Maasai Adapt to Survive - Great example of climate change impacting people today... err yesterday

Maasai Adapt to Survive

Great article in Heifer International's magazine (great group to donate to) on how they are helping the Maasai replace their cattle herds with camels. Why? Because climate change has transformed their land to a state too dry to support cattle.

This will be coming to the American plains before too long. See Six Degrees or National Geographic's Six Degrees Could Change the World (if you don't do the whole book thing and you can stand Alex Baldwin).  Or if you're cheap, you can always head over to the Six Degrees link on my influential links list on the right or hit the library.

I thought about titling this "You killed Jesus' cow!"  I'm thinking of Matthew 25:

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

   ³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

   ³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

   ⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

   ⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

   ⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

   ⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

   ⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

I think its a clear application of this passage that causing drought makes "the least of these" both hungry and thirsty.  So when we oppose Cap and Trade (out of selfish fear) or idle our SUV while waiting to pick up the kids, we're not only not feeding the hungry, but we're actively making them hungrier.

America  has become a nation of goats.  Our churches cry "Lord Lord" while wasting their money on fancy buildings and steering their members to praise services instead of living lives of righteous justice.  Reread the old testament prophets - they frequently criticize the nation for substituting praise and sacrifice for justice for the weak.  Many churches today instead focus on praise and sacrifice (giving to the church) instead of care for the weak.  We haven't become the change we want to see, we've become the Old Testament nation and the New Testament pharisees that we criticize.

The Law of Love vs. The Law

God created a very boring version of "Rock, Paper, Scissors". You see, the Law of Love always trumps the Law of Condemnation. This was brought home to me tonight as I read Acts 10 to my eldest daughter and it jumped into relief against a verse that I'd quoted to my band of brothers on Friday.

Physician, Heal Thyself

Our congregation of Christ's Body has been studying Francis Chan's Crazy Love.  He raises the same question that I wanted to raise as a teen:  "Do the words addressed to the church in Laodicea in Revelation 3:14-23 apply to us today?  Are we lukewarm Christians?"  Or to use the parable of the sower, "Are we the soil choked out by weeds, by the distractions and complications of daily life?"  I always wanted to read the message to the Laodiceans to my home congregation when I was a teen, now I find that the text applies to me.  Unpleasant irony.

While its right to read those passages and ask if they apply to me individually, we must also read them and ask if they apply to our congregation or even to the worldwide body of Christ.  There is a book that I own that I've never gotten very far in, but the major premise can be found in its title: The 2nd Incarnation (Rubel Shelly, Randall Harris).  The basic thesis is that the Church is Christ's second incarnation on Earth.  We are Immanuel (God With Us) to the world today.

This brings me to an uncomfortable dilemma.  The greatest attraction to Christianity for many people is Jesus, his life, his teachings, and yes, his death and resurrection (even if the latter creates its own stumbling blocks).  But the greatest turn off to Christianity is Christians.  If we are the second incarnation, why is our impact so often diametrically opposed to the first incarnation?

In our lesson today, it came home to me.  The body of Christ, the church is unhealthy.  Its flabby, out of shape, and bedridden.  Its in adult day care - not able to fully function in the real world.  Here's a few metaphors that came to mind (after the jump):