Bonus Picture Post! #2 - Orchid Island Part 2

Some people enjoyed my first posting of pictures from my trip to Lan Yu (Orchid Island) in 2008, so here are some more. I didn't want to put lots of pictures of my friends and fellow camp volunteers who I went there with without their permission (Several were girls and we were all pretty 'campy' by this point; I don't want to get killed when I go back to Taiwan...), but there are some of the camp kids and even a couple of skinny me from being in Taiwan 9 months already. (One side benefit of working in Taiwan.. I lose weight without trying. Living in 90% humidity has benefits...)

I think I'll try to do at least one pic post a month from now on. Since pictures can communicate more than words, it's another way to help you all experience a taste of Taiwan. (Speaking of which.. maybe the next picture post will be about food!) Enjoy~

This formation is called Two Lions, if I remember correctly. See why?

They could call this Goat Island too..
Not as pretty sounding as Orchid Island, but I saw no orchids and hundreds of goats...

Looking East toward "The West"... it's all Pacific until Hawaii

This could have spiritual significance but to me it looked like
someone left behind their fly-fishing pole

There are a lot of churches on Orchid Island,though most of them are not what you'd call evangelical...

Some areas are getting more touristy...

Island kids, who came to our one-day VBS event with songs and games.

Some ring tossing...

I was a hit with the local kids, who had probably occasionally seen
but never gotten to interact with a foreigner before.

The kids were fascinated by my nose (it's pointy!) and stubble,
both of which are seemingly in short supply on Orchid Island.
Two of the kids, a brother and sister, especially befriended me.
There was a moving event as our team was leaving, when the little girl asked
tearfully in Mandarin if I was ever coming back to visit them again.
They're teenagers by now, I wonder if they remember our visit?

Cute and friendly pot-bellied pig who loved attention
as much as any dog I've met

Good times...

Stop Hating on the Church

I recently noticed a blog entry making the rounds on FB, "I Hate Church..."

I am not specifically condemning the article, as he explicitly admits later on that the title is simply a stunt to get views and that he actually loves church (A little too 'bait-and-switch' for my taste, but I suppose it does bring in the audience to discover his point), but he believes it is in error in various ways. Read his article if you wish, in my opinion among his various assertions/accusations there are a few valid ones. However, his writing is in a similar vein to many other articles and blogs I've noticed over the past few years, and the trend troubles me.

What I want to respond to is the idea that it's alright to take cheap shots at the Church in general based on your own ideas of what local church culture should look like, especially when some investigation reveals that the complaints are often grounded in either whatever secular take on virtue is currently in vogue and how the church isn't doing enough to meet the world's expectations on that front, or the complainer is suggesting all churches should parallel their own particular subculture/background.

In this post, I want to look at the claims that the local church is beset with unloving people who only care about appearance, based on a perceived unfriendliness or intolerance for people who are "different." "If the church started really being the church," the argument typically goes, "then no one, of any appearance or background, should feel uncomfortable or unwelcome there." Usually they proceed to claim that the church would then necessarily look much more diverse than our churches do today, filled with people of all walks of life.

1. Diversity: The church/Church Confusion

Notice one immediate problem with that line of attack. "The Church," the Body of Christ, is already incredibly diverse. Compared to the adherents of other religions, diversity could be said to be a notable trait of Christianity. It is indeed comprised of desperately poor and astonishingly rich, people of every walk of life and nearly every ethnicity on the planet (Check out the Joshua Project for info on those people groups not yet reached!). Where the intentions of men would fail due to sinful prejudice, the Spirit has succeeded, and the Church is truly being formed from every nation, tribe, language, and people.

Now this glorious, global Church is made up of a vast number of local churches. The church/Church difference is usually glossed over in these complaints, as they're transferring their problem with the practices of some local churches to 'the church' because it sounds more urgent. After making the distinction, we can easily see that the implied claim that each individual local church ought to reflect the same diversity we see in the global church is simply invalid; to be "local," it stands to reason that the members of a local church ought to more or less reflect the people of its locale, whether varied or homogenous.

