Deconstructing The Euro-Centric American Gospel (PART ONE)

So you want to believe that we are living in the last days. Isaiah 2:2-3 says, "In the last days The mountain of the Lord's house will be established as the highest of the mountains and raised above the hills. All nations will stream into it!  Then many people will come and say, 'Come and let us go to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of our God. He will teach us HIS WAYS and we will walk in HIS PATHS for the law shall go forth out of Zion and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem." What a great promise.  Do you think we are there yet?  One of the most important aspects of Isaiah's prophecy is that "HE will teach of HIS ways." Later in Isaiah 55:8-9 God speaks to humanity and says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways my ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.

Too often, churches across North America think they are teaching God's ways; when in fact they are steeped in a colonial "white" gospel.  Without realizing or paying close attention to understanding what the "roots" of our Westernized gospel has been - we are under the influence of a Euro-centric culture that dehumanized and stripped both First Nations and African American people of their cultural heritage.  In fact, we have presumed that the underlying foundations of the Christian faith were based in an integris commitment to present the Christian faith to the Native people with the planting of the first English flag on the shores of Cape Henry.  There is increasing evidence to prove otherwise with the recent examination of the papal edicts that gave ascendency to what is called, "The Doctrine Of Discovery."  The doctrine of discovery was an edict that told European leaders to "go conquer and dispossess pagan, heathen and unchristian lands; disposses them and to bring the inhabitants of the land into perpetual slavery."  So Portugal went to Africa and enslaved the African people. The Dutch did the same followed by the Spanish and English nations.  Rev. Robert Hunt planted his cross along with seven other crosses around the Chesapeake Bay to let the Portugees, Spanish, French, and Dutch know that England was taking this territory in the name of their God and King.  Why did they bring Rev. Robert Hunt?  To Christianize the Native American's and use them for the crown's purpose. Gospel according to the English ment to cut Pocahanna's hair, give her a bath, and put proper English clothing on her and to adopt "White Anglo-saxon" ways.  That was their gospel.  Instead of allowing her to hear the gospel and allowing the incarnation of the Holy Spirit to work in her tribal ways the English imposed their culture on the Native cultures.  History accuratley demonstrates this from North to South, East to West.  When the Powhatten tribe and other Chesapeake Bay tribes fought back against the plantation of Virginia Governor Berkley got so frustrated that he ordered the introduction of African slaves to be imported since the First Nations were not suited for meeting the needs of free labor for southern plantations in Virginia.  This is a simple survey of the story but it's true. 

Later, in Carlisle, Pa., a First Nations School was established to decontruct Native American identity. The purpose of this Christian school was to make "Native Americans" white.  The same happened to the African slaves in the south during the reconstruction period.  The intention was to deconstruct and assimulate First Nations tribal ways into a euro-centric cultural way.  Children were taken from their familiesand tribes and sent to these "White Euro-centric" schools and forced to stop speaking their native languages and to lose their Native cultural ways and become "American."  Today, we have 4 to 5 generations of First Nations people who cannot think like a Native Born person because they only have white man's thinking after this deprogramming initiative of the American government. Likewise, African American children have been indoctrinated to think like "White" America who view themselves as superior to the descendants of the slaves.  Why is all this history important?  Because, the exiles in Babylon had the same problems as the First Nations and African-American people exiled in North America.  Babylon wanted to assimulate the Jewish people and destroy their national identity. That's when Isaiah writes, "Come let us go to the mountain of the Lord... and he will teach us of his ways!"  Not Euro-centric cultural ways... God will teach us his way- how to treat people properly.  

“Well, Mackenzie, don’t just stand there gawkin’

with your mouth open like your pants are full,”

said the big black woman as she turned

and headed across the deck, talking the whole time.

“Come and talk to me while I get supper on.”

– The Old Black Woman as God in The Shack

By William Paul Young

I think God is calling the greatest weekly segregationist groups in American (The Church) to decolonize itself and look for a new incarnational understanding of its "Gospel." God is wanting to reveal the nature of his incarnational ways in and through non-euro-centric culture. But the question remains: Does what ran in our white segregationist, racist fathers/mothers still run in us?  Can we see God as an Old Black woman?  or does that sicken our own little racist hearts?  The truth is revealed in our relationship to "those people."  - whether white, hispanic, african american, muslim, Korean or Jew.  Repentance and racial reconciliation is the call of the Holy Spirit.  In the mind of some this will be seen and dismissed as a politically liberal article. However, Isaiah wants us to know that our ways of thinking are not as God thinks. In Fact, Romans 8:7 says "our minds are at enmity against God." This is why God is calling us to ascend to the mountain of the Lord to learn His ways - IN THE LAST DAYS!  After all - ALL humanity was created in the image of God.  So to respect and honor the Imago Dei in another culture other than mine is to acknowledge another expression of who God is.  Perhaps the Holy Spirit is calling us to re-learn his ways (free of Euro-centric American Thinking) which would then call us to work with Him to reorder our worlds.

