A History of Violence

Like the rest of the nation, I was saddened and shocked by shootings at Virginia Tech and joined the all college students and other Americans in prayer for the victims, their families, as well as the gunman. But as I continued to think and reflect on the events that have come to pass, I thought about how our change in worldview may contribute to these new manifestations of disturbing and publicized violence.

Shocking acts of violence have always been a part of history, but it seems we may be witnessing a new evolution in its manifestations. The Baby Boomer generartion (considered to be the last "modern" generation) also witnessed growing up terrible publicized acts of violence, but they seemed to witness high profile political assassinations as well as politically charged events (the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, and Robert Kennedy, as well violence at civil rights rallies and Kent State University). All of the these events were terrible and shocking to the country and a connecting similarity between these acts is that they were all carried out because of what somebody believed and that they disagreed with something that the other person believed, in other words, they became violent because of something they valued and what they wanted to protect.

The postmodern generation has also witnessed violent acts growing up, but it appears that they have been of a different genre. Rather than seeing politically charged situations, we have witnessed violent acts of alienated individuals (John Hinckley Jr., the Columbine shootings, subsequent school shootings, and now recently Cho Seung-Hui). Rather than being motivated by political or ideological differences, it appears that violence has come from individuals frustrated by not being able to fit in and feel valued. Rather than violence being based on individual identity, it is being based on desiring to be part of a group identity and not finding it.

As we move into a postmodern world and ideology, we need to realize that publicized violent acts are going to change as well. I think that we are going to find that it is going to be more evident that people value being in a group rather than defending an ideology or political view. As a result, we may see a growing trend in violent acts from troubled, alienated people rather than political assassins. With this in mind, this makes the situation even more dire for Christians to bring people into a loving and healthy community, bringing them closer to the grace and healing that only Christ can give.

Once again, my prayers continue to be with the students of Virginia Tech and I pray that God will bring healing to the campus, the students, and the families.

Great Dismal Swamp

Today I had the privledge of going on a birding expedition with a Dr. Lytton Musselman, the head of the ODU biology department and possibly one of the coolest people I know, as well an ornithologist from the Smithsonian into the Great Dismal Swamp here in Virginia and had a blast. The Great Dismal Swamp is a huge tract of swampland in Eastern Virginia that has been abused for centuries by humans and is just recently recovering its wild status. It was only my second time into the swamp and I had a blast, especially since I was surrounded by people excited about nature and willing to listen about what is happening in this diverse area.

The weather was absolutely beautiful for the area (which typically means bugless) and I got to see some flora and fauna that I had never seen before or that I had not seen in many years. Some of these included the prothonotary warbler (a first sighting for me), wood ducks (birds I haven't seen since I was 6 years old), black gum, red maple, and bald cypress trees, as well as numerous traces of bear and otter. It was also very interesting going with several either former or current biology students because they were always turning up things like snakes or tadpoles, as well as being fascinated with some of the tiniest elements of creation.

I think the best part however was being able to spend more time with Dr. Musselman. I had already gotten to know him through my church as well as through the university, but I had never gotten to spend time with him in the field. It is so neat to see someone so interested in the world around us and willing to engage others in his fascination. "Take a look at those ferns! What type of tree is this? Everyone gather round! This flower only blooms for one week a year! Taste this! It tastes just like asparagus!" He was constantly engaging all of us in our surroundings and showing us the many intricacies of what appeared on the surface to be just a boring swamp. What a blessing to be able see creation in a brand new way!

I always enjoy going out into the creation and learning and experiencing new things, but today I really was challenged to learn and understand rather than just experience and soak in. I definately will still take time to simmer, soak, and experience creation, but who knows, maybe this will spark a new interest in me to pursue God and his creation in a new way.

Why Me?

To begin with, I am going to say that I will never understand the co-existence of the sovereign will of God and the free will of man (what a way to start a post!). However, recently I have been finding it more frustrating since I have been studying Christian leadership in the past few days. Little by little I have been growing and discovering more about what it means to be a leader, the gifts that God has given to me, as well as how the grace of God works through me as I learn more about these gifts. Over the past year or so I have been discovering that I do have some gifting in the area of leadership, and that I continually need to allow God to grow me into a better leader, but have also realized that most of the time I have assummed that everyone is gifted in the area of leadership as long as they are willing to submit to God. However, I have also noticed that many people are not leaders and do not appear to have those gifts. This has led me to ask God, "why me?"

I have had this conversation with my campus minister a couple of times about why God has chosen some people to have different gifts and to be more teachable than others. A lot of times, this seems very unfair in my mind and in the minds of many others, and it just doesn't make sense sometimes for God to make people unequally gifted. This where I really need to let my faith take over and to trust what God has planned for my life and the life of others. All I know is that God has given me a desire to be a leader and I need to continually pray to have God to continue to grow me into a better leader. I don't know why God makes some people more gifted and more receptive than others, but I know that I need to have faith in God that He knows the ultimate plan rather than me.

I can't say that I have come to the end of my thoughts on this and I still don't understand why God has given me the gifts that I have, but all I know is that faith and rest in the Lord is the only place I can go, no matter how confused or frustrated I am.

Balance in the Revolution in World Missions

Recently I finished the book Revolution in World Missions by K.P. Yohannan, a book that I got when I attended the Urbana Missions conference in January, and it really got me thinking about the constantly broadening global missions field and what role all of these cultures can play as we all reach out to the world.

The book had many good points in it, especially being extremely committed to presenting the gospel as well as giving an interesting "non-Western" view of American culture (the author is a native of India). However, some questions were raised when I thought about the main thesis of the book. In essence, the revolution in world missions that the author speaks of is that there is an explosion in native missionaries ministering to their own people groups and are having a profound effect on areas in the Two-Thirds world, especially in areas that are closed to traditional Western missionaries. I think that it is absolutely beautiful that the Gospel is spread faster than it ever has before and it is being done by people who can best reach out to those their own culture, and yet I also felt that the book also sent some negative messages about cross-cultural missions. It almost seemed that sometimes the book portrays the idea of Westerners going into foreign missions is outdated and that the best thing for Americans to send funding strictly for native missionaries. This may have not been the aim of the book's message, but it did get me thinking about what that may mean.

Obviously, strictly relying on native missionaries is essential in countries that are completely closed to outside missions. Also, I believe that it is essential that all missions organizations should be coordinated and directed by those who are native to the area and have an infinately better understanding of the culture rather than an outsider. However, I think that it would be disasterous if cross-cultural missions was completely shelved and labelled as a thing of the past. I believe that when Christians experience and work with other cultures we will gain a better perspective for the body of Christ and what he is doing with the world, something that will be invaluable as we move closer and closer into a global community. I still believe that native missionaries should be the decision-makers and organizers of missions in their areas, but I still believe that completely compartmentalize countries and not allow others to experience and work for the kingdom wherever it may be.

I sincerely hope that I have in no way taken any of the author's words or ideas out of context and that I was able to express my thoughts about this clearly. I just believe that now we are moving into a new paradigm in missions and what it means to integrate balance and listening to each other about each other's cultures as we continue to reach out to all with the Gospel. Different cultures are going to be reached out to and experienced, and we need to be ready to be flexible, change our thinking and ways, and be willing to listen to the Spirit as well as each other.