But what is true in America (and pretty much any other place, I believe, but I prefer not to speak where I do not have experience), which is where most of this dialogue is taking place, is that the real divides are not just between different locations, but between socioeconomic levels and subcultures. Which leads to my next point...

2. A Christian Welcome?

Let me ask a very direct question here. Is it evidence that your local church is failing to love people as they should, if people from significantly different subcultures or economic classes feel uncomfortable or unwelcome there? Quite possibly, but not necessarily.

It turns out that churches are full of actual people, not demographic data points. And real people all spend their time and go through life within some kind of economic class and subculture. And people in the same class tend to live near each other, and go to the same churches (and schools, and shops, etc). Certain subcultures often frequent the same places as well. An ordinary church in America therefore has a high chance of its members being from the same or adjacent economic classes and subcultures. This may not be the ideal or most God-glorifying situation, but it needs to be recognized as the default. It's not a contrived situation created by unfaithful churches, it's the starting point from which we can do better.

In the article I mentioned, the example is used of a group of bikers, some of whom said they wouldn't be comfortable or welcomed in church. Let's turn the example around. If in a hypothetical area all the churches were biker churches, with the congregation looking more or less the same as they would at the biker bar, and you came in on Sunday with a 3-piece suit and Italian leather shoes, talking into your bluetooth earpiece, would you be surprised if you got a few "what are you doing here?" looks? I wouldn't be.

The young lady from the article was stared at for her tattoos, piercings, and the way she was dressed, not because churchgoers are bigots or intolerant or unloving, but because in the subculture/s to which those church members belonged, she presented an unusual spectacle. If they are not taught otherwise, people stare at things which are unusual or out of place. (If she had fit the subcultural appearance code but been nine feet tall, she would have been stared at even more.) But, if she had kept attending, regardless of the tattoos and piercings, she would become at least a familiar face, and most likely come to feel accepted. (Not exactly the same, but similar to my experience being one of the only white people in a Chinese church in Dallas.)


Consider this question. If a homeless person had attended church as a guest of a couple who'd been loving and witnessing to her over the course of a few weeks, and had been asking others in their church to pray for her, do you think the scenario would play out the same?

So the problem here is not necessarily that local churches are failing to love, but sometimes the inevitable frictions which result from the collision of subcultures. And I've argued against some of what the author of the linked article says, but on this point he's absolutely right; Christians in America can be hesitant to step outside the bounds of their own subculture to walk with and witness to those who are different, because they're never interacting with those people in the first place. If Christians were more actively reaching across subcultures with the gospel, our churches might be more used to the odd-looking guest now and again.

But although anyone randomly showing up on Sunday morning should be witnessed to by seeing Christ and the love we have in Him (otherwise that church really is failing), if we're relying on Sunday mornings to save people and therefore focusing on church being a building and event where the random guest of any subculture would not feel out of place, we're not obeying the Great Commission. Christ said to speak the truth in love, not that every church needs to tailor itself to the specific needs of inner city ministry (what the article writer seems to be alleging), or any other ministry.

3. The Answer: (As Always...) Do What Jesus Already Told Us to Do

So if we really love "those people," the ones who wouldn't feel comfortable in our church, and who maybe we're not 100% comfortable even having in our church, then while we're working on changing those attitudes inside our church, we should be GOING TO THEM.

The missional church movement takes this a step further; its proponents are convinced that by implicitly changing Christ's command from "make disciples of all nations" to "get as many people as possible to come to this building on Sunday morning," we have lost track. On this particular point, I totally agree with them. Once a local church is aware of the needs of a particular community or culture within their ministry reach, rather than focusing on trying to change things at that church to work for that subculture too (and yes, the practical side of "doing" church is affected by who the members are), they should be doing outreach and eventually planting new churches among them.

Therefore, rather than the focus being trying to prepare churches to be "ready for the day the prostitute walks into church after she just finished her night shift... or the back of the church smells like weed because broken people are coming in through the doors... or the day when they can’t leave their purse on their seat during worship because that visitor might just steal their wallet," (Honestly to me this sounds more like a desire to "shake up the system" and "scare some stuffy old people" than a plan to develop a more God-glorifying church...) it would be vastly more in accordance with the Great Commission to make church a place where some seats were empty because people were out doing church with those people, in their own communities.

