will make our world a better place." Rather than striving with each other for power over each other we are going to work and sacrifice to try to honor everyone and encourage them to work and sacrifice alongside us.

It is a breathtaking vision, but the founding fathers didn't come up with it.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Love one another.
Greater love has no man than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
But many who are the first will be last and the last will be first.

Sound familiar? Jesus said these things and many more that suggest that being a true human means we find a way to treat others with love and respect even at our own expense. There aren't many important people in history who said such things. And there is only one person who said it and then did it perfectly.

So America is an experiment. The outcome is still very uncertain. The goal of the experiment is to see how long can humans (by nature, inhuman) hold on to the idea of humanity. How long can a society strive toward the ideal of "all men created equal" before the tide turns and our inhumanity takes over again? History teaches us that it cannot be long. But you know what? History never knew about America. History has never seen anything like us. We get pretty down in the dumps because of setbacks, disappointments, and complete failures. But for 238 years Americans have been facing these same toils in the face of even greater odds. They sacrificed comfort, money and sometimes blood so that another generation could have hope of becoming more human.

For what it's worth, I intend on doing the same.

J-word Overload

Like any good geek dad I'm reading the Narnia books to my kids. This is partly because they love it, but it is also selfish on my part since I love the books too. I sometimes get so into the book that I get frustrated when they interrupt or fall asleep during a good part. Then I have to remember that I am a grown up. For these little ones I am THE grown up. I'm their prototype male figure--the paterfamilias. I also have to remember that they are very young and will likely get to read these books again someday. It is not important that they "get it" right now.

Anyway, one thing I love about the books is the way C.S. Lewis captures the effect a glorious being has on those around him. Between the lines of the book you get a sense of wonder/awe/sanctity/magic that accompanies Aslan (the fictional creator of Narnia, as if you didn't already know that). Last night I tried to help the kids understand that this is the way I feel about my Creator. Just like the animals all listen and get excited and quiet and energetic and peaceful around Aslan, my maker is the one who makes me feel those things. My oldest just stared at me contemplatively, dimples raised.

But when is the last time Jesus made me feel those things? When is the last time that just saying his name made me take a breath and feel...anything? Yes, I've had good times of worship and prayer and Bible study, but those were anchored in things about Jesus. I know I should be moved by Him. I know it probably seems like semantics, but there is a specific thing I'm going after here. When I hear the name of my Savior and Master, I should feel something. Too often I can say the word with hardly a thought at all. I don't generally listen to much Christian Music on the radio, but when I do the name is used rapidly and repeatedly. In my reading I come across his name quite a bit. As a preacher I use his name daily in conversation. I'm worried that it has somehow become too common.

I had the thought that I needed a J-word detox. Not that I need a break from him, only a break from the casual use of his name. I considered a fast from the use of the J-word to help me consider it more deeply over a month or more. I'm afraid I would have a lot of explaining to do to my church. I could try preaching exclusively from the Old Testament for a time, but our focus is the Gospel and it is hard to imagine a sermon that would leave out naming him to which all scripture points.

So maybe I won't fast from using his name in public, but I really would like to recapture some of the wonder I feel like I need to have over the mere name of my Lord. Do you ever feel like the church is guilty of the gratuitous use of "Jesus" in our music, prayer, t-shirts, ties and breath mints.?

Pastor's Ideas for Summer Outreach

We live in an area that has some drastic changes during the year. We go from a winter wonderland to a summer play land. These two opposites present unique opportunities to be faithful worshippers of Jesus Christ. Now that summer is approaching I am praying about what we can do as a church to love others in our very special context. I thought I would pitch these ideas just for feedback and to see if anyone is interested. Assumed for each of these is an understanding the WE NEED TO PRAY. Attempting any of these things without praying, seeking God, and submitting to his will is pure vanity and will produce no Kingdom fruit.

Park Outreach
We have the best kid parks. For some reason citizens of the CDA area will not settle for lame play structures. Nor, it seems, is it possible to go more than two miles without discovering yet another awesome park. My kids take it for granted and have become a bit snobbish about which parks they will settle for. With this in mind perhaps we should find a way to live out the Gospel in some of our parks this could include:

• Passing out water bottles and snacks to parents watching their kids
• Gathering for song and story times and including anyone who wants to come
• Hosting informal worship gatherings in the park
• Looking for opportunities to "Share Jesus Without Fear"
• Meeting new people and asking them "How's life?"

