Adventures would be impacted by Mike’s pithy theological statements; each convey a depth of theological meaning. For instance, in dealing with the plague narratives in Exodus, he writes, “When God Liberates, Look for Mercy.” He puts forward a prophetic reading that highlights the mercy of God in a passage that many use to argue God is controlling and vengeful. I appreciate the ability to pack such a liberating teaching about God into a concise statement that can be unpacked and discussed.
Mike’s subtitle in Everyday Thoughts, A Collection of Devotional Readings for thinking Christians, reflects his frustration and response to the mass proliferation of Christian devotionals that don’t engage our mind and thus leave us Spiritually dwarfed. The shift to devotional writing reflects Mike’s versatility as a theological educator and writer.
Reflected clearly in the title of the second book, but definitely a major part of his first and recent work, is his concern for Christians to engage God with their mind. The absence of critical thinking in popular Christianity is a major issue. When people cannot think for themselves then they will follow the crowd. Mike taught in Gospels class “crowds are fickle.” One minute they love Jesus and they next they are yelling “crucify him!” In order to act according to God’s word, it’s necessary that it become the source of constant meditations. For years, Mike has challenged me and his other students to think more deeply. The expectation “in Christ” is that our thoughts would mature. The unfortunate reality, however, is that most folks, including, and perhaps especially Christians, don’t know how to think. We don’t just need devotionals to connect us emotionally to God, but also to engage our minds in worship. Mike tried to address this issue with “Everyday Thoughts”.
Not thinking makes us more susceptible to the common ideologies of the day, which leads us to a life of materialistic consumerism, militarism and nationalism. This has detrimental effects not only on us, but our children as well. When Mike entered the Marine Corp as a young man, he had not been taught that military service was incompatible with the Christian faith. Later in life, Mike experienced the revelation that Jesus was nonviolent, and in that case his followers should be too. An ethic of nonviolence should be a core value for the people of God. A way we move towards society where “swords are beat into plowshares” is by teaching our children not to participate in violent activity, including any form of military service. In the poem, “Christian Resistance: World Creators,” he writes,
“God Bless
Our children to resist
not with weapons or fists
but with wisdom and one another
Freedom of speech is impotent without freedom of thought.”
This stanza challenges the idea that blessing is evidenced by wealth and material abundance, which is the notion at the heart of the modern prosperity gospel. Again, Mike is challenging us to think, or perhaps re-think how we understand blessing. He connects it to our children. However, our progeny, the very thing that reflects God’s blessing in our lives have been indoctrinated by the ideologies of our age. In the gospels Jesus says, ‘wisdom is vindicated by its children,’ but we live in an age where kids are taught to war, and the apex of service is to enlist in the military.
This reality is not unique to our age. The state has long fostered a spirit of nationalism to compel parents to give their children over for battle. The prophet Micah projected the vision of a new world where “children learn war no more.” The first act of resistance is for parents to teach their children from a young age that military participation is not consistent with our faith. Jesus will define blessing in Matthew 5 as peacemakers who in effect are children of God. Christian resistance will happen when the next generation is taught how to speak and think with faith in a world seeking to instill in them the values of the dominant culture. Mike shares this concern and believes that by teaching our kids war is not an option and instilling in them the need to be thinking and informed persons, the world can change. They can leave off building towers and fueling the city so they can participate in the wonderful work of building Christ’s kingdom that comes from knowing God and his word.
The final poem of this collection is under the heading ‘Living Truth’ is titled ‘Freedom and Truth’. Truth is an abstract theme that has been pursued by philosophers throughout the ages. When Pilate asks Jesus, “What is truth?” He is asking a question one could hear from Plato. The irony is that Jesus was the embodiment of truth, standing before his very eyes, yet he could not see. We believe that truth is not some abstract concept, but revealed in a historical person, Jesus of Nazareth. In the poem, Mike writes,
“Truth is a disruptive power in the world
Liberation from perceived normalcy
Freedom from
Freedom to
A dizzying experience”
This makes me think about how we are all faced with whether or not we’ll accept the truth of Jesus, even when it disrupts our comfort and the semblance of control we think is real. Yet, we don’t even know we are slaves, slaves to ideas that keep us chained to the wall, rather than living a life ‘in Christ’, a life of freedom. The version of freedom we have that says do whatever you want is false. The truth is we need Jesus. He is the one that can free us from a mundane, purposeless life, so we can be free to truly live. I think it was intentional on Mike’s part to leave us with this final poem, the fortieth in the collection, which challenges us to choose the living truth, rather than the false truth of freedom promoted by our culture.
A Response to the Blind
With the Eyes of God
If he touches me and opens my eyes
I shudder at the thought
To see the world with the vision of God
Like the blind man of old my vision was blurred but clearing
Is it heaven I see emerging in me
Forgive me O Lord
Seeing my blindness grips me with pain
In the eyes of my friends I have become a madman
I am as one misunderstood, an alien, an exile
Your hope has become my imagination
As you draw closer
I refuse to look away
It is your ways that I have not seen
My death comes near as my sight clears
I see a world to come living in me
With my last breath I will speak of your love
I will demand justice
Cry out for peace
Stand alongside the poor and oppressed
I was blind but now I see
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free,”
Luke