Drive By Relationships: It's time to slow down!

Each of us have the exact same amount of hours each week.  God gave each of us 168 hours a week. He designed creation to work this way.   Since most of us require 8 hours of sleep (56 hours) we are left with 112 hours of wake time.  Since God want us to take a regular sabbath (which is 10% of 168) we are left with  96 hours. If you are on a 40 hour a week schedule you are left with 56 hours or 9.33 hour per day to do whatever you deem important to you.  So if God has given each of the same amount of allotted time then why do so many people complain they don't have enough time?  Is your schedule under control?  If not, why not?

A number of years back, Bill Gates wrote a book entitled, "Business At The Speed Of Thought." The purpose of the book was to tell us to prepare ourselves for an acceleration of doing life at rapid speed due to new technologies.  Who would have figured facebook, instagram, twitter, snap chat, etc. becoming our regular means of communication?  140 characters, sloganeering, instant messaging have become the norm for marriages, friends, and kids.  No more table conversations around a dinner table. No more early morning coffees with the wife.  Husbands and wives juggling schedules to run kids to school, after school activities, chic-fli-a for dinner, soccer on Sunday mornings to ensure their is no faith instilled in your family life. Sounds old fashion to actually say, "you have the power to slow down and take time for your relationship with God, your family, and yourself."

All I ever hear these days, "I can't BE THERE I have too much work  to do."  Then we wonder why there is an epidemic of heroin use in our communities, porn, kids being abducted into sex slavery, violence in schools, 50% of American kids going home without a home cooked dinner and sitting all night in front of a video game leanring how to shoot guns and killing people. Daycare providers, latch key kids, and supposed vacation fixes for marriage is no excuse for schedules being out of control.  God did not design life to be like a fast food restaurant. No one can do life/business at the speed of thought.  My own brain is very creative, has hundreds of ideas, and is able to move at lightning speed but I regularily empty my thoughts in my "trash bin" because much of it is a distraction.  Too many people are filling up their schedules like landfills.  They are unable to keep up with the trash pile up and then have melt downs when their world is overscheduled.  Recently, I've watched people, even in church, who can't sit still, have to keep checking their smart phones, and won't engage in worship because they just don't know how to unhook from their technology addictions.  Being a human means "being present."  You can't expect a healthy relationship with anyone when your body is present but your not.  You can't expect a healthy relationship with drive by comments...  relationships take time to build, being engaged in conversation, and being together in those 9 and half hours you have to spend daily.  Even the sabbath was designed by God to unhook yourself from the daily routines of life so that you could reconnect to God, yourself and those you love. You make the choices of what's important to you.. you choose how to spend your time - you can't blame anyone but yourself for the decisions you make.  Relationship is either important or not. 

American culture today insists that we must be doing something or accomplishing something in order to have self-worth.  Need evidence?  Just suggest to someone that they're not busy and watch the fur fly. We live in a culture that is out of control.  Being relaxed is equated to being lazy.  Whatever happened to that "conversation over a cup of coffee (Third Place) vs. The Starbuck drive-thu?"  Steve Schultz said in his book, "Pour Your Heart Into It,"  that Amercia needed a Third Place like the Itailian cafes in Italy for people to take regular breaks in their day and connect with others.  Guess the only place for that to happen is the bar... drink your stresses away because you have NO TIME in your overscheduled day. If I sound a bit out of touch here... then so be it.  However, a text message, a FB picture, tweeting, instagraming just doesn't replace good ole facetime.  Being together, enjoying a another person, and having meaningful connections in this busy culture is more important to me these days than what "great accomplishments" my so called friends are posting on facebook.  Is it any wonder the divorce rate is climbing?  Is it any wonder our kids are going to school carrying guns to solve their problems?  It's all because too many people are trying to do drive-by relationships and not taking the time to slow down and let the people they claim are important to them know they are valued over the over-scheduled business of their daily routines. One last thought, don't ever justify your over-scheduled, disorganized, work addiction by saying "Well I am doing this all for you!"  Really?