Churches are already full of broken people. They're just mostly full of broken people who feel less broken around people who are similar to them. And just because some of them don't know they're broken, that doesn't make them any less in need of healing.

4. So Please...

Don't say you hate the Church because some local churches have issues. 
Don't say you hate local churches because they are full of sinful people (like you, like me).
Don't think that because your eyes are opened to love the have-nots, it's ok to despise the haves.
Go to the harvest where it's planted; a new field might need a new church focused on it, not for each church to change to accommodate every kind of grain.

Why I listen to Christian Metal (And... maybe... you should too)

First, a word:

(Skip if you aren't easily offended)
Musical tastes, for some reason, inspire great defensiveness in people. Suggesting someone's taste in music is "wrong" evokes a sort of gut-level response as if you've insulted their intelligence or character.

I was once, in an attempt to prove to me that music with drums was displeasing to God or at very least inappropriate in a church, given a pamphlet entitled "The Kind of Music that Honors God." That was indeed an unfortunate bit of Pharisaical propaganda, though I should mention it was given in good faith and I appreciated the gesture, if not the explicit promotion of generational preference to theological mandate.

In Romans 14, Paul is clear that we are not to despise/look down on those with a weaker conscience, which in this case, would be those who feel compelled to isolate themselves from various genres of music. (Note: I said genre, not lyrical content) I do not criticize anyone for this by any means; I think the intention to forgo what is perceived to be harmful to one's Christian walk is right, and vastly preferable to so many in the Church who listen to profane and sexually explicit lyrics without a second thought because actually they just listen to whatever is popular without filtering.

That being the case, I do not necessarily apologize for offending anyone (I think it's good for us to be offended now and again), but I do apologize if at any point I could be accurately accused of adopting a condescending attitude. I intend various things with this post, but that is not one of them.

Important Note: Anyone can run out and find examples of bands that call themselves Christian Metal bands who are not glorifying to God, and if anything glorify the darkness they would claim to be opposing. This problem is present in every genre, and I am obviously not speaking of those bands.

Also, for younger students: Read to the end. If you get in trouble with your parents for listening to Christian Metal, you have my sympathy, and feel free to point out some of the principles I have outlined here, but you also officially do not have my permission to tell them that you should be able to because a missionary said it was ok. (If it's any consolation, God said that He will reward you specifically for honoring your parents, and I wasn't allowed to listen to that kind of music growing up either!)

A Closer Look at Christian Metal: Content

In a Christian church? Shameful!

Few people today would think it odd to see an organ's pipes peeking out from somewhere in the walls of the sanctuary of an older or larger church. Yet for centuries the organ was banned on and off, a controversial instrument which to many of the Protestant reformers was a symbol of the pomp and unspirituality of the Roman Catholic Church. Too loud and showy, ruining the simple act of worshiping God.

Sound familiar? Yet, go listen to "A Mighty Fortress is our God" played by a master organist; this is high praise and the glorious magnification of God's name through a powerful and beautiful instrument.

I have experienced that Christian metal can accomplish the same thing. I'm not saying it should be played in church, but I am suggesting that for some of us it can be an important part of private worship. First, let's look at the lyrics of some selected Christian metal bands. And yes, as with anything else one chooses to put into one's mind, selection is highly necessary. I don't advocate Christian metal "in general" any more than I recommend reading fiction "in general."

The following is from the song Crown of Thorns (by For Today, who I would recommend).
A sampling of lyrics:

We crown Him... with a crown of thorns 
This is the end of our life that’s been burdened for all that comes
The suffering manifest glory has come with the fullness of God

(And later, more poignantly)

It should have been me
With the nails through my hands and feet
Facing the wrath of God

It should have been me
Left to pay for my sin forsaken
But in the blood I stand

Hard to argue with any of that, right? If I preached that more or less verbatim in a sermon, I could probably get a few Amens, depending on the church. But it's "the devil's music" to many, because it happens to be accompanied by shredding guitars. This insistence that forms take precedence over content is a persistent attitude in the church, which I would argue is not only intellectually lazy but weakens our witness as well.

