Phillip Winn writes:
Nice thoughts
Matthew: For some reason, the way you phrased it, I’m reminded of Ananias and Sapphira. Perhaps it’s because I don’t believe the tithe is binding or even particularly useful for Christians (and yeah, I know I’m in the minority, and that many of you rely on tithes for your income).
See, I think many people know that pastors are supposed to stay away from the giving records. So, the reasoning might go, if I ask a question like that, the pastor knows I’m taking tithing seriously! And yeah, it doesn’t really matter what the answer is, unless you’re auditing tax returns.
There’s a bivocational calling: pastor / tax return preparer!
To my mind, much of racism is an attitude. That it, it’s less what one says and more how one says it. A serious discussion about why prisons are filled predominantly with black men has the potential to include much grace, but blithe acceptance of prevailing attitudes about “those people” doesn’t seem like it fits the character of Jesus. We’re all “those people,” after all. I think of Paul, who was unafraid to talk about various gods at the Aeropagus, though he didn’t view them the same way his audience did.
(By the way, as a parenthetical, I’ve heard that the National Association of Social Workers claims that 80% of prison inmates have been through the foster care system. Compare that to the 39% of male prison inmates who are black!)
Denominations are bizarre. Loose associations, I can see. Kick a double-digit percentage upstairs for the privilege of the name on the sign? That’s… well, any parallels between denominations and organized crime are left as an exercise for the reader.
