88 Mother Was Right

You start saying that more frequently as you age. I think it was a perception, maybe not a phrase, that crept into my mind when I was in college. In our high school years, parents can do nothing right. They really get smart when they become grandparents. By the time they are 80, you are convinced the world cannot survive without their wisdom.

Specifically I'm remembering her comment about her parents' farm, which was in terrible condition by the time she took over and rolled up her sleeves around 1968. She had sold off most of her share of the land to her brother and sister so she could concentrate on the huge house, yard, garden, outbuildings, orchard, and small pasture. This amounted to about four acres.

We four adult children fretted over her working so hard--digging up thistles, trimming trees, sweeping out the dirty barn, creating huge compost bins, tearing down dilapidated sheds, rebuilding the grape arbors, patching concrete walks, straightening fences, walking behind the mower and hand trimming--she was, after all, in her mid-fifties and should be taking care of herself. She'd smile, mop the sweat, and pick up her hoe. "I can't save the whole world, but I can restore four acres," she'd say. Smart lady.

I think of that phrase everytime I get discouraged with the Christian church. Let's put aside for the moment the huge divisions among the denominations. When I was at Calvin College last week I picked up material from the various publishers that just skim the top of those controversies--but a look through Christian sites on the Internet makes the hair on my neck stand up. Yesterday I found one devoted to the 40 days of reading Rick Warren's book, but telling what was wrong with each day--and it was another Baptist site! Then I came across one that wants to dump our Constitution and create a Christian nation and economic system.

Then I browsed the various materials I brought home just from the Reformed tradition publishers (Calvin College is Christian Reformed). I applaud much that I read. But I didn't have to rub shoulders very long with people of Dutch surnames to discover that the children of Calvin can't agree and get along any better than the children of Luther or Wesley.

The February 2004 issue of Perspectives; a journal of Reformed thought has a wonderful article on "Curmudgeons: An Apologia" by Thomas B. Phulery that is just written for Christians like me. The pseudonymous author writes:

Bandwagoners abound. Trained by advertisers and public relations professionals, most of us are willingly herded into one dubious venture after another. . . Nay-sayers are categorized, tolerated, and ignored more than they are cultivated and heeded. Prophets are okay for passing in the hallway. Nobody wants a long car ride with one. Our loss.

And another on "Evangelical bookstores and the evangelical mind" by James R. Payton, Jr.

A typical Roman Catholic bookstore offers books that encourage Christian thought and challenges one to ponder the riches of the Christian faith. This leads to an unflattering comparison.

So I've decided to stick with my "four acres." I'm going to continue to comment, complain and expound that the Gospel is preached and taught so weakly, that it is seldom heard from many pulpits and hard to find inside the covers of many Christian books.

Today I read a quote from "A New Kind of Christian" by Brian D. McLaren. First he laments that talking about "personal salvation" is exclusionary (and I would agree it is a poor disguise for the Gospel), but then he suggests we just settle for "God loves you. God accepts you. Are you ready to accept your acceptance and live in reconciliation with God?"

OK. Line up here guys. This Gospel stuff is really easy. Wasn't really any reason for Jesus to die on the cross--probably is just a myth anyway. There are lots of ways God tells us we are loved--sunshine, golf courses, baked salmon, etc. [tongue firmly in cheek, here].

So, I'll just keep reminding people--pastors, authors, Bible study leaders--there is a foundation on which we need to be building our faith and works, and without that solid base we're all lost and taking others down with us.