So you see, some of those things would require a little planning and organization, but some of them just require adopting a "park outreach" mentality. Again, it all starts with prayer. Pray when you visit parks, and think about what God might want you to do. 

Easy Kid Programs

We are already planning a great kids' outreach opportunity called Vacation Bible School. That will require a lot of time and work, but it will be a great and effective (not to mention fun) way to show kids and families God's love. What I'm thinking about here is less time/work intensive opportunities that still provide kids and families something fun to do that points back to the Gospel. Ideas:

• Mommy/Kid story time. We did this several years ago at the old building. It is basically the same as the story time at the libraries, but instead the pastor reads a bible story and sings fun Christian songs with the kids. This would be about 30 minutes once a week and doesn't require volunteers since the parents/grandparents stay with their child. As a bonus someone could organize some refreshments for a fellowship time to follow. 
• Project Craft Day for older kids. Okay, I don't know what to call it. But older kids can get bored during the summer. Grown men and women can be immature (at any time) and need excuses to do stuff that only kids should like. Examples:
• Build water rockets
• Build compressed air rockets
• Make your own play dough
• Make marshmallow shooters
• Build a water balloon launcher
• Other dangerous and messy things.
• Okay so those are all things I want to do. I'm sure there are other things you might like better. The point is we can get kids together to do these things. They can invite their friends and their parents and we can all be friends and talk about Jesus and share his love with each other. This could be a weekday thing to give stay-at-home parents a break, or it could be a Saturday thing for those working parents needing something engaging to do with their kids. All I know is, at some point, it should include rockets.

Parking Lot Party

We tried the block party thing one year and learned some things. 1. We have a great parking lot and grounds for doing things. 2. People don't automatically come.

So I'm not sure what the missing ingredient is, but I would love for us to find a way to invite the community into our parking lot in a way that lets them know we love Jesus and we love them.

What Else?

So there you go. Three thoughts about some possibilities. It doesn't take a church-wide or special team effort like VBS or the Montana church build for you to be involved in serving Jesus. His command to "teach... and baptize..." is meant for wherever you go. There's an old song that says, "Wherever He leads I'll go." That's a perfect attitude for us. Phrased another way it is also true-- wherever you go He leads. There is no aspect of your life, whether it's where you live, work or play, where God is not at work. Let's join him and seek every opportunity to serve and worship Him.

A Hawk Fail

Normal weekend day at home. Sitting at the table picking crumbs off my plate when I hear something hit our front window. Something biggish. Then my wife gasps from the living room like she just saw a unicorn explode.

"Jana, what is it?" I ask, too lazy to get up and look.

No answer for exactly two seconds. This makes me panic. If you gasp like that you should explain yourself quickly. No answer means that my primal male instinct is about to be called upon to protect my family at all costs. Suddenly, the crumbly sandwich crumbs on my plate are not my biggest concern. "What is it!?" I demand as I leap from my chair and run into the room.

She is a little dazed. "Sorry, I think a bird hit the window. It almost broke it I think. It was...really big. It might have been two birds."

My three kids crowd around the window to see. They are usually quite graceful kids, but for some reason when they get around windows, sharp corners, coffee cups, etc. they turn into slapstick clowns; which would be funny if when they fell they just honked a bike horn and jumped back up instead of crying and wanting me to pick them up and hold them while they, all three, cry loudly directly into my left ear canal. So I get all Barney Fife, "move along people nothing to see here..." and no one in my family gets the joke. Nor do my kids understand the literal command to "move along." I resort to my physical strength and move the kids out of my way so I can confirm Jana's bird report.

Indeed, I see two birds. A small one and a large one. My five-year-old daughter nervously laughs and says, "The little one has a really tiny face."

My wife and I exchange a look of awestruck disgust. "Kids, move along. Seriously, go play for a minute."

I finally get a good view of the scene. Right below the window is a small hawk of some kind. It is laying on its back panting and wide-eyed, obviously dazed from the impact with our window. Next to the hawk is a very small bird WITH NO HEAD. That's right. A cute little decapitated bird. The "tiny face" my daughter saw was actually a few vertebrae sticking out of the bird's neck.