I am aware that, in earlier generations, this music was identified with purely secular and often outright satanic references. I am also aware that A Mighty Fortress, used in my example above, is set to an old drinking tune. (For that matter, the music used for the Star Spangled Banner has even less reputable roots...)
Clearly, forms can be redeemed when their content and message is directed appropriately.

Another example, a band called 7 Horns 7 Eyes (referencing Revelation 5:6) has a song called Vindicator, which is a compilation of parts of various Psalms.

Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck
I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold
I have come into the deep waters, the floods engulf me
Fear and trembling have beset me, horror has overwhelmed me
I am worn out calling for help, my throat is parched
My heart is in anguish with me, the terrors of death assail me
Many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me
They sharpen their tongues like swords, and aim their words like deadly arrows
When they draw the bow let their arrows be blunted
O Lord, how many are my foes!
But You are a shield around me, O Lord, You bestow glory on me
I cry aloud, and He answers me
I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me 

Here's another example, from a band called Becoming the Archetype (a personal favorite), who did a whole album ("Dichotomy") inspired by a C.S.Lewis novel. These lyrics are from the title track:

Initially they rationalized with futile speculations
Which brought about their ultimately fatal calculations
They sewed their own eyes shut
To protect them from the light
Closed the doorway of their minds
Barred and sealed it tight
Their foolish hearts were darkened
Their vacant minds deceived
The lies that they exchanged for truth
Became all that they believed
They exchanged the incorruptible
For the image of fallen man
Worshiped creature rather than creator
The image rather than his hand

C.S.Lewis + Metal = win-win!

Not only are these lyrics communicating Scriptural truth, based on C.S.Lewis and Romans 1, but they are also intellectually valuable. I submit they compare very favorably to much of what ends up on "positive, uplifting" Christian radio stations.

And that leads me to another observation which is one of the roots of my appreciation of Christian metal.
I firmly believe that God as typically portrayed on Christian pop radio stations, is not the God of Scripture. A God who is accurately described in a song that needs but one or two words to be changed to be just as easily be speaking of a boyfriend or girlfriend is simply not the God of the Bible.

I submit that a large portion of the problems we all like to complain about regarding the church in America are simply based in the fact that in our haste to emphasize the nice and "positive" parts of the gospel we have forgotten what God is like.

Who is God, and what is He like, according to Scripture? Go back and read the description of God descending upon Mount Sinai in Exodus. Go read the description of Jesus in Revelation 1. In fact I will post that here (Rev 1:12-18):

"Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades."

"Gentle Jesus, meek and mild"? Jesus as a man "had no form or majesty that we should look at him"; Jesus as the Alpha and Omega, the Victorious Conqueror, is terrifying. As believers we see Him in the light of Grace, as citizens of His kingdom and sons of God. Yet John, Christ's own apostle and "the one whom Jesus loved" falls at His feet as if dead, at the sight of His glory and power. Proverbs states that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. We can approach the throne of God boldly only because of the astonishing truth of the sacrifice of God Himself for us. When we forget the greatness of the God to whom we had not yet been reconciled, we find it more difficult to cry out in thankful relief that we are saved from His wrath and adopted through love into His own family.

The "Old Testament" style* lyrics of Christian Metal, with its focus on the power of God, His righteous judgment, the darkness of evil and sin and humanity's despair apart from Him, and the hope of His return, are a stark call to remember the nature of God as He has revealed Himself to us, Sovereign Lord of All by Might and by Right. Not as we would seek to revise Him, into a comfortable, friendly sort of inclusive God who mainly is concerned that we be happy.

(*-I regret that people pretend there is a difference. The New Testament God and the Old Testament God are one and the same, even the language used in the New Testament to describe Him is the same, when it's not simply quoted directly from the Old Testament)

A Closer Look at Christian Metal: Style

The God I worship, the God I serve, the God who died for me, is One at whose feet I would fall not only in devotion but out of necessity. There is none like Him. None greater, none higher, none to compare.
Those moments I find myself lacking in obedience or wandering from my walk with God are not those moments that I forget that He loves me. That, thankfully, is a lesson He has taught me and something the Church has not failed to communicate.

