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Los Angeles, CA 90053   

BUYING LUNCH FOR BARBARA BOXER

We have a couple of red-white-and-blue political illustrations to share with you. And I guess we lucked into the perfect radio series title for this week too: THE FUN OF FILIBUSTERING. Our topic here is to consider very prayerfully the counsel in First and Second Timothy, where we're told as believers not to waste time and spiritual energy going around and around on what the Word of God calls "pointless quarreling." The Living Bible says this in Second Timothy 2:14

"Remind your people of these great facts" — speaking of the resurrection and our promised eternity in heaven with Jesus — "and command them in the name of the Lord not to argue over unimportant things. Such arguments are confusing and useless, and even harmful."

Well, about thirten years ago now, one of our staff members around here (and we're not about to say who) was invited by the local Democratic Party here in Ventura County, California, to do some pre-election phoning to get people to the polls. He must have dialed quite a few wrong numbers or taken too many ice cream breaks because that was the year that George Bush beat Michael Dukakis rather handily, as you'll recall. But as this volunteer looked down through the computerized sheets provided by the county organizer, it was very interesting to notice how many, many households were split right along political lines. The husband was a Republican, the wife a Democrat. So a phone volunteer would have to very specifically ask: "Is MRS. Brown there, please?"

ometimes those roles were reversed, with the woman of the house being loyal to the GOP. In other families there would be one Republican and one staunch independent, a Perot-type voter. Or a family might have three or four registered voters, with one lonely Democrat trying to hold her own at the supper table against a small army of Bush-Quayle-banner-waving enthusiasts.

And you have to wonder, in a home where the loyalties are so divided: how do people get along? What are the mealtime conversations like? Do people ever come to blows over issues like a balanced budget, or a constitutional amendment regarding burning an American flag? Or about abortion? Can someone who is pro-life live in the very same house and eat at the same table with a spouse who sends monthly donations to Planned Parenthood?

Here in the Bible, in the tumultuous days of the early Christian church, it's clear that leaders like the apostle Paul were concerned about our human tendency to debate and argue within the family. Let me mention again our series title for this week: THE FUN OF FILIBUSTERING. It's sometimes a red-blooded thrill to stay up until 2:30 in the morning arguing and slicing and dicing up your opponent regarding some Bible topic. And after all the dust has settled, spiritually speaking, he's still for Dukakis and you're still for Bush, and nothing at all is settled, especially your blood pressure.

It's interesting to notice in reading through this part of the Bible that, in a way, it's a kind of primer to leaders in the church. Here's a brief preface to First Timothy, coming from The Message Bible paraphrase:

"The best leadership in spiritual communities formed in the name of Jesus, the Messiah, is inconspicuous, not calling attention to itself but not sacrificing anything in the way of conviction or firmness either. In his letters to two young associates — Timothy in Ephesus and Titus in Crete — we see Paul encouraging and guiding the development of just such leadership. What he had learned so thoroughly himself, he was now passing on, and showing them, in turn, how to develop a similar leadership in local congregations. This is essential reading because ill-directed and badly formed spiritual leadership causes much damage in souls. Paul in both his life and his letters shows us how to do it right."

Okay, so Paul, the spiritual mentor, is writing to young Timothy about leadership issues, problems to resolve and also avoid in this fledgling movement called Christianity. And almost immediately — verse 3, in fact — we find that this "fun of filibustering" is a challenge. Notice:

"Stay there in Ephesus," Paul advises, "so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and false genealogies. These promote controversy rather than God's work."

Notice the first line again, as Eugene Peterson reconfigures it for The Message paraphrase:

"Stay right there on top of things," he advises, "so that the teaching stays on track."

Friend, would you agree with me that important truths, vital principles, can get swept aside while Christians debate minor issues? You've probably seen that, and I certainly have as well. Our peripheral discussions can generate so much heat, so much anger, that believers honestly do lose sight of the major teachings of our Christian faith.
Over in Second Timothy, Paul makes the same assertion again. Notice:

"Repeat these basic essentials over and over to God's people. Warn them before God against pious nitpicking, which chips away at the faith. It just wears everyone out."

Those are two, clear-as-a-bell warnings, aren't they? When we endlessly argue theology, especially on the minor issues, we do two things. Most dangerous of all, we chip away against the faith; we destroy confidence in the major truths of Christianity. Secondly, we wear everybody out. I'm sure there are many, many households in America today, who are almost red in the face at each other and especially at the media junkies on TV.

"Enough already!" they scream. "You've worn us out with these ticky-tack little points. Leave us alone!" Friend, what a tragedy when our incessant electioneering for small, debatable points of division serves to drive would-be voters right out of the ballot box.
Having said that, let's make the same concession as yesterday — because faith and points of doctrine are things well-meaning Christians are going to discuss and debate. Here on the radio, I know for a fact that some beautiful, precious listeners — people with good minds, well-worn Bibles, and sharp pencils — hear things coming through this microphone that they don't agree with. We're trying very hard here to stick with major points, important pillars.

But friend, we're not going to reach perfect unity until Jesus takes us all home . . . and the mail I get from you proves that point! How can we have spiritual Democrats and Republicans together here in this big radio tent, then, and still remain friends? If I teach x and you believe y, can we continue to be brothers and sisters in the Lord? I'm a Seventh-day Adventist, and you might be the most dedicated Sunday-attending Southern Baptist in the Bible belt. How's this going to work?

Well, political story #2 is quite interesting, and I can't believe our writer/producer, David Smith, would be reading from and quoting a book by Republican operative and former Christian Coalition director Ralph Reed. But in his recent book, Active Faith, Mr. Reed makes quite a confession about the debates and filibusters he's been in. This is a man who's been on CNN's Crossfire more than once, and on all the Sunday talk shows. He can dish it out, and he's taken some verbal pies in the face too. And he describes the before-and-after of his experience in politics when he became a born-again Christian. Listen to this:

"Politics is a contact sport," he writes. "I have a job to do, and it involves trying to advance my agenda. In that combat, I play hard and I try to win. But I never hit below the belt, I play according to the rules of fairness and courtesy, and after the game is over, I always help my opponent up off the turf." Then he adds one more confession: "My faith is not a function of my politics. When the last tackle is over and the game ends, I kneel on the field with other players of both teams and ask for God's blessings. That is the proper perspective of faith in politics — not that I am right and you are wrong, or that I have all the answers and you are an enemy of God, but that we are both flawed human beings in an imperfect world in search of the truth who are asking for His guidance in the struggle."

And I wonder if maybe Christians could learn, when they feel they must discuss and even debate some point of truth, if we could all learn this approach. If this particular doctrine is major — if you're convinced it's important — then by all means, go to it! With God in the ring as well, let the Bible verses fly and the commentaries get marked up. Dig deep into the Word and let the dirt clods fall where they will. But then, as Ralph Reed suggests, we help each other up off the field. We pray together; we love each other in the Lord. And maybe it helps if we keep in our minds that we certainly are all "(quote) flawed human beings in an imperfect world in search of the truth, [frail men and women] who are asking for His guidance in the struggle."

Ralph Reed adds one more postscript to his confession — and this is in such contrast to the early days when he would almost, in the words of Chuck Colson, run over his own grandmother to get his man elected. Here's what he says:

"No longer a tough political arm-twister who would do whatever it took to win, I began to call my former enemies and offer to break bread with them or pray for them, and occasionally tried to bridge differences."

So friend, think about that person with whom you've had those endless, blue-in-the-face debates. when's the last time you bought them lunch?