"What do we do?" my wife asks. The possibilities rush through my mind as I walk to get my phone to take a picture (obviously this would be one for the family scrapbook). Maybe we should call an animal hospital to come rescue the hawk? Maybe we could put it in a shoebox and nurse it back to health. You know, bandage its wing and hand feed it hamburger meat. Maybe I could have a pet hawk and we could go hunt field mice next to our kids' park. Before I took a few steps and had time to laugh at my own stupid ideas, Jana grunts again, "Oh gosh. It flew away."

Which one? I thought. I looked out again. The hawk left behind its decapitated prey. Not cool. Very inconsiderate. I hoped it would come back and get its snack, but it never did. Evidently, this young hawk had snatched up a little bird and snapped its head off. Then, perhaps rushing home to show his mom or maybe running away from a bully hawk trying to steal his lunch, he tried to take a shortcut through our house. Only we were protected by an "invisible forcefield called glass" (credit Blue from Rio), and the hawk flew away confused and hungry.

Great job, hawk. I usually think you guys are pretty cool, but in this case you just delivered me a bird corpse.

As a Daddy Who Likes Space

Russia has crossed the line. I'm not talking about the Ukraine foolishness going on. That is in itself a horrible mess and a reminder of humanity's hopelessness when it comes to working out our own problems. What I'm talking about is the smack talk going on concerning our space program.

Basically, in response to the US move to sanction Russia over their operations in Ukraine, a Russian official played the space card. He suggested that Russia might take their rockets and go home, leaving NASA to try to use trampolines to get to the ISS.

The nerve.

I mean who does Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin think he is? Just because we BUY rocket use from Russia doesn't mean we are dependent on them to get to space. It just means they are cheap. It is not as if they are giving us the usage of their rockets out of the kindness of their heart. They didn't toss NASA the keys and say, "Just fill it up with gas when you're done."

What a joke! We have private companies ready and willing to send folks to space, but finances (and bureaucracy) make it simpler for the time being to use Russia's Rockets.  They are making $60 million per person that we send to space. He is basically asking us to take our business somewhere else. I hope we do, as soon as possible.

Also, THIS IS AMERICA! If we decide we want to launch astronauts using a trampoline we will find a way to do it. But trampolines are lame. If we decide to use alternatives to rockets it would be something cool like a slingshot. It would be called the Slingatron and it would rule.

Good day.

You Are a Pervert

Yesterday, I used a word in my sermon that, hopefully, made some people uncomfortable. Yes, it was my intent to make people uncomfortable. It is not naturally something I like to do. In fact, it is exactly what I don't like to do. I am much more disposed to making people feel comfortable. It is my joy to show mercy, to overlook faults in others, to dwell on the good, and to forgive the evil. It is the way God made me.

However, God also made me a preacher of the Gospel. There is one aspect of the Gospel that shows no mercy. With this particular truth of the Gospel there is no room for softening or sugar coating. There is no explaining or excusing or hedging or hem-hawing. There is not a nice way to say or a flattering way to frame it. So it was my duty and responsibility to find a word that cannot be construed as nice or respectful or flattering.

PERVERT

Yes, I could have used the word "sinner." I could have talked about our fallen nature or how we are rebels or traitors or some other word that would have been accurate enough. The problem is we've grown accustom to all those words. We don't feel too bad about being called sinners, after all "nobody's perfect." We're fine with recognizing that we are fallen and that mankind is in rebellion.  The word I chose to use still makes us uncomfortable. As it should. If you are in a public place you are probably uncomfortable just having the word on your screen lest someone should walk by and wonder what you're reading about. We generally reserve this word for people who have so far diverted from the human path that they are sick in the head. We put these people on lists and make them do all sorts of humiliating things so we can protect our children from them. We keep online databases of where they live so they can be harassed by vigilantes.

But here's the thing, I believe there is no better word in contemporary language to express our spiritual condition before God. Here is the internet definition of the word from Dictionary.com:

per·vert

  [v. per-vurt; n. pur-vert]

verb (used with object)

1.

to affect with perversion.

2.

to lead astray morally.

3.

to turn away from the right course.

4.

to lead into mental error or false judgment.

5.

to turn to an improper use; misapply.

6.

to misconstrue or misinterpret, especially deliberately; distort: to pervert someone's statement.

7.

to bring to a less excellent state; vitiate; debase.

8.