What brings me back into obedience and sends me joyfully and worshipfully into the world to proclaim the glory of His name are the unavoidable reminders of Who He Is. One tiny glimpse of His all-consuming majesty is all it takes for my soul to remember the One to whom it belongs. That is what propels me to ministry in Taiwan: that they might know and glorify God as He has revealed Himself to us, the God who is stronger than the spirits of the dead they fear, the great I Am who is worthy of our praise and devotion simply because of who He Is.

To be straightforward, a folksy bit of acoustic guitar soloing or even "light rock" contemporary worship style simply does not convey God's power and majesty to me. That sense of overwhelming awe at His presence is absent. It may speak of His love, of the intimacy of fellowship with Him, it may be profitable and edifying in various ways which justify the experience and even pursuit of it, but it does not send me to my knees in humility before the Lord of the Universe. It may do so for you; I can only speak from my own experience, and the experiences of those who have expressed similar feelings to me.

Glorifying, yes, but not Awe-inspiring

Rock as a musical style conveys power. There is a reason people listen to it to get "pumped up" before and during a workout, why mosh pits break out at rock concerts, etc. This is even more true of Metal as a subgenre of Rock. It delivers an explosive energy that registers on more than a merely surface level.
We are spiritual creatures, and music affects us on a deeper level even than merely mental or psychological. Indeed, one reason musical styles have so often been a controversial topic in the church is the acknowledgment that music touches us on a spiritual level as well as mental/physical.

In this power lies a danger which the Church has recognized in the past, and given the associations with secular or even satanic ideas, heavy metal type music had long been condemned as a purely evil coupling of that power with corrupting influence. That is a sensible reaction, perhaps the only correct one that could be made under the circumstances.
But when that influence is turned on its head, when the power of rock is used to drive home the glory and majesty of the Creator, the pain of sin and separation from Him, and the hope of His coming*, then we have the redemption of form. The powerful music which so greatly impacts the psyche of many has been repurposed to glorify God. We should appreciate it accordingly.

(*- The Second Coming and final judgment of evil is a very common theme in Christian Metal)

My Plea

I recognize Christian Metal is never going to appeal to more than a small minority of believers, stylistically. The album art can look disturbing, it is too hard-hitting for many, and some simply cannot understand the lyrics when sung/screamed/growled heavy metal style. I'm not suggesting that all Christians ought to start listening to it, but rather that what it's getting right ought to be incorporated into how we all worship.

And between rap, metal, reggae, or any other genre, I'm hoping that we can all stop saying "nothing that sounds like that could be glorifying to God" without first checking out what's actually being said. One beauty of the Church is that Christians exist across the spectrum of subcultures. Let them glorify God within their own musical environments to speak to others of similar backgrounds without condemning what is unfamiliar.

To summarize, what I ask is two things:

1. That we stop judging music only by its style, and start looking closely at content, with high standards.

I really am shocked by how many Christians listen to music with no filtering at all (regardless of the profanity of the lyrics or the sinfulness of the message conveyed... "I don't pay attention to the lyrics, I just like how it sounds," they say. Your mind is never not paying attention to the lyrics, and getting them subconsciously is more dangerous than memorizing them consciously.) On the other hand, many Christian "praise and worship" songs are mere fluff. I won't call out any songs specifically, but the "I, I, I, me, me, me" songs are rampant, and I think you all know what I mean when I say some songs are just pop romantic songs repurposed with God replacing the boyfriend or girlfriend. We can do better than this, and God deserves our utmost efforts.

2. That we start worshiping with regard to the majesty of God like we really believe He's listening

This is a tougher one. It might require a few new hymns, or that we go dig up some old ones that were lost to time. But I am convinced that as much as I enjoy Christian metal and find it edifying, I shouldn't be forced to listen to it in order to find appropriate reverence for our God who is an All-Consuming Fire (Hebrews 12, quoting Deut 4). My soul craves a worship time with other believers on Sunday morning when we truly exalt God as He has revealed Himself to us. We ought to always do this, but how we approach it matters, and how people are led to worship will affect how they worship. Maybe it's as simple as pushing away the chairs, leaving the coffee outside the sanctuary, and approaching God as if He really is the God we are singing about. That would be a great start.