Pathology . to change to what is unnatural or abnormal.

9.

to convert or persuade to a religious belief regarded as false or wrong.

noun

10.

a person who practices sexual perversion.

11.

Pathology . a person affected with perversion.

12.

a person who has been perverted, especially to a religious belief regarded as erroneous.

We have been led astray morally; we have turned away from the right course; we lead others into mental error and false judgement; we have turned our lives to improper use; we have misapplied our gifts; we have misconstrued, misinterpreted and distorted the Truth; we have brought this world to a less excellent state; we have changed to what is unnatural; we have converted to a religious belief that is wrong; we practice sexual perversion. Sick. Twisted. Messed up. That's what we are.

Am I wrong? Of course I'm not. Read the news. Look at your own heart. Human kind is downright inhuman. The fact that we can still recognize it and be disturbed by it is evidence of God's common grace. The fact that we can be distressed by this condition and yearn for something better is perhaps the clearest sign we have that we are in need of a savior. If we are all perverts then who can help us? Other perverts? That's a joke. Perverts distort the truth. Who can we trust? Who can we turn to? All of us deserve to be put on a list, a searchable database with a map of where we live and a disheveled mugshot. It should say, "Don't trust this person. They are a pervert and will try to hurt you. They are sick in the head and cannot help but try to manipulate you, use you, reject you and harm you."

If not humans, then who can we turn to? God? But won't he destroy us? If we are so guilty, he is the only one who can judge us. Wouldn't turning to him for help be to sign our own death warrant? A just God would surely put a quick end to perversion. We are better off hiding from him as long as we can. Criminals who turn themselves in expect judgement and punishment. But our guilt is against a holy and eternal God. The punishment is too much to bear. What a sorry state we are in!

This story is bitter, but true. It is written not only in scripture, but in our very consciousness. We can see it in the depths of our own minds. Psychiatrists see it, though they may explain it differently. Counsellors understand it. Police, divorce lawyers, tech support workers, teachers, social workers--they all know this story to be true. If you deal with enough people you will see the recurring theme that there is something deeply wrong with all of us. This Wrong makes us fear people and hurt people. The more we fear, the more we hurt. The more we hurt, the more we get hurt. The worse we hurt, the more we fear. We are stuck in a cycle that leads us away from God, into the Abyss. The fate of perverts.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,  even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,  so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

How could God do such a thing for perverts? Well, let's think about what Jesus did. Knowing the situation we might think the most loving thing he could have done would have been to release his grip on Creation to end it all in a moment. But that's not his style, you see. Instead, Jesus...

...although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

The Cross! The Cross, what a shameful, disgusting thing! What a spectacle of inhumanity! What prominent example of our perversion! If you or I, not used to such displays, happened upon the scene of the cross we would have thrown up and fainted. Why would Jesus subject himself to such a thing? Why would the Word, God's Only Son, subject himself to the full display of our sinfulness? Why would a perfect Son of Man, the only human not deserving such a punishment, submit so willingly to be completely stripped of his humanity by people acting so fully inhuman?

There is only one answer that makes sense. God is love.

Could anything but love lead to such a sacrifice? Could any love but God's be powerful enough to accomplish this? His love compels him to do the only thing that can remove our hurts, our guilt, our perversion. Jesus' physical act of sacrifice is a mirror of the spiritual truth that our perversion destroys us. He allowed our perversion, our inhumanity to destroy his flesh--his human flesh--so that we can know that our inhumanity also destroys our souls. He took that destruction upon his perfect self as a just punishment for our sins. The Atonement was not just Jesus removing the wrath of God from those who would trust in him. In it he restores to us our God-given HUMANITY. He makes the way for us to be human again the way that God created us to be. He loves us! Why? Because that's the kind of God he is! And glad we should be. We should celebrate that the bitterness of our story is being overcome by a sweetness that gives the story a perfect flavor of richness, depth and delight.

In Jesus, the Holiness of God and the Perversion of Humanity were crossed. Two opposite (yet not equal) things were crushed together in the flesh of Jesus. It was and is a bitter and ugly thing. It is a reminder of our guilt, but it is a reminder that should make us all the more thankful for the outcome. The love of God is so powerful that even the Perversion of Humanity could not overcome it. The inhumanity of humankind is overcome by the perfect humanity of our savior, the one and only, Jesus Christ.